Cover Image: A Window Breaks

A Window Breaks

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Member Reviews

A truly enthralling storyline. Had me hooked from beginning to end. I throughly enjoyed this book and would recommend.
Thank you Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for giving me the opportunity to give my unbiased opinion and to C.M. Ewan for writing such a good book

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This is one of those books where you can just picture it as a movie! Action packed, it drew me right in, was up till the early hours racing through the pages - great story and would definitely recommend!

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The blurb says:

You are asleep. A noise wakes you.
You stir, unsure why, and turn to your wife.
Then you hear it.
Glass. Crunching underfoot.
Your worst fears are about to be realized.
Someone is inside your home.
Your choices are limited.
You can run. Or stay and fight.
What would you do?

My thoughts:

What a book this is! I read it in one sitting and was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I had no idea where this book was leading to and it was a big surprise. I was left out of breath by the end of the book and my jaw had hit the floor. I would definitely recommend this book. 5*

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This was a Harlan Coben type of thriller with the pace never ending from start to finish. I did find Tom a bit cowardly at times which he excused by callling himself just a husband or dad, to which extent he had to be rescued a few times by Rachel even though she had just suffered with a dislocated shoulder, something that would have caused her immense pain. That poor dog, being hit with a tranquiliser dart and then heaved from pillar to post but thank goodness he survived, killing off family pets in a book is a real no no for me. I'm, not sure if the author has written other books so I will definitely look out for those. I also felt sorry for Brodie, who was only trying to protect Tom's family putting himself literally in the firing line. It's only as you get further on towards the end that you understand why Brodie didn';t call the police. Why oh why did Rachel taunt the killers, in full view and complicit with Lionel and Brodie, knowing that they would come to the lodge with murder on their minds. They all seemed totally unprepared for the fall out that was inveitably going to happen, Lionel was, of course, very silly letting Ryan overpower him at the end, that bit was all over the place as though they hadn't planned it properly. The winning part for me was the inclusion of Michael and Fiona all the way through, giving us their own true version of what happened the night of their death, this was a masterstroke in the book. .

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A tense thriller with a good sense of place. The fear is really ramped up in this book. Keeps you engrossed and guessing right until the end.

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A Window Breaks is a psychological thriller by C.M. Ewan.
It centres around a family who are clearly all grieving for the loss of their teenage son/brother who got killed in a car crash. Fast forward to them all escaping to a luxurious lodge in the middle of nowhere due to other recent events with the idea of healing. It soon becomes a terrifying fight for survival when they are woken in the middle of the night by a window breaking.
The author makes you feel like you are there with the family in a claustrophobic, tense battle where not everything is as it seems and It is clear that someone knows more than they are letting on. There were more than a few moments where I was on the edge of my seat wanting to cry out to help them, desperate for them to escape.
There is also a moment near the end that is beautiful and heart-breaking at the same time so much so it made me cry - just wonderfully done. I will definitely be looking for more titles by this author.

Thank you Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the chance to read this book in return for an honest review.

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I loved the suspense of this book and it was genuinely a book that kept me reading till the end. In fact one night I stayed up too late reading it as I didn’t want to put it down. Well worth your time reading it.

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I lived this book, it was a fast paced thriller that had me hooked from the first page! The characters were very relatable and I loved the way the story unfolded.

Many thanks to netgalley and C. M. Ewan for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

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very interesting read with great story line and plot! I really enjoyed reading the story line and the plot was great too. Love other books by this great author.

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A fast paced thriller that kept me engaged through the book. It is the sort of tale you can imagine as a TV film. I enjoyed it right to the end and that disappoint either.

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A Window Breaks by C. M. Ewan is a thriller based on one family’ s horrendous experience while recovering from the unexpected and tragic death of their son. It’s one of the most gripping and intense books I’ve ever read and, for anyone who enjoys a frantic pace, it’s a winner. There were times I felt the parallel story of the son’s accident detracted from the main story. I also believe there is too much inner dialogue from Tom which gets in the way at times. Overall it’s a scary, tense read.

My thanks to Netgalley and Pan Books for the opportunity to read it.

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A cat and mouse thriller. London lawyer Tom and his family find themselves victims of a home invasion at a large luxury lodge on a remote Scottish estate. They must do all they can to avoid capture from the intruders who wish them harm. Starts slowly but the tense twisty plot and action build up to a clever conclusion.

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A well-written thriller, a little creepy in places made my hair stand on end. and packed full of tension. A little slow to start, but once it gets going it will keep you on the end of your seat. Recommended.

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I struggled to get into this, the flashbacks made it difficult to get into the story. Overall I think the plot was great and the characters were interesting but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

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This one wasn't for me unfortunately. These sorts of books are a let down recently. I need to be more selective in what I request going forward.

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This book took me a while to get into. Especially with the flashbacks.

About a third of the way through it really hit it's stride and I was hooked. This was a proper edge of your seat book. Which I would definitely recommend.

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Tom, Rachel and Holly are staying in an isolated, luxurious lodge in the Highlands which belongs to Lionel, Tom’s boss. The isolation, electric gates and fences plus a state of the art security system means they are perfectly safe, doesn’t it? So when they are woken by a window breaking they are terrified. There then follows a horrific few hours as the family try to outwit the intruder/s. This is one of those “how will they get out of this” books as they lurch from one crisis to another. A truly adrenaline filled story which grips very tightly from start to finish. It would have been 4 stars but for the fact of who was responsible - very hard to swallow & just a trifle far fetched! Despite that I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

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I was really looking forward to this book. Isolated in the Scottish highlands. A window breaks. Someone is inside the house. What do you do? But, the most exciting part was the premise...and upon re-reading that, even that wasn't all that exciting.

Tom, his wife Rachel and their 13 year old daughter Holly were staying in a remote lodge in the Scottish highlands, owned by Tom's boss Lionel. The family are still grieving the loss of their 16 year old son, Michael who was tragically killed when he snaffled his father's Audi and took it for a joyride with his girlfriend Fiona, lost control and crashed into a tree. Both were killed instantly. Then the family were mugged that left daughter Holly mentally scarred.

The remote lodge is stunning, the views are spectacular, and it seems to be a perfect place to relax and regroup...until they hear a window break at 2am one night. And that is just the beginning of their nightmare.

Secrets soon begin to reveal themselves at which the centre is wife Rachel, who appears to know more than she is letting on. But what had me the most interested was the intrigue behind Michael's death as this claustrophobic read revealed its secrets.

However, I couldn't connect with the characters. Tom didn't appear to have much backbone, Rachel was secretive and Holly was irritating. But what I really hated was the slow pace that seemed to be going nowhere before anything started to happen. And then when it did, it was confusing and I didn't enjoy it.

I must be in the minority as so many seemed to have loved this book but it wasn't for me. You can't enjoy them all. It's not an easy book to review either because I didn't even finish it. I don't have time for books that are slow burning and fail to grab my attention in the first 10 to 15% as I have many more on my TBR list that will be far more thrilling.

I would have liked to discover what happened with Michael's car crash that seems to be a focus of every few chapters but I just have to resign myself to the fact it is one of those things that I will never learn the truth of. My need to know is not that great that I must read the rest of A WINDOW BREAKS to find out.

I would like to thank #CMEwan, #NetGalley and #PanMacmillan for an ARC of #AWindowBreaks in exchange for an honest review.

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I honestly do not know how I feel after reading this book. For me it seemed to drag on and it had so many things happening but the story just kept going round in circles.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for a free galley in exchange for my honest review. My review of this book is going to fall in-line with many of my fellow Goodreads reviewers. The author instantly captured my attention with some great narrative hooks - how did Tom's son die? why was the son responsible for his girlfriend's death? why was the his daughter Holly attacked? why is his marriage strained? what is Rachel, his wife, hiding? why are they going to hide out for a while in a remote yet highly-secured Scottish lodge? who are these men who have managed their way around all the high-tech security in the middle of the night with all the essentials to murder Tom and his family? So many questions in the first part of the story that really sucked me in and kept me turning the pages. Unfortunately I felt that the second half of the book was a bit drawn out and exhaustive. I wish the author would have edited this down to the 300-350 range in order to keep the initial momentum through to the very end. Ultimately, I still enjoyed the book and thought it was a clever plot in a unique setting.

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