This was a quick and enjoyable read, it flowed really well and kept me interested throughout. The storyline was simple but it worked.

Three friends (Beth, Carol and Sally) attend a boarding school, were all involved in an incident, someone died and now they have a dark secret that they’ve vowed to never tell anyone, and for many years that dark secret has remained buried. Present day the 3 girls have all moved on, putting the incident behind them and are now living their lives, news arrives that the boarding school is due to close, this opens up the tragedy again. Beth and Sally enlist the help of a PI to help them find Carol who disappeared shortly after leaving school. They must get together before their terrible secret is revealed.

My first Teresa Driscoll book and hopefully not my last, I enjoyed this very much, it contained everything I would want in the thriller, murder, deceit, intrigue and mystery.

You know it's going to be creepy when it concerns a secret at a boarding school. A religious boarding school for girls....

When the old convent is set to be demolished of course the girls are worried about what happened back when they were students. The reader is kept in the dark which was good and I did imagine all sorts! The act they committed was suitably creepy and sad.Makes me grateful I never went to boarding school if this is what they are like ;)

There's so many of these books about secrets at boarding school and this one didn't really stand out for me but the sense of claustrophobia and darkness was good. The idea of a demolished convent was chilling and I do like to find out about boarding school as they seem so constrictive

Pleased I don't know any girls like these in real life!

I was excited to read this one since had just read I Am Watching You also by Teresa Driscoll and thought it brilliant. This one, not so much.

Missing was her deft laying, and allowing the story to naturally unfold. Instead opting for the big bang finale. And goodness, such an incredibly slow start! Not to mention, boarding school, again? Being way overdone by other authors. I appreciate she attended one, but I guess everyone else has also.

There are elements many readers may quite enjoy, it just didn't work for me.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

They were best friends when they were at boarding school but something happened there that would change their lives. Sally & Beth have remained close friends although Carole seems to have distanced herself from them & everything from her past. When the school is scheduled to close they know they have to act before their secret becomes public knowledge- but where is Carole? Why is she avoiding her old friends? Beth & Sally hire a private investigator to help.

Told from each woman's perspective, Teresa Driscoll keeps the reader guessing. From the clues I thought I knew what had happened. I was thinking that it had been a bit too easy to work out. However the author had the last laugh with a lot of unexpected revelations at the end.

This was a quick book to read as I got so involved with the characters & wanted answers. Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read & review this five star book.

THE PROMISE by Teresa Driscoll
Once again, Ms Driscoll delights her readers with clever twists and turns in this, her third, psychological thriller. When three school friends make a serious promise to each other, they have no idea of its far-reaching consequences or the devastating impact it will have on all of their lives.
Admirers of the author's previous novels, I Am Watching You and The Friend, will love The Promise. It is in turn surprising, shocking, intriguing and horrifying as the story unravels the lives of Beth, Sally and Carol. It reaches a clever and unexpected conclusion.
As ever, the author has skilfully constructed a dark tale that will delight established fans and new readers alike. Another great page-turner.
My thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for supplying me with a preview copy.

Three girls . . . Beth, Carol, and Sally . . . share a room at the boarding school at the Convent of Saint Colman, and for thirty years, find themselves held captive by a promise. A promise of schoolchildren, a promise rooted in fear, a promise they’ve kept but tried to forget. But, like most promises, the seed of it lives on in their memories, rising at times to haunt each of them.

When circumstances conspire to threaten exposure of their secret, they enlist a private investigator and work to keep it buried. But, as they consider the possibility of revealing their secret, someone is watching them, threatening to make certain it remains untold. And when Beth’s family is threatened, will she be able to keep the promise?

The story slowly unfolds, alternating between the boarding school years and the present. Tension builds slowly, but it pulls the reader into the story from the beginning. Peopled by believable characters, the realistic narrative keeps the pages turning.

The strong friendship between the women is a highlight of the story, as is the inner struggle with the keeping of the promise. This thoughtful narrative keeps the reader involved in the telling of the tale. Some unexpected reveals ramp up the suspense, making it difficult to set this one aside before turning the final page.

Recommended.

I received a free Advance Reader’s Copy of this eBook from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley
#ThePromise #NetGalley

This book was an enjoyable mystery with some interesting suspense. It keeps the reader guessing. I gave it a four-star rather than five star rating because I thought that the ending was too 'fairy tale'.

In my family, I am the one who is hardest to surprise when it comes to plot twists. I tell my husband that it's probably due to my life-long involvement with the world of theater - I'm always asking myself "what are the possible plot twists?"

This book kept me guessing right up until the reveal. There were hints of something tragic; a horrible event that forever altered the lives of boarding school friends Carol, Beth, and Sally.

With carefully crafted flashbacks, Driscoll beautifully weaves a story of three boarding school students who become inseparable but find their friendships strained almost to the breaking point by something awful that occurred during their school years. The three friends promised never to tell anyone what had happened. But that secret begins to cause the unraveling of most other aspects of their lives.

I finished this book less than 24 hours after I started it. It's that good. The writer kept me guessing about the tragedy that these girls were hiding but kept feeding just enough descriptions - descriptions of blood on the floor, a lifeless figure, blue lips, and more - to keep you captivated and guessing. Once the truth is revealed, there is yet more to be discovered since Beth and her family have been receiving anonymous threats from someone who knows about the big secret.

The women eventually confide in loved ones and find support and love instead of the judgment and anger they feared. As for the threats to Beth's family - and even some serious injuries in one case - will the culprit be discovered? More importantly, will he or she be punished? And will the most common victim of this person's anger ever find peace and healing?

Very well thought out story but progressed rather slowly. The readers knows there is a secret and I'm sure imaginations will run wild with what it could be. The three schoolgirl friends made a promise never to tell, but of course secrets always have a way of showing themselves. There are lots of twists and turns in this story. I think the answers of what happens will surprise most. Recommended!

Three girls held a deep, dark secret. Three girls made a promise they vowed to keep forever. Now something and someone is threatening that promise. Will the truth come out or will these women do anything possible to keep their secret hidden forever?

I am a huge Teresa Driscoll fan and have previously rated her books very highly. The Promise is a slow burning psychological suspense novel - not a thriller - but a book filled with plenty of atmospheric drama. The book begins when the three women are at a private girls school. While we don't actually learn what the secret is, I suspect that most of us can guess. It's a terrible thing that happens and traumatizing, too, for each of the girls. However, the secret more than the event becomes the catalyst for problems down the road as is generally the case with secrets, right?

Without giving any of the plot away, I will say that I enjoyed The Promise but not nearly as much as I have liked Driscoll's precious work. While it's well written, I had a difficult time actually connecting with any of the three women. Perhaps it's because I'm too bluntly honest for my own good and keeping a secret for a lifetime isn't something I can conceive of doing. Just deal it already! Despite misgivings, however, I found myself engrossed in their story and I did read it in one very quick sitting. I suspect that if, like me, you are a Driscoll fan then you will like this selection. If you enjoy slow-burning psychological reads then this will be good one for you as well. If, however, you like thrillers, then this one is not for you. It is very much a solid three-star rating from me.

Thank you to #Netgalley and #ThomasMercer for my advanced copy of #ThePromise

My first time reading this author, but I will definitely look for her other works!. Starts a little slow as you learn all the characters and the movement of the character's voices. They are expressed 'to and fro', 'then and now', but it is easy to follow the timeline. Once you are ''listening '' to each of them tell their stories you won't want to put the book down. While you may guess what the promise is you will never guess the additional twists and turns all the way to the end of the book. No spoilers from me, the jacket cover and other reviews have given adequate descriptions. I only laid the book down for a few hours sleep once started! I am 'stingy' with 5 stars, but this one is deserving.
Many thanks to the author, Thomas & Mercer Publishing, and NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review. The opinions expressed are my own. Enjoy!

I really loved the friendship of these girls and the unfortunate event that lead to the promise. It’s a long time since I’ve read a book this quick , it’s hard to put down . I love this author and this is one not to be missed .

When three young schoolgirls make a promise thirty years ago they expected their secret to remain as such forever. However, thirty years later there is danger of the past being uncovered which leads to a dangerous time for the three women.

The story slowly unravels and leads you to the dark secret that has remained hidden for so many years and you discover the bond that keeps the three women together through their toughest years.

I found the story slow in places and not sure where this was going, how bad could this incident have been for the girls and what happened. The last quarter of the book did pick up the pace a bit and ended ok.

Beth, Sally and Carol made a promise to each other when they were 14, a promise to keep their darkest secret to themselves, to take it to the grave with them.  Thirty years later, Beth and Sally are still best of friends, although Carol has distanced herself from them.  Suddenly they get some shocking news, and Beth and Sally realise their secret is at risk of discovery.  They hire a private detective to try and trace Carol so that they can decide what to do.  Unknown to the three of them someone else knows their secret, someone who will stop at nothing to ensure the secret isn't discovered.

This was a great read.  I am a big fan of thrillers of all description, so I usually find them easy to get into, and this was no exception.  Beth and Sally are both likeable characters, and their friendship comes off the pages as a genuine and believable friendship.  Carol is very different, and we don't learn much about her as she is now, as she is estranged from the others. 
I enjoyed having the book narrated by different characters, and for the chapters to move between past and present.  From the very start of the book we are aware that the girls have a terrible secret from their time at school, and each chapter leads us closer to understanding what happened. We don't get many chapters from Carol, and I think that works well.  It helps to reinforce Beth and Sally's feeling that they don't understand why Carol has drawn away.
I don't want to say too much more, as I don't want to give away any details that will spoil the story for people.  I will say though that I think this hits the mark for psychological thrillers.  It's a quick read, easy to get into and moves at a good pace.  I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes thrillers, or books about secrets.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an arc in exchange for an honest review

I thoroughly enjoyed this dark and brooding psychological thriller. The book is well writen with a great cast of characters and a story line that is interesting and believable. It is a very emotional book with an unexpected ending. I was fortunate to receive this novel from Netgalley as an Advance Reader Copy, in exchange for an objective review.

Three boarding school friends receive information that their old school that bonded them many years ago... is gone.

It’s a relief eat first, because maybe the secret they share will go to the grave with the demolished building.

But just as they think everything gets laid to rest.. a secrets climbs it’s way through the dirt.

A little predictable but over all fun to read. Seemed like Roanoke Girls meets Pretty Little Liars.

Three friends, Beth, Sally and Carol meet at boarding school but while they are there something terrible happens and they make a promise never to tell anyone what happened. But the boarding school is about to be demolished and Beth and Sally have lost touch with Carol, and feel they must find her in case their secret is discovered. So they hire Matthew, an ex-cop private detective.

The story, past and present, is told mainly from Beth's perspective, interspersed with that of Matthew and Carol, and there is a long, slow build up before we finally find out what the secret is. From that point things start to move pretty fast and there were a couple of big reveals that I didn’t see coming.

I enjoyed Ms Driscoll’s writing style and her descriptions of life at boarding school. It came as no surprise to read in the authors notes at the end that she did actually go to boarding school herself. The back story of Matthew was also very interesting.

This was my first book by Teresa Driscoll and I will now be looking up her back catalogue.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book "The Promise" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. I had trouble staying focused on this story. Towards the end it did get better but not sure I can recommend. This was a slow story to get going. I really thought the "incident" was going to be much more severe. Overall an okay read. The chilling new psychological thriller is in the title but I did not find it to be a thriller.

With thanks to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

The Promise is about three school friends Beth, Sally and Carol. At the age of 14 tragedy struck one of the girls during the Easter holidays. Scared to tell their parents the three girls make a promise not to tell.

In the present day Beth and Sally receive a letter to say their catholic boarding school is due to close. Beth and Sally have tried to forget the tragedy and are reluctant to go. Carol left the convent when she was 16 and now lives in France. Carol distanced herself as an adult and not seen her friends for years. Unsure whether to go Beth decided to hire ex policeman Matthew Hill to find her.

I agree with other readers that The Promise is a slow burner but that didn't put me off. The story really got going for me at the 60% mark, but after that there were so many twists and turns I was left reeling. I kicked myself for not guessing the girls secret, it was heart breaking but sensitively done.

The chapters were divided between Before and Now 2016, ,the story is told from the POV of Beth, Matthew and Carole.

I liked the characters in this book especially Sally, Matthew and Carol`s young next door neighbour.

I highly recommend this five .star 🌟 read.

What did Beth, Carol, and Sally do that was so bad they promised never ever to tell? Well, you won't find out for a while. Whatever it was, it happened at a school run by nuns and that school is about to be demolished. Sally and Beth are frantically trying to find Carol, even hiring a private detective. Told in dual time lines, this one takes a while to get going but eventually it delivers. You might guess the secret but there are other aspects of this that make it a good read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.