What a read! I'm not often scared by books, but this one terrified me. The best sense of jeopardy in a novel I've read since Misery. Really, really, good. Great characters and a heart-pounding plot.

If you want a rollercoaster ride then this is for you
WOW
Absolutely gripping storyline
With so much suspense and drama you hold your breath throughout
How the plot unfolds and the twists and turns emerge is just fabulous writing.

Highly recommended

Thank you netgalley, C. M. Ewan and Pan McMillan for allowing me to read and review this book.

Wow! What an excellent psychological thriller this was. It keeps you on the edge of your seat all the way through. Full of twists and turns, the most action packed book that I have ever read. I loved the story it was like an home invasion, and the characters and the setting were great also. The ending was a little confusing but all in all what a brilliant read. I loved it.. so will be keeping my eye out for more by this author in the future.
Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this

'A Window Breaks' is tense and heart-thumping from beginning to end. It's the most fast paced thriller I've ever read. The action twists and turns and doesn't let up for a minute. At one point I had to throw it aside and get a nice, calming cup of tea until I'd got my breath back. Brilliant.

A Window Breaks by
C M Ewan
Publisher: Pan McMillan
Ebook - out now
Paperback published Feb 2020

Gripping slow burning thriller. Tautly plotted, this kept me guessing until the end. Highly recommended.
Thank you to the author, publishers and netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

I was kindly gifted this book from netgalley and was excited after previously reading Safe House by this author and loving it.
The author begins by outlining the family and the tragedy they have unfortunately been through of losing their son and an attack on mother and daughter which leads them to take time out and go away.
I did find this book had quite a slow start but then get straight into action and moves quite quickly from there on out.
Throughout the book it focuses on the family living through the ordeal of the intruders but also of flashbacks of the accident with Michael until the end when they finally merge together.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will look out for more by the author in future.

The saying ‘An eye for an eye’ sums up the premise for this extremely fast paced action packed novel. Justice, revenge, vigilante behaviour and the harmful nature of secrets are just some of the themes the author is exploring in ‘A window breaks’.
Tom, Rachel and their daughter Holly have had more than their fair share of tragedy and misfortune with the death of son and brother, 16 year old Michael, believed to be joyriding when fate intervened. Rachel and Holly have recently been subjected to a terrifying mugging and the family are estranged, with Tom living elsewhere and none of them coping well. A break at a lodge in a remote part of Scotland sounds like a way for this broken family to reconnect. Or is it????
That’s all I’m going to divulge of the storyline!! Don’t be fooled by the fairly innocuous start to this novel because once the action kicks off it pretty much stays that way until the end. When I say this is fast paced you need to think 100 mile an hour kind of speed which had me on the edge of my seat, heart thumping. The fact this is adrenaline fuelled all the way is my first criticism as it was a bit too much for my liking, especially when scenes started verging on the ridiculous, stretching the bounds of credulity. Hence why in my opinion you will either love or hate this book. HOWEVER, this is a work of fiction and the author had me completely gripped with the writing, quickly turning the pages to understand the reasons behind this family’s night of horror. So from that point of view the author has done a tremendous job of keeping me thoroughly engaged. None of the characters are particularly likeable; Rachel comes across as cold and clinical but my sympathies lie with daughter Holly caught up in this nightmare. Some readers will be distressed possibly with events surrounding Buster, the family dog, so be warned!
Towards the end I did get a little bit confused in places as to what exactly was happening whilst trying to work out who were the baddies and who were the goodies but as all the pieces of the puzzle are joined together, the plot line does make sense.
I think this would make a great book club read as there’s plenty of points for discussion. How far would you go to exact revenge for a loved one?? Are you prepared to cross the line from good to evil in order to do so?? How well do you really know your loved ones??
I definitely recommend this book. Turn off your phone, suspend reality for a few hours and hold on tight to your seat!!
Thanks as always to the author and publisher and Netgalley for inviting me to read in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed it and left me breathless at times it was such a fast pace, however it could have been so much better had there not been so many descriptive words which I found boring at times and skipped a lot of the pages as it really wasn’t necessary to go into such detail the characters were very good and I would never have guessed who the people were in the house which made you want to read until the end.

This book was action packed all the way through! We start with a family torn apart by the death of teenage Michael in a car crash were he was the underage driver. Parents Tom and Rachel's marriage has fallen apart which doesn't help the healing process for daughter Holly. To help the family, Tom's boss offers him a weekend in his remote Scottish lodge to try and work through their pain and grief. On arrival they are amazed by the place and all it has to offer but, on their first night, there's a noise; breaking glass. Masked men have invaded their safe space and judging by what they have brought with them, it is obvious that their motive is not simple burglary. And thus begins a right cat and mouse game as the trio try and evade capture and, well, basically stay alive. As they start to question everything, including each other, it become more and more tricky as to what is going on and who to trust...
I have to say that I am not a very visual reader usually but, reading this book, it was almost like I was able to see it all playing out in my mind as the narrative progressed. I would absolutely love to see it translated onto the big screen and think it would lend itself very well to this media without being spoiled.
And all this was interspersed with flashbacks that actually play out backwards, detailing the crash that killed son Michael and his girlfriend. As we got closer to the beginning of this story things, well, they started to get a bit clearer. More than that I can't say...
And then the ending. When we eventually found out the whys and wherefores... Oh My Gosh! I really did not expect that! But, and it's an important but... when all was explained, it all made complete sense and I kicked myself for not cottoning on to some of the things I just glossed over...
Hats off and big round of applause to the author for an job extremely well done.
This is my first book by this author although I do have a couple of his others on my TBR. On the face of this one, I am definitely going to be bumping them up. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This is a difficult review to right as with bits I would like to say could lead to plot spoilers which I obviously don’t want to do.

The basic premise is Tom Sullivan is a Lawyer, his wife Rachel is a GP, they had two children but Michael had taken his dad’s Audi one night without permission and was driving with his girlfriend, but crashes the car into a tree, both Michael and Fiona are killed. Move on a year and Tom and Rachel are still struggling to move on. Rachel doesn’t believe their son would just take the car on a joyride, Tom is angry with his son as he felt he was irresponsible by taking the car at 16 and killing not just himself but also his girlfriend. Their other child is teenager Holly. Tom has moved out from the marital home as a break. Toms boss Lionel, runs a company called Justice For All JFA, believing that everyone who has committed a crime should have a second chance I life. He holds a gala charity event, where Rachel is due to give a speech. Tom, Rachel and Holly leave soon after the speech has been given, via a back entrance, but as they get out into the alleyway Rachel and Holly are mugged Tom tries to get to them, but the mugger has a knife at his wife’s throat and Holly has been hit in the face breaking her nose. After this happens they decide to take Lionel’s offer of a week in his lodge where they can try and focus on themselves and getting their marriage back on track. They have been married for 16 years and were together four years previous to getting married.. How well does Tom know his wife? Is she keeping things from him?

For me personally I found the first 20% of the book so slow and boring, and I know the writer is setting the story up, but it just seemed to take quite a while for the action to start. Then a window breaks, the rollercoaster ride begins. But even then I just couldn’t find half of it believable, now normally that doesn’t bother me as I think well it’s fiction and anything goes. Most of the story is told from Tom’s point of view, but the problem is every time he has to make a decision we have him going through every scenario and then should I, or shouldn’t I, after a while that gets just too much. I really felt nothing for the characters if anything I felt for Holly as she was a young girl.
Several problems for me were some of the writing kept repeating itself, when the story was Michael and Fiona you had no warning or paragraph break. It went from one bad situation to another and Tom just kept on and on about what to do next, but then hesitates. I know I think I would have hesitated but it just filled the book up with all those thoughts that half of them just didn’t feel necessary. I kept reading because I really wanted to know where the story was going. But I did have my mind wandering, checking social,media. It just didn’t hold my attention.

The story is good, the writing is good, but for me this time was just missing something. Obviously this is just my opinion and others may feel totally different. There were a lot of twists and turns to try and keep the reader’s attention, it just couldn’t hold mine, but as I say I did read it to the end, because I had to know why things had happened.

I would like to thank #Netgalley and #Panpublishers for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

Wow! I haven't read such a tense book in a long time - If you didn't bite your nails before you started reading you will by the end.
I wasn't completely convinced by the ending, but it was great rollercoaster read getting there, and only to be attempted with all the lights on.
Thank you to netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of this book.

A thriller with strong, vivid characterisation that grips you - perfect for the coming cold weather!

Grab snacks, and anything else you might need before diving into this one, go to the loo before, you have been warned!

This one will keep you on the edge of your seat, I shouted 'oh no' more than once reading this!

It starts out a little slow, but then the pace kicks in, and you are running full force for the rest of the story.

Tom and Rachel are married, however they are slowly breaking down, their teenage son died in a car accident, and the blame and hurt are slowly creeping into their marriage, and neither of them really know what to do.

On top of the guilt for their sons accident, their 13 year old daughter was involved in a mugging and although she says she is ok, her swollen face from where the mugger punched her, makes the guilt rear it's ugly face once more.

A family friend offers the family to get away and stay in a lodge that he has in a remote place in Scotland, and although Tom isn't really up for it, they agree as it will give them to have time as a family together, as Tom has recently moved out of the family home to give him and Rachel some space to sort things out in their own heads.

The lodge is amazing, all mod-cons and fancy-pants, with a great big gate to stop other people from coming in.

They have a fab evening and all got to bed as usual, but then they hear a window being broken, and when going to investigate, Tom sees 2 masked men walking around downstairs!!

Tom, Rachel, Holly and Buster the dog have to try and find a way out of the house and to safety, but how can you do that when you are in the middle of nowhere, with no phone signal, and gates the that are supposed to keep people out, are the ones keeping you in?

A thrill-a-minute read, strap yourself in!

What a roller-coaster! The tale starts straight in at a steady pace and gathers speed very quickly. It kept me reading late into the night. The characters are fascinating - particularly Tom, who is not a brave or practical man when it comes to defending his family, which makes him all the more endearing and adds to the tension. Added to that is the very clever reverse tale of Michael and his car accident. An excellent tale well told.
So good to see that the blurb at the front gives nothing away and this adds to the mystery and you have to keep reading to see where the plot is going.
Four and a half stars and I will definitely be reading more by this author.
Many thanks to Netgalley/C.M. Ewan/Pan Macmillan for a digital copy of this excellent title. All opinions expressed are my own.

4.5 stars
This is one of those stories that will keep you up all night and have your pulse rushing like crazy.
I liked that even if the story it’s told in his point of view, he’s very reliable and down to earth, with emotions that are showing through the story and all his thoughts and remorse about his wife and children.
Imagine having to live with the uncertainty of not knowing what really happened when your son was killed and what comes after it’s definitely not a normal life or a life that you were used to.
There are many moments when I really thought “This is not going to end well, this is one of those stories where the main characters are killed”, but it turns out that I was wrong and the end story was very different. It’s a very graphic description of all the events and it makes me wonder if the author has taken some self defence training because there’s a lot of moments where I thought that everything was very well done in the research department.
It’s gripping, it’s terrifying and heartbreaking but most of all, it’s worth of your time and money more than I have expected.

A Window Breaks by C.M Ewan is a 5 star read.
This fast paced thriller had me gripped from the first page, I couldn’t put it down until the end. I would highly recommend this book.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley.

Tom Sullivan and his wife Rachel are mourning the loss of their son, Michael aged 16 yrs who died when he took his dad's car without permission and crashed killing his girlfriend too. The Sullivans decided to take a break in Scotland at his boss's lodge and this is where it all kicks off. The first night men break in, hell bent on killing them. Tom is left wondering why them. As the story progresses, truths, lies and twists come out. There is a lots of flashbacks relating to Michael's death and the story is a nail biter as the Sullivans battle to stay alive. The shocker is why the men are after them, I would never have guessed. A good tense read.

My thanks to Pan Macmillan for an eARC via NetGalley of C. M. Ewan’s ‘A Window Breaks’ in exchange for an honest review. Its ebook and audiobook editions were published on 31st October with the print edition due on 20 February 2020.

In the opening chapter Tom Sullivan with wife Rachel and thirteen-year old daughter, Holly, are heading to Scotland to stay at the remote retreat owned by his boss, Lionel. Four days previously the family had been mugged after leaving a gala event hosted by Lionel. During the evening Lionel had suggested they get away for a brief break to reconnect as a family.

Eight months before this their sixteen-year old son, Michael, had died in a car accident along with his girlfriend. Michael was too young to drive and the coroner’s hearing had concluded that they had been joyriding and Michael had lost control. The entire family was devastated by this event. Following the mugging, Tom accepts Lionel’s invitation.

So now tucked up in bed in the luxurious lodge, Tom is awakened by the sound of a window breaking downstairs .....

Wow and wow again! This was so intense as the twists and turns came one after another at breakneck speed.

In addition to all the action, the characterisations were strong and I felt very invested in the outcome of events. A brilliant thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. I found it was almost impossible to put down.

Highly recommended.

Gripping from the start. I couldn't put this book down. My heart is still pounding. It's full of twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Very cleverly written. I can't recommend this enough. If you love a good thriller this book won't dissapoint.

Sometimes things are so good you just don't realise what you have until it is snatched away. Tom and Rachel have a very nice life, thank you. He is a corporate lawyer, she's a doctor, they have two lovely, level headed, children, Michael, 16 and Holly who is 13, as well as a soppy dog, and everything is right with their world ... until it isn't.

Their lives are turned upside down because of an unspeakable tragedy they have no idea how to deal with or move forward from. Given the opportunity to reconnect with each other at a friend's home in Scotland their peace is inexplicably shattered once more but this time if they don't work together they may never get another chance at anything.

This is an excellent story, the tension is present throughout, there is absolutely no let up from the first page to the last and no obvious hints at what will happen next or what the overall outcome will be. Written in the first person from Tom's perspective there are occasional flashbacks from another point of view to give insight where otherwise it would be almost impossible to discover what started the nightmare there is no obvious reason for or escape from.

The author does occasionally show a softer side, one worked, another, right at the end jarred and seemed out of place but that could just be me. As a stand alone it is brilliantly done and leaves nothing unsolved or unsaid except where there is no other option.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it highly. If you like fast paced, tension packed fiction this is definitely a book for you.