An emotional psychological thriller with a twist - The Friend

This book flips between flashbacks and present-day to tell a chilling and compelling story. The plot flows well with little to no bumps along the way. It’s not easy to put down and an easy read. The suspense is heightened just enough to keep good tension without being overwhelmingly stressful.

I particularly liked the dialog in this novel. It reads naturally and believably. The drama it contains is neither over the top or shallow. Driscoll has done a good job of conveying what it must feel like to be Sophie, a mother who is worried for the life of her son while coming to terms that she brought a monster into their lives.

I can only give this book four stars because while I like Driscoll’s style very much, and I found myself invested in the plot and the characters, I felt like the climax was a little rushed. It didn’t seem to fit the pacing of the rest of the book to me.

That being said, I have read Driscoll’s work before, and I will read it again.

Having loved I Am Watching You, I was really looking forward to The Friend. I’m pleased to say that I absolutely LOVED it.

The Friend had me gripped and intrigued throughout, as I wasn’t sure where the story was going, so eagerly needed to read more to find out. This thought provoking psychological thriller was full of mystery, intrigue, suspense and an impressively manipulative character. Ooh, I do love a good sociopath to keep me on my toes!

I really don’t want to go into detail about the plot, because with many psychological thrillers I think it’s best to go in blind, so if you like the sound of the blurb, please give this a go. I just have to say that I was loving this story so much, I enjoyed being in the moment and never consciously tried to work out where the story was going or how it was going to end, so everything came as a surprise to me.

Teresa Driscoll is very good at creating well developed and believable characters that I often find easy to connect with. However, in her thrillers, rather than her women’s fiction books (which are also wonderful, so do check those out too), I find myself feeling much more suspicious of the characters. Unsure of what will happen and which characters to fully trust.

“Not every hour is equal. Ask an insomniac how long the night is” - I relate to this far more than I’d like to. As someone who has had severe insomnia for many years. I’d like to clarify that nights are exceptionally long, yet at the same time nowhere near long enough. I need more sleep!

“To know the Lizard is to drive past the flat and unpromising landscape of the RNAS base, smiling inwardly at the trick of it. For, just a few miles in any of several directions from the neatly fenced but unlovely facility, there is this feast of the unexpected and unspoilt.” – It’s true, going past the military base then approaching the Lizard is so magical. The Lizard landscape is like a hidden treasure. I doubt I’ll ever become fully used to the magic of it. On another note, the power behind that neat fence steals my husband and controls my life. I sometimes feel like a character in a dystopian novel. Give me back my freedom!

I loved this whole book and the epilogue too. I highly recommend this book to fans of psychological thrillers. I actually think I enjoyed The Friend even more than I Am Watching You. They are both standalone novels. Needless to say, this is yet another brilliant 5 star read from this talented author. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

Way too many perspectives, and they jump from past to present... Person to person. The first few sentences of a new chapter would throw me off because I had know idea who was talking. Great storyline though, had potential. Just a confusing and slow read.

Having read I Am Watching You, and enjoying it immensely, I had high hopes for The Friend. Unfortunately, nothing about this story kept my attention. The timeline jumped around so much, it felt chaotic and discombobulated. I found Sophie to be incredibly annoying...when everybody in your life hates your new friend, maybe you should quit being so stubbornly blind and take a good, hard look at the reasons why. Even the epilogue was blah.

Such a boring book. 1.5 stars.

I have quite enjoyed reading the books of Teresa Driscoll. Her other book I am Watching You is about to be made into a movie.

This book centers on a woman who has recently moved to Devon with her husband and small child to get away from the hubbub of the City and settle into domestic bliss and have a family.

As you might expect things do not exactly conform to the preordained plan.

Therein lies the rub and to say more I think would be unfair. I think most people will enjoy it.

Sophie is on the train when she receives a chilling call informing her that her son Ben and his friend were in an accident. Sophie had left Ben in her friend Emma’s care and the on whole trip back reflects on the past which led to the current dreadful situation. Did she make a big mistake in trusting Emma because how well do you actually know somebody ?

The Friend is a fast moving psychological thriller with an exciting twist that I didn't see coming. Narrated in flashback the book builds up the suspense slowly but surely. A book I would definitely recommend and will look forward to more by Teresa Driscoll

I would like to thank the store Publishing/Thomas & Mercer & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

This thriller is well worth the read!
Emma and Sophie become friends, both of them have done. Ben is a little bit older than Theo.
Emma starts to weave her way into Sofies life. Sofie can not understand why her husband and her friend so not like Emma. Unknown to Sofie, Emma is a sociopath.
Beware there is a very nasty twist! I encourage all to read this book!

You start the book out happy. Just a friendly book about people. Soon there pops up a sentence that makes you wonder. About half way through, you know something is wrong, but what! The suspense keeps building and this book makes you read every last word and chapter to discover the truth! A proper page turner! Good story wit many surprises!

The premise of this novel from Teresa Driscoll was intriguing. The story kept the promise of the premise well, if a little predictably. I had a hard time with the technique of moving from present to past, and it made the pace drag a bit for me as I adjusted to each chapter's voice and timeframe. The characters are interesting , perhaps not complex enough for my taste. All in all I was entertained, but now wowed. I'm not sure I would place it in the psychological thriller genre, more women's fiction.

This great story is my second book by the author. I will look for another very soon. Her characters came alive and were quite believable, with their worries, memories, dreams, and joys. A 4.5 would be my actual rating, because the back and forth of the chapters created a sense of disjointed getting-to-know the characters. Once I was solid on who was who, though, the style enhanced the intensity and the anticipation of how it would all shake out. The Epilogue was incredibly satisfying .

This is my second Teresa Driscoll book, which I enjoyed as much as I did the first. Ms. D writes her characters very well and lets the reader see into their hearts—at least those who have one.
Spoiler: one of the characters does not have a heart, which we come to suspect gradually until noticing becomes inescapable as Sophie, through her tribulations, catches on, too, to her “friend”.
There are further twists, and more heartache for Sophie, but, as in Driscoll’s “I Am Watching You,” the heroine reaches safe harbor (within herself) and has a happy ending.
Definitely recommend!

This book was fantastic on every level. The story, the characters, the twists - right up through the end! Being an American I also loved the (to me) unusual turns of phrase that I assume would be average to the English.

I don’t ant to give anything away, but I just really loved this book.

So impressed with this incredibly tense thriller, loved every minute of it. This was my first book from Teresa Driscoll, and I'm going to the kindle store right now to buy the rest of her books. So well written, so believable and really, really intense! Highly highly recommended.

I could not put this book down! The complexities of friendships in this story was brilliant! Sophie and Emma seem to be the best of friends, but are they really? The ending I honestly did not see coming and was so pleasantly surprised. Cannot wait for more books from this author!

I was interested from the start and wanted to see where this story was going. At first I wasn’t sure how I liked the changes in time, the “before” and “today” but it ended up flowing well for me. The twist I will admit I did not see that coming, I liked being surprised there! This was my first book by this author and I will definitely read more of her books...in fact I’m choosing one as my next read.

After reading "I Am Watching You", I decided to read this one, "The Friend", by Ms. Driscoll. It is a very good book, has a great plot, and keeps the reader turning pages to see what is going to happen next. "The Friend" has an incredible ending, a true psychological thriller. Anxiously looking forward to reading more stories by this author!! I highly recommend Ms. Driscoll's works.

Maybe it was just my circumstances or mood but the story was hard for me to follow until the very end. The book starts after everything has occurred and you have to read through the chapters to piece together what happened. Sophie was a very gullible person in my opinion but she was fighting her own personal demons that may have blinded her from seeing the truth.

It's so exciting to discover a new favorite author. I've been a voracious reader for decades now, and I've found her in Teresa Driscoll. I plan to find and read every book she's written going forward.

I often read books quickly… This one took me probably two months to finish. The characters are a little too vague to be believable. I was excited to read a emotionally psychological thriller, but was a bit disappointed.

Simply an amazing author! I am an avid reader and have not been so involved in and on the edge of my seat in years. Probably not since I read Anne Rice's "Interview With the Vampire" (in 1980 something)! This is a MUST read! Going to find another Teresa Driscoll novel now!! Well done ma'am!!!

Captured my attention from the beginning, and I could hardly put it down until I finished it. There was a huge surprise element in the book that I never guessed. Well developed characters. Looking forward to reading more of Ms. Driscoll's books.

I absolutely could not stop reading this book. The characters are real, well developed and intriguing. I foresaw only some of the plot and was completely surprised by most.
I hope other books by this author are this compelling because I hated for this one to end!

I just finished reading The Friend and I absolutely loved it! Read in one day, only putting it down occasionally because I wanted to savor the story and delay the end. The characters were all fascinating , each in their own way. Highly recommended!!

At first, I was aggravated by the teasing bits of info and the chapters ending just when I thought I might learn something. In the end, though, it all came together. I raced through this book, needing to know what was happening.