Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Imagine waking up, not knowing who you are, where you came from, but knowing that someone is out to hurt you. This sets the premise of this thrilling read, and entertaining until the end. Recommended for anyone who likes a good thrill.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Went in with some questions about it being yet another amnesia story but it was great! Liked the use of music and kept me guessing. Again the marketing was excellent :-)

An action packed debut thriller. After a savage beating, DS Abigail Boone wakes up in a strange room next to a dead body, with absolutely no memory. In a daring escape her captors throw her off a balcony. This is just the first chapter. Jump forward a year, still suffering full amnesia and recovering from extensive physical injuries, Boone decides to re-investigate the missing person case in order to find out what happened to her. A brilliant fast-paced story with great characters, a real page-turner.

Past Life by Dominic Nolan had all of the ingredients for a stunning police procedural and then some! In this first book of the Detective Sergeant Abigail Boone series, Boone as she likes to be known as, escapes from a violent crime almost losing her life. She finds that she has lost all memory of events before that awful day. Boone must revisit the case she was investigating when she was abducted: the baffling disappearance of a young woman, Sarah Still, if she wants to come to terms with what happened.

This marvellously taut and first-rate début included an angry, selfish, flawed but determined and driven former Detective Sergeant, realistic and believable characters and several tense action scenes and revelations in the engrossing, poignant and soul-stirring case. The close was both melancholic and fulfilling and fitted the story. I am already looking forward to the next instalment in what, I think, promises to be a exceptional and remarkable series!

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Headline via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Interesting and enjoyable read. The idea that our existence is measured in mutual recollections is startling, and I very much enjoyed the way Dominic Nolan looked at Boone and her life with no memory of her past life.
The thriller plot was rather convoluted, and some of the characters not convincing - Roo, in particular, seemed oddly collected for a girl with such trauma in her life - but overall a good read.

I’ve struggled to write this review as I really do think the author has a lot of talent (& I really don’t like being negative about books, especially debuts). But although Past Life started really strong, grabbing the readers attention from the very first page, it wained for me after a few chapters and I found myself skimming along to the end. I also found it a little too violent and graphic for my taste. It was refreshing to read a crime novel with lots of strong female characters but unfortunately the main one Boone, just wasn’t very likeable. I get that this was probably because of her memory loss but it meant I just wasn’t invested in her. I pitied her poor husband, who was a lot more understanding and patient than most would be! I quite liked the character of Roo and hope she gets a reprisal if this ends up as a series. I’d like to end by repeating my feeling that Dominic Nolan is a talented writer and I would give him another chance and read his next offering.

Thanks to Netgally and to Headline for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review

Past Lives is a dark, intense page turner with some fantastic characters that just make this book!

The three main characters are all strong female ones that were wonderful to read about. I was especially drawn to Boone as I really admired the determination she showed in trying to solve the case, long after she had to. Roo was another very endearing character whose broken English I felt made her seem slightly more vulnerable though it did make me smile at times as it was quite entertaining. I enjoyed reading about the friendship that developed between the three and the way they worked together to solve their case.

The book covers the difficult subject of human trafficking which makes for a dark, harrowing read at times. The author doesn’t sugar coat the violence and terror that could be included in this situation which makes for quite uncomfortable reading, especially when it was aimed towards characters you have grown very fond of. All this combined makes the situation seem very real which makes reading it a very intense almost unbearable experience. I was on the edge of my seat sometimes as I watched everything play out.

The plot is quite a complex one though Broone’s amnesia gives the author the chance to go into more detail about some areas or go over things again seemingly for her sake but also cleverly gives the reader a chance to get things straight as well. The police investigation was very well described and I found the way it all developed very interesting to follow.

This was an incredibly intense, atmospheric read which I found very difficult to put down. The opening chapter is very intriguing and immediately throws up lots of questions that I wanted to find out the answers to. The short chapters helps give a frantic feel to the investigation and makes for an fast read.

This unbelievably is the author’s debut novel and I’m very excited to read more from this talented author.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Headline for giving me a copy of this book.

Detective Abigail Boone is abducted and seriously injured whilst following up a lead on a missing persons case off the books. Whilst physically recovering to a great extent, her memory of her life before is totally gone, including memories of her husband and son. After leaving her job, Boone (as she now likes to be called) decides to finish what she started with her investigation into the disappearance of Sarah Still.

I'll admit that when I first started reading this one, I disliked the main character, Boone. Yes, she had a traumatic experience, but I felt that she made absolutely no effort with her husband and son. As the book went on, however, the character began to grow on me and I was glad I persevered. The end result is a taut thriller with graphic violence at times but this fits with the story line.

TW: graphic violence in parts

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Headline, for the opportunity to review an ARC.

I quite enjoyed this but felt that it could have been greatly condensed and also that the main protagonist not only more likeable but also more credible.

In Past Life, Dominic Nolan has created an intense, character driven novel that asks some probing questions about the nature of identity.

Abigail Boone was a Detective with Kent Police, investigating the disappearance of a young local woman when she was found badly beaten and with no memory at all. She has literally no recollection of any of her past life. There are some things she instinctively remembers, like how to drive, but the fact that she has a loving husband and a teenage son, there is ….zilch.

She simply does not know who she is and nothing that her family do is making any difference. They try hard, playing her music she has loved, she tries reading novels in her house that she must have enjoyed at some point, but nothing makes a dent in her psyche. She is a stranger to her family and worse, a stranger to herself.

Invalided out of the police with what she regards as undue haste, and isolated inside herself, her only instinct is to go back and look at the case she was investigating when she was abducted. Going now simply by Boone, she begins, with the help of an old colleague, Barb, to go back over the case files that she was investigating.

Devoid of connections, she is a rogue operator. She takes lessons in Krav Magna to help her feel more secure, but apart from that, she investigates this case with all the finesse of a bull in a china shop, not caring who she upsets or what unwanted attention she attracts.

Where she does make genuine, human connections, though is with women who are living on the edge. There are some remarkable characterisations here and friendships are forged which feel true and important, much more so than any connection she fails to make at home.

Dominic Nolan has written a gripping, pacy novel about the very real and horrible subject of people trafficking and it is dark and violent and at moments, almost unbearable to the characters you have come to care about.

There is no glibness here; no easy answers. Life is hard and those who survive have to be harder still. It is searing, intense and some of its characters are strangely endearing, so that you end up caring about a woman who seems to have no care for herself.

Well written, with darkly funny and believable dialogue, it is the depth of the characters that resonates and the sense of melancholy that prevails.

For a debut novel, it is fantastically accomplished.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for an advance copy of Past Life a debut novel featuring former DS Abigail Boone.

Boone was looking for missing person Sarah Still when she disappeared. Four days later she is found but she has no memory of who she is, what happened to her or her former life. A year later she is struggling to find her way in this new reality and decides that finding Sarah Still is the key to finding herself.

I thoroughly enjoyed Past Life which is a gripping debut filled with action, strong characterisation and some very good twists. How realistic her search is is open to question but it certainly makes for an exciting read. It should be noted that there is a fair amount of graphic violence in the novel although none of it seems gratuitous given the circles she is moving in.

The novel revolves around Boone, always Boone, never Abigail who is someone she doesn’t know. The novel is told from her perspective and it’s difficult because she’s in such a strange position. I found her extremely unlikeable but compelling. She is angry and destructive with a propensity for violence and extremely selfish but she is also lost. She comes across like a psychopath having lost her ability to empathise and love, preferring the company of new friends to her husband and son. It is interesting that I didn’t initially like her husband, Jack, as I was seeing him through her eyes, when in fact he is a nice, caring man who wants Abigail back and whom she treats like dirt. I think the author does a tremendous job with her situation and her reactions to it.

It is hard to believe that this is a debut novel as both the plotting and writing are so assured. Once the reader gets used to Boone and her prickly character the plot flows logically according to her way of thinking (to anyone else it seems like a suicide mission) with a series of action scenes and revelations. There is never a dull moment.

Past Life is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Past Life is the debut novel by Dominic Nolan and it is a very good trust on the "lost memory" theme which keeps you interested and guessing until the end.

The book starts off powerfully but then I thought it lost a little impetus for a short while before picking up the once towards to a pact conclusion.

I definitely enjoyed the book and will look out for future books by this new author

Although I found the portrayal of female characters in the novel fresh and compelling, I wasn't wholly convinced by them - do women really talk to each other that way? Not in my experience. I also found the violence a little too graphic for my taste.

But those two niggles aside, as soon as I started reading I was fully committed to staying through to the end - it really is edge-of-your-seat stuff at times and the themes of memory and self left me with much to think about....it's certainly got a lot more depth than your average thriller.

A really excellent debut, I'll be keen to read what Nolan does next...

This is a hard-hitting debut novel from the start. Be warned it is not for the faint-hearted as there are one or two very graphic scenes, Boone is an ex-police officer invalided out of the force after horrific injuries sustained in the course of duty. The book deals not only with her loss of herself and lack of memory about her husband and son but also with her knowledge that she has to pursue the people who tried to kill her. Boone relates to Roo, a fellow sufferer at the hands of her captives; Tess, the daughter of a felon Boone had arrested and Barb, a fellow officer. All are strong characters and it is refreshing to have four females dominating a novel of this genre.
The book is well written and plot driven while still exploring the characters and their issues.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Dominic Nolan/Headline for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Simply brilliant. Well written an assured. I read lots of crime fiction and this is an author that I want to read more of. Dominic Nolan is an author to watch.

This is a fast paced thriller of a ride, about a police detective who, having been subjected to horrific injuries, loses her memory. She knows she was involved in missing persons cases and there is one woman she is still keen to track down.
The story takes us through her private life and the difficulties she faces re-entering a marriage with a son, having no memory of either as well as her complex relationships with other interesting characters from her past.

It starts off really well, but, for me it meandered somewhat in the middle. Overall, I enjoyed this debut novel and am grateful for Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

A fast paced read with lots of twists and turns. Really liked Boone's character, would love to see more of her in the future. A really interesting plot with the memory issues from the very start. Highly recommended!

This is the debut novel from Dominic Nolan and it is an excellent start to what will hopefully be a prolific career. Amnesia is not an uncommon trope in crime fiction but Nolan uses it in a refreshing and interesting way. Boone was a cop who was violently attacked and remembers nothing from before the assault, including her son. Now not fit to work as a detective, she pursues a case that she was formerly involved in, and the story is gripping from start to finish.