Alice has just lost her youngest son and Kane has admitted to killing him.
But what unveils is two single women trying to uncover the truth.
I enjoyed the book but found it lacking in past.

Two sons. One hates his mum and winds up dead. Simple enough? No! Really loved reading this one. I wasn’t sure at first as it felt a bit like Kevin in We need to talk about....but it’s not. And actually it’s a compliment! 4/5 for a slower start.

One son lied. One son died.

That's the catchphrase for Emily Koch's exciting new thriller KEEP HIM CLOSE, a dark domestic psychological mystery drama with a slow burn that builds with a tension that's palpable. I wouldn't call it a thriller as such but there are parts to it that does have a thriller element. I don't generally like slow burns but this is one that keeps your interest despite its slow pace to begin with.

The story opens with a snippet of the event that is clearly at the centre of this dark mystery. The moment is tense with a fear that is palpable. And then it is gone. Leaving readers questioning "what just happened?"

Alice Hyde is single mother of two teenage sons who couldn't be more different from each other. Benny, the eldest, is sweet and gentle and about to start university in Exeter whilst Lou is the troubled younger child who has never given her a moments peace since the day he was born. But Alice loves her boys despite their differences...and the fact that Lou's intimidating behaviour sometimes scares her that she wonders if she'll ever be free of him. She hates that she thinks that of her own son but unlike Benny, Lou knows how to push her buttons.

The opening chapter, after the rather dramatic prologue, Alice is preparing for Benny's departure for university as well as dealing with the growing fractiousness with younger son Lou. The conversation and barbs Lou alludes to whilst dancing over the loft opening, which he knows will provoke his stoic mother, gives readers the opinion that this boy had little or no respect for her. The boy certainly grated on my nerves as Alice herself presented as cold and aloof. Neither of them are completely likable...at first.

When Ben and Lou leave the house that evening for a night on the town, Alice doesn't know it will be the last time she sees her youngest son. Her boys are 18 and 19, old enough to look after themselves and she doesn't worry when they haven't returned by the time she goes to bed that night. But in the early hours when she gets a knock on the door, she knows something is wrong. Police inform her that there had been an incident which has resulted in Lou's death.

When Benny returns home, he is quiet. He says little though he admits to being there but not at the time of Lou's death so he never saw anything. But Alice fears he is hiding something when things don't add up.

Indigo Owen is also a single mother to 19 year old Kane. He was out with Benny and Lou the night of Lou's death and he is riddled with guilt over something Indigo can't quite understand. He breaks down and tells his mother all he knows and she suggests they tell the police. After all, they are piecing together the events of that night to discover what happened to Lou. But little does Indigo know that this step of honesty on her son's part does little to close the chapter on his guilt over that night. After hours of questioning, police then inform her that they are charging Kane with Lou's murder after he confessed to the incident. Indigo is outraged. She knows her son and she knows he is innocent.

Both Alice and Indigo are desperate to uncover what really happened on that tragic night. Two very different women who, after a chance meeting, unite to find out the truth in the midst of secrets. What will they uncover? Who else was there that night Lou fell to his death? What did they see, if anything? And why, if he is innocent, did Kane confess to killing Lou? Is he protecting someone? If so, who? And Benny - what is he hiding? He certainly seems to know more than what he's letting on.

Alice and Indigo believe they know their boys...but do they really?

A very different type of psychological thriller blended with taut domestic drama that is both dark and tense throughout, KEEP HIM CLOSE is a thought provoking and emotional read. Although it is a slow burn, it is addictive in its tension and powerful emotion. As the story unfolds and the truth slowly emerges, a light is finally cast on the shadow of doubt surrounding that fateful night.

Told primarily from Alice and Indigo's perspectives throughout, readers are also given a short glimpse from the other players on the night in question - Benny, Kane and even Lou himself. These chapters are equally revealing as well as adding to the mystery. A very cleverly written story, KEEP HIM CLOSE is not fast paced or even action packed, but it is addictive with an underlying suspense that will keep the reader hooked to the very last page.

I would like to thank #EmilyKoch, #NetGalley and #RandomHouseUK and #VintagePublishing for an ARC of #KeepHimClose in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed reading, would recommend. Interesting exploration of a mother’s love and brotherly connections

A page turner, one of those books that has you hooked after chapter one.

Worth every minute of sleep book deprivation

This book Kept me turning every page, I couldn't wait to see what happened next,would the truth come out. This is why i love thriller and psychological books. I couldn’t put this book down and I look forward to reading more form this author

When a young man dies in suspicious circumstances two mothers are thrown into turmoil. Alice’s two sons went out together but the morning after the police are knocking on her door to tell her that the youngest, Lou won’t be coming home and his brother Benny is answering some questions at the station. When an appeal is put out from the police for two men to come forward, who has been captured on CCTV, Kane tells his mum that they must go to the police station to tell them that one of the men is him. Indigo waits for him but eventually finds out what he has told them. He admits having pushed Lou from a multi-storey car park, so he has been arrested for his murder.
The story follows the two mums of the young men, their different reactions to events and how they both deal with it. Both women are single parents but have brought up their children very differently. Both Benny and Kane are very tight-lipped about what happened that night. Indigo knows that the only way to find the truth is to find out herself. As far as the police see things, it is an open and shut case as Kane admitted to killing Lou.
We all like to think that we know our children but there is such a lot of other things and people that we don’t have control of. I really felt like I was side by side with these two mothers and so confused to want justice for one for the death of her boy and yet protective for the other. One thing for sure was that it is heartbreaking no matter which side you are on.
To begin with I couldn’t gell with Alice but as the pages turned I felt that I understood her more and felt so very sorry for her. This is a great story which I had all the pieces for, except for the final one that completed the whole picture. A very intriguing story very well written.
I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

A good page turner with brilliant character development. Personally I felt the pace could have been a bit quicker but overall an enjoyable read.

A rather slow story, which felt like writing a lot of stuff about very little happening, but the idea was fairly interesting and I was quite interested to see what happened.

Not one of my favourite reads but I did enjoy some aspects. I am grateful to netgalley for the opportunity to read.

I do enjoy psychological thrillers. ‘Keep him close’ is crime novel number two by British journalist & author Emily Koch. Her first novel, ‘If I die before I wake’ was published in 2018 & ‘Keep him close’ has come two years later- it was just published recently, in March 2020.

When I find myself going through a reading slump, crime novels are what I turn to and they always do the trick. Recently, because of the pandemic and the lockdown, I have found myself only being able to focus on news articles. My attention span is becoming shorter and shorter. So reading this novel quickly, in a couple of days, felt like a welcome relief.

This is the story of two mothers, librarian Alice and art therapist Indigo (yes! Indigo! It is indeed a female name in this novel). Both mothers have teenage sons. One is dead (murdered?); the other is heading to prison as a suspect for the presumed murder.

These two temperamentally very different mothers, Alice and Indigo, find themselves working together (though they didn’t know each other previously) to find out what really happened to their sons. Each, for her own reasons, doesn’t quite believe the story the police is telling them.

This wasn’t one of my favourite psychological thrillers ever: it is ok in terms of plot and suspense, but not sitting-at-the-edge-of-your-seat great. However, it held my interest & I read it quickly. It’s particularly good in depicting mother-teenage son relationships, and the character development is good throughout.

Would be interested what others thought who also read this.

Thanks to #netgalley for offering me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Definitely worth the read!

Two brothers and a friend go out drinking, but only one makes it home.
Both of their mothers on a quest to find out the truth of what happened that fateful night.
A story where everyone has a secret, and it’s a case of uncovering whose secret had the most impact that night... and can they find justice for the son who needs it.

I’m always a fan of books which are narrated by different characters , giving different perspectives. This book is exactly that, told by Indigo mother of Kane, and Alice mother of Benny and Lou. Their longing to get to the truth, and find understanding.
I don’t want to give the plot away, as it’s worth taking that journey yourself -
This book is gripping, emotive, grief stricken, and keeps you page-turning.
Cleverly woven, so descriptive you feel what the characters feel, sharing the same thirst for answers as they do.

I really enjoyed this book and I hope you do too

This pulled me in from the beginning, trying to work out what had happened to Lou. The strength of a mothers love shines all the way through this story. Two mothers who are completely different develop a bond that will live on forever. The feelings in this story will touch you as they are so real. Brilliant writing by a new author that I am sure will go on to write many best sellers.

Poor Alice, but Go Alice were my thoughts throughout this entire story!
Very well written story from both sides of the mother of the victim and mother of the 'guilty' party.

Keep Him Close is one of those books that will get under your skin, and make you re-evaluate yourself and your interactions with others.
After a dramatic opening that establishes something deeply upsetting has taken place, but offers little further, we focus on an almost mundane everyday experience - a mother preparing for one of her sons to leave for university, and a growing fractiousness with her younger son who seems to be growing apart from her. The conversation in the loft hints at problems and secrets, but we go no further. Then we learn that one of the boys doesn’t come home that night.
Alongside this family horror we have another mother, one who has to come to terms with the fact that her only son has been charged with murder.
The question of what actually happened the night Lou died does eat away at us. Was he pushed? Did he fall? Why was he fighting with his brother’s friend? Why were they on the third floor of the car park anyway?
There’s no quick answers. Some of them are hinted at early on, but we’re never entirely sure how the snippets of information link.
What intrigued me about this was the shifting perspectives. We see the viewpoints of both mothers, and a rather odd set of circumstances that lead to them working together to get the answers they so desperately crave.
While our main story is resolved fairly neatly, there are so many things left unsaid. This, no doubt, is deliberate but it left a rather unsettled feel to things.
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication in exchange for my honest thoughts.

It does happen a lot these days a family drama is labelled as a psychological thriller. Nothing wrong with this book at all but if anyone expects a proper thriller might be disappointed. As a family drama is actually a decent book and might find its fans. But the line between family drama and psychological thriller is becoming more and more blurred in my opinion.

The story focuses on two women and their sons. Alice is a librarian and a single mother and lives with her sons Lou and Benny, the latter is about to leave to start uni. Benny seems to be quite mature and well behaved while Lou has a difficult relationship with his mother. Indigo is an art therapist and has one son called Kane who is sensible and sensitive. Alice and Indigo do not know each other but their sons do.

At the beginning of the book Lou is found dead, allegedly pushed from a car park. Kane is arrested and confesses to his murder. But Indigo is convinced that her son is not a murderer and tries to find out the truth.
There are twists but most are quite predictable, the best part of the book is the emotional rollercoaster these two women have to experience. Alice is not very open about her emotions and that creates more problems, especially with Benny. Overall a good read that has kept my attention but more as a drama than a thriller.

I think this is rather an unusual thriller, I come to think of it more as a family drama than otherwise.

Alice is a single mother of Lou and Benny. In contrast to his brother, Lou is painted as difficult, mean and tending to be dangerous at times. Since the first chapters you can easily sense the tension in his relationship with his mother, the origin of their differences are complex and ancient that go way before Lou's birth. Both boys went out to celebrate Lou's A-level results when something horrible happened: Lou is dead due to a lethal fall from a high floor in a car park.
Everything about that evening remained a mystery since Benny refused to tell his mother what exactly happened, or who they were with until Kane Owen came forward and confessed he pushed Lou.
Enters Indigo, Kane's mother, she is an art therapist and also a single parent.
The story is told from the points of view of both mothers in alternate chapters. Both mothers are shattered, but nonetheless resilient to find out what truly happened that night.

the mothers' personalities are absolute opposites: Alice is cold and reserved whilst indigo is artistic and outgoing. The story will bring them together in a weird way, and gradually their goal will converge.

both mothers had a lot of difficulties raising their children by themselves, but their response to trauma was different. Alice was never like her present self, throughout the story a series of events will explain the change that happened to her character.

Despite the fact that the story practically centers on Lou's death, I think the essence of the story dives into the diversity of motherly love. The characterization was genius in my opinion, and the construction of the connections between the characters is definitely unique.
Many thanks to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House for my electronic copy, to read and give an honest review

Lou goes out the pub with his friends, but will never come home again; the events of the evening are surrounded in mystery. None of the others present will say what went on, and then Kane confesses that he was responsible for Lou falling to his death.
Keep Him Close is an unusual crime thriller in that the story is told mostly from the points of view of the mother of the victim, and the mother of the young man who confesses to the crime. The two lads were friends, but their mothers did not know each other. The police are involved but seem particularly inept and happy to take Kane’s confession at face value.
To begin with Alice has the advantage as she works in the library and Indigo comes in looking for help using the computer. Alice knows that Indigo’s son has confessed; Indigo does not know who Alice is. This adds to the tension. As the story progresses, we learn not to judge the characters by first impressions. They all have secrets that only gradually come to light, and through Indigo’s eyes we see a different side to Alice, less rigid and more human.
Once Indigo finds out that Alice is Lou’s mother, and that they are both searching for the truth about the fatal events in the multi-storey car park, they start to work together to clear Kane’s name and find out what really happened to Lou. The backstory is revealed a little bit at a time, ramping up the suspense, until the truth finally comes to light.
Keep Him Close is well written with believable characters and a plot that will keep you guessing right to the very end. I’ve not read anything by Emily Koch before, but I will certainly be looking out for her next book.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this intrigued. However despite starting off somewhat strong I soon lost interest.
I needed something more I felt not enough had happened by 40%. Which is where I decided to DNF. I couldn't force myself to carry on reading.
I felt like I had figured things out early on and had no interest in finding out if I was right or not.

I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy this book. It doesn’t start off well. Alice and her son Lou come across as cold and I really didn’t like them. At first. However, I liked the premise so decided to keep reading. Once the story opened up, I realised they were going to have more depth and wanted to know what was going on. This is a book that raises a lot of questions that are gradually revealed. Why did Lou die? Did Kane kill him? Is Indigo right about her son’s innocence and if so, who is the killer? What is Alice really up to? Will Indigo find out who she is and how will she react? I loved the way the book explores motherhood and the bond between parents and children. I loved the dual narrative used in the book.