I enjoyed the last couple of books by T.M. Logan, but I really did not like this book by the Author. The subject matter was a bit unsavoury (although relevant) in my opinion and maybe a little too close to home for me, and for that reason I was unable to finish the book.

Ignoring the implausibility of much of the book, there was a certain satisfaction in watching events unfold in front of us here.
Our main character is an academic, thwarted by her boss and his much-talked-about but never-proven habit of making things very difficult for anyone who doesn't play by his rules. While she tries to follow The Rules (a series of actions women in their department follow to try and ensure their safety when alone with him), she cannot seem to hide from his determination to get what he wants.
When she is caught up in an attempted kidnapping she finds herself being made a very unusual offer by the Russian businessman whose daughter she helped to save. He gives her 72 hours to offer a name and then this person will disappear...naturally we assume she will see this as the ideal opportunity to remove the problem from her life and it's testimony to her character that she does not take this route immediately.
What follows is, quite frankly, out of the realms of credibility but it was good fun to watch as things moved to a rather unexpected outcome.

In an unlikely chain of events, Sarah’s intervention in an attempted kidnapping of a young girl sees her offered the reward of being able to make 1 person disappear. Sarah is given 72 hours to decide whether or not she wants to take up the offer.

In just 29 seconds, Sarah’s life changes forever.

Sarah’s boss is a narcissistic, misogynistic, arrogant professor who is happy to claim other people’s work as his own whilst at the same time blackmailing female members of his staff to sleep with him. He is a total sex pest and no one seems able to stop him. He is untouchable.

This was an excellent thriller and I enjoyed reading it. In order to enjoy it, it does require that you suspend belief for the duration of the book as there are many things which take place which just wouldn’t happen.; as such, this book may not be to everyone’s tastes. The characters in 29 seconds are well developed and perform well within the book. I really took a disliking to Alan Lovelock The story develops at a quick pace and unfolds with a little twist. An easy to read thriller with twists and turns which will keep you on your toes.

I am hoping that the institutionalised sexism which is demonstrated within the university system is not indicative of the reality; the ‘Me Too’ movement has hopefully had more of an impact than this book suggests. If it is true, there is a lot of work to be done!

I would recommend this book particularly if you are looking for a holiday read which has a little more going on.

Thank you to the author, publisher and net galley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my word I have literally just put this book down and I just need five minutes to think about what I’ve read. Firstly I don’t know how I haven’t read this book before now. It is such a brilliant read. From the very start it is full of suspense and drama. This is a totally nail biting thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat right up to the very last page. A massive 5 ⭐️ read for me.

29 Seconds by TM Logan is a topical, highly addictive sotry about sexual abuse in the workplace. With a fast pace plot and lots of twists and turns 29 Seconds is guaranteed to keep the reader glued to the pages.

Give me one name and i will make them disappear.

This is the whole premise of the novel. A 29 second phone call will make Sarah's problems disappear.

The worse thing about this novel, I could not put it down. I had to break off from reading while i went to work, but i was so annoyed that work got in the way and I found myself thinking about the book and wanting to just get the book out at work.

It took me just over a day to read this book. It was everything that a psychological thriller should be and the ending was so satisfying.

I have not yet read "Lies" by the same author, but it is going straight on my wishlist.

Thank you Netgalley for my copy for my copy of 29 seconds by TM Logan, I have no idea why it's taken me so long to read this book. This was an absolutely fabulous, electrifying read, I devoured it in one day. This story is fast paced, engaging and I enjoyed how truly tense the book make me feel. The story is of newly single mum of 2 Sarah. Her husband has basically deserted her and she is really feeling the hurt of this breakup. She juggles her kids with her career. Her boss is an absolute pig of a man, a misogynist and a sexual predator to makes her skin crawl with his not so subtle advances. Her boss is also stalling any advancement of her career because she doesn't want to engage in a sexual relationship with him. So all in all she's having a pretty tough time of things.

One day she witnesses an attack on a man, she's peerless to intervene and stop him from being beaten up but she does see that he is with a young girl, some courage is sparked as Sarah doesn't want to see the girl come to any harm so she rescues her. Sarah thinks nothing of this until she starts seeing the same man everywhere she turns. He's got a pretty distinctive face with a scar running down the length of it. The scarred man shows up at the university where she works, not saying anything just lurking in the shadows. He then shows up at her son's sports activities. There is a really well written , heart thumping scene here and as the reader you feel the same pa if Sarah does. Obviously this guy brings a twist to the tale. He is the minion of a big time Russian , he is not to be messed with, he is a very dangerous guy. The excitement builds after this meeting and the story is truly addictive. I've enjoyed this book so much I bought Lies today and I've pre ordered The Holiday. If I could give more than 5 stars I would - BRILLIANT.

The book is interesting. I was intrigued with the title and was fascinated how much a 29 seconds call can do. The book is about a researcher who is sexually harassed by her senior and how she manages to get rid of Him. The author has created a nice ride of emotional turbulence with the words in the book. I will recommend this book to readers who like a good thriller. I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

I would firstly like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

When Sarah rescues a young girl in trouble, she expects nothing in return. But her act of bravery puts a powerful and dangerous man in her debt. He lives by his own brutal code, and all debts must be repaid - in the only way he knows how. He offers Sarah a way to solve a desperate situation with her intolerable boss. A once-in-a-lifetime deal that will make all her problems disappear. No consequences. No comeback. No chance of being found out.

While I found myself disliking the main character, I definitely felt so empathy for the situation that she was in. What started off as a slow start, soon turned into a gripping intense plot that had my heart-pounding with every turned page. I just love the way this one is written. It not only takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions, but also makes you question YOUR actions and choices. I found myself questioning and second-guessing everything - What will happen next? What would I do in that situation? Would I make the same choices as Sarah? How would I feel if I was in that situation? - a read I'll be thinking about for a while!
A book that I would definitely recommend! Looking forward to this author's next!

What if a single 29 second phonecall could change your life forever? 'Give me one name. One person. And I will make them disappear . . .'

When Sarah rescues a young girl in trouble, she expects nothing in return. But her act of bravery puts a powerful and dangerous man in her debt. He lives by his own brutal code, and all debts must be repaid - in the only way he knows how.

He offers Sarah a way to solve a desperate situation with her intolerable boss. A once-in-a-lifetime deal that will make all her problems disappear.

No consequences. No comeback. No chance of being found out.

All it takes is a 29 second phone call.

BECAUSE EVERYONE HAS A NAME TO GIVE. DON'T THEY?

T.M. Logan's 2017 debut Lies was one of the best books I read last year (see my review here). His second novel, 29 Seconds, has the same rapid pace, well-developed characters, and utterly unpredictable plot, making it a perfect follow-up.

Sarah Haywood, an English professor at Queen Anne University London, is battling her way through traffic one day trying to pick up her kids after school when she witnesses an incident involving a young girl at the side of the road. Sarah is a good Samaritan and helps the young girl but she doesn't know that the girl's father is a very powerful and dangerous man. He wants to return her good deed and asks her for the name of someone she wants to disappear forever. She has 72 hours and there is no going back after she has provided it.

By this point in the book, it has been firmly established that Sarah is being sexually harassed by her boss Alan Lovelock, an eminent scholar and BBC television personality. Lovelock has a long and established history of harassment but he is described as being untouchable due to his status. Anyone who reports his actions loses their job soon after.

The book is particularly timely in light of #metoo and the Harvey Weinstein scandal. From my personal experience as an academic, I endemically recognised the type of harassment Logan refers to in the book and found the fear that Sarah felt for her job is very real. Although I never went through the type of abuse that Sarah went through, I know several people who have within the university system so the plot isn't so far-fetched to me. Logan's plot really struck a chord because the history of abuse I witnessed for myself was one of the main reasons why I chose to leave the university system and took a job outside of it despite the many years I spent getting a PhD and devoting my life to teaching and researching. Sarah also struggles with these prospects but decides to take matters into her own hands.

Logan is also particularly adept at creating antagonists that the main characters are justified in hating. Here, it is Sarah's boss, Professor Alan Lovelock, who uses his power to sexually harass the women around him. His treatment of Sarah is vile yet Sarah knows he is untouchable because of his public persona and the amount of many he brings into the university. So when Sarah begins to consider giving his name to a Russian mob boss, we don't even question her morality.

Like Logan's debut Lies, 29 Seconds moves at a frenetic pace and has short chapters, making the book hard to put down. Logan is quickly becoming one of the strongest and most compelling contemporary writers of the psychological thriller. He deftly understands the genre and isn't afraid to experiment with it, making his books fresh and a pleasure to read. Amongst his many strengths is his ability to create believable ordinary characters who are thrown into very unusual situations. Although there are many twists and turns throughout the novel, it never turns into farce because the characters are so relatable.

I read this book in one sitting, in the car, waiting for my son, that's how good it was!!!
For once I wasn't cross with waiting for him..... This book proves that life can literally change within seconds. Something you do or don't do can change your future.
This was really an enthralling, thrilling and entertaining read. Highly recommended.

An original plot, lots of twists and turns. Very unbelievable at times but written well enough that I didn't care. Will look out for more by the author in future.

(rounded up from 4.5)
Alan Lovelock, is a philanthropist, academic and one of the nations favourite historians with his own BBC 2 programme, at least that’s what the world sees. To Sarah his a sexual predator, constantly threatening her job and belittling her. Then she is a chance witness to an attempted child abduction which she manages to stop. In return the child’s father offers her a solution to the problem with her boss, he’ll make him disappear. What will Sarah decide.

All it takes is 29 seconds..

I’ve heard so many good things about TM Logan’s previous novel, Lies that when this popped up on NetGalley I though I had to give it a go, I’m sorry it took me so long to get round to reading it!
I can’t describe how much I loved this novel! It really hooks you from the beginning with lots of shocks and surprises which kept me turning those pages. Also the moral dilemma, if you could get rid of someone who was making your life a misery would you?

I really rooted for Sarah. She’s a hard working, accomplished academic who has to support two children after her feckless husband runs off and an absolute nightmare of a boss. Any woman who had to deal with someone like Lovelock everyday deserves a bloody medal!

Alan Lovelock made me physically nauseous. If I could have slapped him senseless I would have! Since the MeToo movement a lot of similar stories to Sarah’s have come out and a lot of people say why not just leave your job find a new one? This book shows how these vultures operate preying on women, essentially trapping them in these jobs, refusing to give them references or bad mouthing them to anyone who would listen.

I did lose my patience, a little, about half way through where Sarah is battling with her conscience, umming and ahhing, deciding whether she should take the deal or not and I was just like will you decide already!
Also certain aspects of the novel were a little unbelievable and relied a little heavily on coincidence but the fast pace and believable characters make you forget that.

29 seconds is a fantastic and fresh psychological thriller and I can’t wait to read what this author comes up with next.

Dr Sarah Haywood is a good, hard-working lecturer who unwittingly gets caught up with a Russian mobster whose daughter she inadvertently helps to save from abduction. He offers to rid her life of one person as repayment for what she has done for him. Her decision will have untold consequences. Definitely a book to be read in one sitting. It is fast paced and makes you question whether breaking the law is ever acceptable!
Will definitely read T.M. Logan's debut novel Lies.
Many thanks to Netgalley/T.M. Logan/Bonnier Zaffre for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Ambitious and driven, Dr. Sarah Haywood, an intelligent, thirty-something mother-of-one with a master's degree is on the verge of a successful academic career. She's also the subject of unwanted and lecherous advances of her boss, Cambridge-educated TV personality Professor Alan Lovelock. Currently on a temporary contract and knowing Lovelock has the power to make or break her career, Sarah suffers his sexual harrassment in silence. When she's invited to attend Lovelock's annual gala party, having been discreet about Lovelock's behaviour, she's convinced she's about to be offered a permanent contract. Except the party doesn't go quite to plan and Sarah publicly denies claims of Lovelock's abuse of power, playing right into his hands, finding herself on the receiving end of an ultimatium: the promotion and permanent contract in exchange for succumbing to his sexual advances.

Not long afterwards, Sarah, who is running late to collect her daughter from school, witnesses and prevents an attempted kidnapping. Unbeknown to Sarah, the child she saves is the daughter of a Russian mob boss who, now considering himself to be in Sarah's debt, kidnaps her in order to present her with an offer: the chance to make one person in her life disappear, no questions asked. The Russian gives Sarah an untraceable pay-as-you-go mobile phone, pre-programmed with one telephone number; all Sarah has to do is call with a name. And with that 29 second phone call, Sarah sets in motion a chain of events that spectacularly backfire on her.

As a character there are two conflicting sides to Sarah; on the one hand she's presented as a confident, determined and driven academic; on the other she's naive, weak-willed, ready to roll over and accept Lovelock's behaviour. That much of the book portrays her as the latter, makes the book's conclusion completely out of character. Meanwhile Lovelock, the villian of the piece, is hardly the soul of discretion when it comes to his sexual advances towards his colleagues, which makes it difficult to believe those around him had no idea what kind of man he really is. The author really did make him vile, though, and has to be commended for creating a character that made my skin crawl.

Initially 29 Seconds had the potential to be a good story centred around sexual harrassment in the work place, however, once the Russian mob boss enters the picture, suspension of belief is needed because the events Sarah finds herself embroiled in from this point onwards aren't in the least bit plausible.

What are 29 seconds?
Enough to finish your glass of water.
The time you pretend to laugh at a joke with everyone else.
The heart-stopping steps of the surgeon just out of the OR and slowly moving towards you, sitting in a gloomy waiting room.

29 seconds feel like nothing but they can change everything.

For Sarah, 29 seconds mean a decision that will have tremendous consequences. A single decision taken out of anger and despair. It is all it takes. 29 seconds and a name. I was hooked from page one! A few sentences, a dangerous situation with barely any explanations before jumping back two weeks earlier? Obviously, this book was for me. I felt the glorious sting of trepidation I don’t get so easily. The tingling and goosebumps from a narrative brilliantly executed. I knew I was in for a dark ride, and I couldn’t have been more right!!!

Spouse-less since her husband decided he needed ‘some space’ (We all know what that means), Sarah puts her heart and soul in raising her two children while maintaining a demanding job in a faculty. I rooted for her right from the start. Was it the men-are-jerks environment, the fact the main character had worked so hard to get where she was and that everything was put in jeopardy because of a single person, or simply because Sarah sounded just like someone I could be friend with? Probably a mix of everything.

The more I got to know about her through each chapter, the closer I felt to her. What do you consider a desperate situation? What would you be willing to do to save what you have? Those questions hovered over Sarah’s head and mine as the story unfolded. From regular issues to something much more dramatic, the way was smooth and despite knowing something was coming, I couldn’t help but feel all the emotions burn my veins and make my heart beat faster. So fast it could have burst! Why? Because 29 Seconds deals with power, and those who use it to get what they want. Men versus women. Despite the evolution of society, we are far from escaping this kind of situation and if a subject makes me jump and bite, it is THIS ONE!

The author masterfully plays with his characters, giving them the perfect cliché and then surprising you with details, pushing the protagonists to the edge to make things right. Or not. Danger is written all over the book! I have felt helpless at times in my life and this is not a feeling I appreciate so it only made me read faster, biting my nails to make sure the cat wouldn’t eat the mouse!
If Sarah’s life was complicated at first, it is a random accident which pushes her in a hazardous place. Dealing with people from the dark is a no-no. But what can you do when your back is against the wall and you get offered a chance to make your worries disappear, no questions asked?

I spent lots of time wondering what I would have done in Sarah’s situation and I am not ashamed to say I have no idea if I’d had the courage to make this 29 seconds phone call.

Falling with Sarah down this tailspin was painful but addictive. I couldn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel, but T.M. Logan imagined one of my favorite endings. Can I say I was totally surprised? No. But it was plausible, good, and absolutely satisfying, leaving me with a smile on the face and the belief karma is indeed a mean thing that comes back to haunt you.

Sarah’s bravery, simplicity and determination won my heart, and the plot won over my brain. I definitely recommend 29 Seconds to anyone looking for some intense psychological battles!

This is one of those rare books that is genuinely un-put-downable. I was engrossed from the very first page until the very end - and you know its a good book when you have that slightly hollow feeling at the end.

The start of the book struck a deep chord with me. I have been in this situation and there is some real truth in what happens. Sexual harassment. The Organisation turning a blind eye and covering up. The old boys network looking out for each other. Career suicide.

From contemplating suicide, to a random act of kindness that results in a way out (karma), Sarah brilliantly comes back to oust her aggressor. Sarah was totally underestimated, and the book is written in such a way that you forget she is a brilliant academic in her own right, reduced to a quivering mouse. Or a rat in a corner. She exacts her own brutal revenge.

A fair exchange, I would say.

I really enjoyed this book. The concept was different and fresh.
Sarah works closely with Professor Alan Lovelock who is making things difficult for Sarah to progress at work.
Alan pesters Sarah continuously until a chance occurence gives Sarah the opportunity to deter Alan for good.
Sarah deliberates on the offer and makes her choice but regrets it straight after. 29 seconds changes everything.

If you had the option to make one person disappear forever with a phone call, what would you do?

From the moment I read the synopsis I knew I had to read it! Seriously, the description makes it sound like an incredible thriller with a unique premise. Original stories are getting harder to come across as everything has been done before but this is as close to that as possible. And it didn't disappoint!

The premise is thought provoking and explores moral issues as well as themes of sexual misconduct and abuse. It definitely makes you think about what you would have done in the same situations. The pace was perfect and I admired the strength of the female protagonist. The ending ties it all up nicely and is extremely satisfying as good overcomes evil and the baddie gets his comeuppance.

This is my first T.M. Logan book but I have purchased 'Lies' since reading this, it certainly looks just as compelling. It's testament to its addictiveness that I read it in one sitting whilst ignoring everything else until I had finished. I would advise you to clear your diary before starting this one as it is super difficult to put down! The short chapters make this even harder and you enter the - JUST ONE MORE zone.

A twisted and tense read with a focus on moral dilemmas and the consequences of ones actions. Overall, a novel that was right up my street. I loved it!

I would like to thank T.M. Logan, Bonnier Zaffre and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Before you start this novel - prepare to do nothing until you have finished it in one sitting. It is completely unputdownable. I snapped at my husband everytime he tried to speak to me and I even read through dinner. It was totally gripping.

The female lead really stole the show for me. I found her unshakeable resolve and strength of character very admirable especially when faced with a horrific sexual predator in the workplace. An excellent read!