Excellent story line which was gripping from start to finish. Great characters. I would highly recommend this book.

I liked the idea behind the book but I didn’t find it as gripping as I thought it would be. The characters were well written and intriguing. I liked the final twist but felt there could have been more twists and red herrings along the way

An intense and riveting read. Cara is caught up in a terrorist attack in London and is rescued by Amy. As they hide out in a storeroom Cara shares her darkest secrets with the woman she has just met.

This is a story of total obsession told with menace and pace. The narrative switches between Cara and Amy and it apparent very soon that Amy is a woman with issues. As Cara's world begins to fall apart it seems that Amy is there to pick up the pieces. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you.

I really wanted to enjoy this novel and I felt it started strongly. I liked the drama of the events and the occassional flashback to Amy's other life but then i felt the plot was just too unbelievable. There were too many chances for Amy and Cara to be found out. I really wanted to know a lot more about Amy - I felt she was a bit two dimensional and Cara was quite irritating - why was she so obsessed with her ex - they clearly had a weird, messy relationship.

I think this could have gone better but it wasn't for me.

A chance meeting during a freak event leads to a frightening chain of events.
Cara is yanked to safety from the street during a terrorist attack in London, her saviour is Amy who shelters with her in a storeroom where she works until the event is over.
They shouldn’t meet again but their paths do cross and Cara employs Amy to look after her daughter Mabel. Is Amy really hat she seems? Can she be trusted? Cara has shared secrets with her told on the night of their ordeal, secrets that could destroy her and those she loves.
Cara begins to get strange and worrying texts signed from YCF, she can’t work out who they are from and events seem to be spiralling out of control. Her marriage and her job are under threat and she is determined to keep both.?
Really enjoyed reading this through to the last little twist.

An interesting and unique story leading to a good psychological thriller. Told by Cara and Amy who were caught up in a terrorism attack together. Cara opens her heart and tells her secrets. Amy then wangles her way into the family as Cara's closest new friend. Then the destruction begins and a family starts to fall apart. A good twisty tale with an array of characters.

I'm left speechless.

What can I say except, what an ending!!

A book broke down into three parts and told from two POV.

Very cleverly written and just when you think there is nothing left hidden... well I won't spoil it for anyone.

The saying keep your friends close and your enemies closer definitely comes to mind when reading Your Closest Friend.

Karen Perry has executed her ideas amazingly and I highly recommend this novel to everyone.

The first act of Your Closest Friend is so promising that I'm disappointed with how the story develops. Terror in London is a hot button issue and I really felt that the author made a brave decision in using such a terrifying situation as a plot device. Amy is immediately threatening as a character, complete with voices in her head and allusions to a dark past. The secrets that she promises to keep for Cara are an obvious ticking time bomb, and I was completely invested very early on. Unfortunately, everything begins to unravel as the book plods on. I am ok with suspension of belief to a certain point, but the decisions that these characters make are beyond poor. I can never enjoy a book when the characters, initially written as intelligent and capable of some degree of critical thinking in everyday life, are left to make ridiculous decisions and roam in circles before finally coming to a predictable eureka moment. This is a real shame, because the rest of the book becomes merely about wasting time until the clueless characters catch up to a now obvious conclusion. There's a mild attempt at a final twist, but it simply doesn't save the text as a whole.

A terror attack in London brings two strangers together, a frightening situation that leads to further nightmares later on. Cara is caught in the middle of a terror attack and fearing for her life when she is whisked to safety by total stranger Amy. Cara hidden away from danger with her new friend Amy begins to tell of her secrets that may return to haunt her in the future.
A novel full of tension and intrigue that kept me enticed to the bitter end. This is a good read from a pair of authors I had previously no knowledge of but will now look out for.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Penguin UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This story is about Cara who gets caught up in a terror attack. Luckily she gets pulled into a building by Amy. This ultimately saves Cara’s life. Cara, still believing that she could still die reveals to Amy all her secrets. Their lives cross again and out of desperation she employs Amy to look after her daughter. This comes at a time that she starts receiving threatening texts from somebody who signs themselves off as YCF (Your Closest Friend).

This started off brilliantly, it occurred to me that this may be the only book that I have read which involves a terror attack. I felt very frightened for Cara. I felt that it dealt with the aftermath and other people’s reactions to what she had gone through very well. After this was over however it falls back into the usual psychological thriller formula. Lies and obsession are the main themes in this book. The book was fast paced and kept me interested. What disappointed me the most about this book was the twist, I personally don’t think that the book needed it and it was nearly identical to the twist in a book I had finished the day before. I will check out other books by this author as I did like her writing style.

I recently read Can You Keep a Secret? by Karen Perry (who’s apparently two people, à la Nicci French) and enjoyed it a lot, despite the terrible title. (Sorry, but really, that is not a good title.) There’s no doubt though that Karen Perry can write, and both CYKAS and Your Closest Friend are extremely well written.

Two women, radio producer Cara and the younger Amy, are flung together, almost literally, by a terrorist attack. Amy pulls Cara off the street to safety; Cara, naturally, is just grateful to be alive. It’s a horrific and traumatic event by any standards, but the story doesn’t end there. For Amy, they were fated to meet, and she’s going to make sure destiny is fulfilled....

The premise of “dangerously obsessive young woman insinuates her way into a family, proceeds to wreak havoc” isn’t that original - it’s been done a number of times before. It’s particularly effective here though, as we see events from both Cara’s and Amy’s points of view - in Amy’s case, providing insight into a very damaged mind. Both women have secrets, and consequences, when they come, are shattering. And for a change, it’s Cara herself Amy is obsessed with, rather than her husband, her child or her life.

It’s in some respects a fairly straightforward story of obsession - with, right at the very end, a devastating twist in the tail.

Recommended.

This was a story which gave a strong sense of tragedy right from the beginning and the tension built the whole way through the story. Some well described characters that were easy to relate to. It was had inevitable conclusion and the relief was palpable

This is a tense psychological thriller which opens with a terrorist incident in London and continues with a sense of menace and foreboding running through it.
Who is the person sending texts and messages signed “your closest friend”?
Who is the manipulator? Who is the real victim and are there are any innocent parties to it?
This is a disturbing story of obsession, mental illness and some quite damaged personalities, all told in an engaging writing style. I enjoyed the book and liked the twist at the end.

I really enjoyed this twisty thriller and toying with the question of what could happen if you entrust your innermost secrets to a stranger thinking you will never see them again ..... and then you do ..... and they stalk you?
The author managed to make the characters believable and I wanted to reach into the book at times and warn Cara!
This is the first book I have read by Karen Perry and I'm pleased to see she has written another one which in looking forward to reading.

Having read karen Perry’s other titles “ girl unknown” and “can you keep a secret” I have been secretly waiting for this book!!
Cara is on a night out when a gunman starts randomly shooting, she is rescued by Amy, fearing she won’t survive she reveals her secrets to her which is then a roller coaster ride of terror!!
From the first sentence you had me hooked, the detail of description made me feel like I was there amongst the panic and terror, I Immediately forgot my surroundings and was plunged into this dramatic scenario wondering what I would have done and desperate not to be parted with this book.
Thank you to netgalley for letting me have this book in exchange for a review..

The book is topical with a backdrop of terrorism in London. That's how Cara and Amy meet as they hide from the terrorists. Amy leeches onto Cara. Amy's audacity and obsessive behaviour beggars belief. In the mix are an older husband and the revival of a lover from the past. The characterisation is good although neither of the women appeals to me at all. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Penguin UK- Michael Joseph for inviting me to read this e-book in which I give my honest opinion.
It’s my first by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well-paced and kept me hooked.
Told in alternating chapters by Cara and Amy, the books starts with Cara on that night of terror as she comes face to face with an armed gunman.
Amy grabs Cara and they, along with another person, take refuge until they think it’s safe to venture out. The other person, a colleague of Amy, thinks it’s safe and leaves before them and they are left alone. This is when they share secrets with each other, not expecting to ever meet again.
Cara is back at work as a radio producer, and is on air talking about the attack when Amy hears her on the radio and phones in.
They reconnect and Cara invites Amy into her home to look after her daughter, a seemingly good arrangement to help out Cara and her working-away husband. It starts to go wrong from here as things are revealed from both Amy and Cara’s past and it all spirals out of control….

WOW – Loved this book! Cara is returning home one evening and gets caught up in a terror attack. Amy drags her to safety and they share secrets whilst they wait for the all clear, Cara confides in Amy believing she will never see her again after that night.

Amy has other ideas and is obsessive about Cara, wheedling herself into her life – lots of lies and stalking. Well written and very believable story line

In the middle of a terror attack in London Cara is saved by Amy. During the time they spend together that night Cara tells Amy her deepest secrets. But secrets have a way of being found out.

Amy wheedles herself into Cara’s life with a rollercoaster ride.

A great read. I found it went on a bit at times but it tied together at the end very well. Highly recommended

Despite this book having three parts, it's really a story of two parts. A story that is told by two characters, each offering their perspective, each filling in the events in their part of the story. Perry manages this dual narrative well, better than most in fact.

The other two parts of this book come to the plot. Given the opening few pages you could expect quite an intense story, but in truth, it quickly drops into a fairly steady storyline that has a few curiosities but little that really grabbed me. Luckily things change about halfway through, suddenly the story comes alive and delivers a gripping story that had me reluctant to put the book down. It's powerful, it's intense, it's engaging!

The plot doesn't really have much mystery, but it is full of suspense and thrills. It manages a few unexpected turns, something that often struggles with the dual-narrator approach and yet Perry manages to write around that obstacle with ease.

The characters have a great depth to them. Not just the two protagonists, there're some good details lurking in most of the people we encounter. They're decorated with those little touches that make them readable, the blemishes, the redeeming moments - and they bring a richness to the whole story.

The first half can be a little slow going, but the real story is worth the wait and the early chapters do lay a great foundation for what follows. A cleverly captivating read that's enjoyable and rewarding.