Another great novel by Chris McGeorge. Intriguing storyline, with just a little plot hole re Cara’s father. Liked the way it was split into different parts and had a number of twists I didn’t expect.

It took me a little while to get into it but I really enjoyed it after that. Some great twists in the various parts

I read this book as part of an online Readalong with 60+ other members of THE Book Club and having read this author’s previous books I knew I was in for a bit of a mind f*ck with twists, turns and lots of “huh” moments.

Inside Out is written in 3 parts – which worked perfectly with our readalong as we were only allowed to read one part a week and then discuss it together online. I have to admit that by the time I had finished Part 1 I literally COULD NOT WAIT to start the next part as we had been left on an absolute cliffhanger and I really needed to know what was happening immediately.

Chris McGeorge once again creates a clever “locked room” murder and this time the story is set in a new female high security prison unit somewhere in the UK which is housing some of the most notorious and vicious female criminals. Cara is our main character, a young women found guilty of a dreadful, vicious and bloody murder and is facing life in prison even though she knows she is innocent, however when her cellmate and friend is found dead one morning Cara is the only obvious suspect and now she is on a deadly cat and mouse chase to find out who really killed her cellmate and why she is being framed.

If you like stories that are twisty and keep you guessing throughout then I am sure you will enjoy this book. It’s a fast paced, page turner which kept me entertained and intrigued.

I raced through this book as the pace was great and I couldn't wait to find out more. I loved the set up, the middle but it lost me a bit towards the end. I think it was not as clever as I was expecting it to be in the end for a locked room mystery which is what it sold itself as.

Cara Lockhart, aka The Butcher is transferred to a brand new prison called North Fern. North Fern has state of the art technology, all prisoners have a wrist cuff allowing them in certain areas of the prison, there are no windows, just illuminated views. Despite this technology a prisoner is shot while locked in her cell, no one entered or left and Cara, the other call mate never moved. Cara need to clear her name...
A real page turner, with an unusual plot. I really enjoyed the pace of the storyline and characters are well developed. Lots of twists and I will certainly be looking for more to read by Chris McGeorge. 5 stars!

After a slow start, this book gained momentum and drew me into its’ twisty, sophisticated plot.
Cara Lockhart has been convicted of a gruesome crime - enough to earn her the nickname’The Butcher’ but, as with other details of the story, you have to wait to gradually piece it all together. The story has plenty of anomalies from the start and your mind is kept active puzzling out various scenarios.

The setting, an unusual, futuristic prison, comes to life from excellent description -bleak North Fern, and with it Madeleine Krotes, the enigmatic governor, causes hairs to stand on end desperate to work out at least some of the mystery.

This book is written in three distinctive parts, and also different times, from present day to the recent past and also to the deeper past.

The plot cleverly changes at different points in the books and I found myself with surprisingly different questions forming in my mind.

I loved meeting the eclectic range of characters, from Barnard to Essie, all brought to life very effectively. By the end of part two, I was desperate to read on (tricky when you are part of a Readalong). I devoured the last part quickly and was relieved (and shocked) when I realised the plot was beginning to unfurl some of mysterious goings on, fascinated as the pieces of the complicated plot began to drop into place.

Great premise, great set up, lots of tension and revelations and then... in the last 20% or so everything went a bit mad. I still had some questions and I was not on board with the ending.

Chris McGeorge is definitely known for his locked room mysteries. Having only ready his debut “Guess Who”, I was really excited to be accepted to read his third book “Inside Out”.

The premise of the story is intriguing and exciting from the start. You certainly can’t get more locked in than a prison, and with a futuristic prison like ‘North Fern’, once you’re in you don’t come out.

Our narrator and main character ‘Cara Lockhart’ has been imprisoned for a double homicide that she’s adamant she didn’t commit. To make matters worse, her cell mate ends up dead next to her and she’s the only suspect on the list. Why she’s there and whether she committed the crimes are big factors in the story.

“Inside Out” is written in three parts. The first sets up the scene and characters, the second gives the background and history as to why Cara is imprisoned and the third and final part is the moment it heads towards a dramatic denouement.

For me, the second part of the story dropped in pace considerably and spoilt my overall rating of this book. That being said, the ending and the way everything was pulled together was very clever and had me hooked right up until the last sentence.

I really do enjoy Chris McGeorge’s writing style and I must go and read his second book before he comes out with his fourth.

Thank you to NetGalley, Chris McGeorge and Orion for the opportunity to read this title.

The twists and turns in this book were plentiful, just when I thought I knew what was going on BAM you were hit with another twist.

Told over both past and present timelines, I found it somewhat confusing at times but over all it was a thrilling and interesting read. Not wanting to give anything away I’ll just say that this is a really interesting and gripping story, and I recommend you read it.

The twists and turns in this book kept it difficult to read in portions as were were required to do. It was a fast read, that kept you guessing until the end. Twisted minds, enjoyed this book, would recommend.

‘Inside Out’ is the latest book by Chris McGeorge.

Cara Lockhart has just commenced a life sentence in HMP North Fern – the newest maximum security women’s prison in the country. She was convicted of a crime she is adamant she didn’t commit. One morning she wakes up to find her cellmate murdered – shot in the head with a gun that is missing. The door was locked all night, which makes Cara the only suspect. Cara needs to clear her name, unravelling an impossible case, with an investigation governed by a prison timetable. But as Cara starts to learn more about North Fern and the predicament she is in, she finds connections between the past and present that she never could have imagined. Indeed it seems that her conviction and her current situation might be linked in very strange ways.

I spent today reading ‘Inside Out’ and I have to admit it’s one of the best crime thrillers that I’ve read in a while, with so many twists weaved throughout that I was unable to put it down.

The story is primarily about Cara who’s just been moved to a new prison facility called North Fern. It’s a new concept prison with out actual access to the outdoors with screens projecting fake sunshine and the outside. But Cara and her cellmate Barnard are convinced that there’s something sinister at work at North Fern and when Barnard is found dead, all fingers point to Cara, even though she is innocent. Cara is trying to prove her innocence as well as stay away from the other inmates who hate her for her alleged crime.

Cara is an interesting character, she’s quiet and keeps to herself. She’s known as ‘The Butcher’ for brutally killing 2 children, even though she’s always denied it. Other inmates turn on her or fear her for her crimes.

I loved this story, it’s so chillingly written with creepy characters and horrible scenes of mental torture and hallucinations that made for unsettling reading. Every Saturday, the inmates were made watch the same film for movie night called ‘Rain on Elmore Street’ and the distress was evident on each page of how this ordeal made them feel.

The story is seen from the perspective of other characters and this really pulls the story together in the end and has led Cara to the situation that she’s in.

A fantastic thriller with unreliable characters and narratives that really pulled the reader in. ‘Inside Out’ is a complex and cleverly crafted book that is a real page turner and was impossible to put down until I reached the final page.

You can pre-order ‘Inside Out’ from Amazon and will be available to buy from good bookshops from 29th October.

Inside Out is a locked room mystery. Cara, the butcher, is serving a life sentence in jail when she is moved to a new facility. She is trying to adapt to her new surroundings while dealing with her reputation. The new facility is no ordinary jail. There is no outside time, there are screens showing landscapes that masquerade as windows and other odd things.

I was taken for a ride at the beginning of the book. I was very interested in the jail, Cara and the other characters. And the author did a good job of building interest in Cara’s background, the jail and a murder that happens during the book. But as the book concludes, I was a little unsatisfied with the ending.

This is my first book by the author. A new author is always an unfamiliar territory and I always feel a certain anxiety, particularly with psychological thrillers , about whether it might step over a line I cannot cope with. At moments I did feel this was heading that way but it didn’t. I think it will be a real marmite one, perfect for book clubs. Set in a woman’s prison with a difference. Cara ‘the butcher’ is sent to North Fen, a prison supposedly trialling some radical new methods. Cara protests her innocence but seems condemned to a life of prison brutality and cruelty. Then her cell mate is shot dead. No gun is found and the cell was locked. Cara is determined to prove her innocence and find out what is going on. This is a compelling read, fast paced, edgy and unputdownable! You occupy a harsh, cruel world for much of the book and it does feel that everything is stacked against Cara. The marmite bit comes with the ending, the reveal/ the motivation. This really didn’t work for me, I felt it just couldn’t happen like that but I’m sure others will find it satisfying!

Firstly a big thank you to the publishers for my copy to review on netgalley . This is a author thats been on my radar for a while .

This is a fantastic crime thriller that i raced through. Its cleverly written and plotted from start to finish.

Unpredictable and exciting, this goes in directions you least expect.

Its slick and sharp with a fresh original voice. Highly recommend.

Published 29th October and ill definitely be reading his other books.

Inside Out Chris McGeorge
This book is split into 3 sections, when I finished section one and moved onto part two of the book I did feel a little confused, part 3 did change direction again but the book does come together well by the end.
I was kept guessing right to the end, I had so many theories as I read and that kept me turning the pages, over all I did enjoy the story.

I absolutely loved Chris McGeorge book Guess who and was hoping that this would live up to the expectations of I had of Guess who.

However, unfortunately for me this wasn't as good as I hoped. However saying this I did enjoy this book the concept was really good, the writing was very good. I liked the idea of the prison and not really knowing where you are going and you cant remember committing your crime......

A twisted and deliciously dark tale of crime, mystery and retribution.

Accused of a crime she is adamant she didn't commit, Cara is sent to a new prison with an innovative design, a place with no windows, no contact with the outside world and certainly no way out.

A s she attempts to adjust to get new life, Cars learns to accept the strange new world, at least,until her climate is murdered, and Cara becomes suspect number one. Now, with only a few days to prove her innocence before being transferred to a new unit, Cara needs to uncover the mysteries that are being concealed.

But everything's not as it seems...

I love books set in prison environment, so that and the "locked door mystery" was what sold this book to me.
HMP North Fern is the newest maximum prison for women in England. Due to the coded electronic cuffs your every move is registered and it's impossible to go anywhere without getting noticed. How is it then, that Cara's cell mat being shot to death in the middle of the night and the only suspect - Cara - is lying motionless on her bed.
I liked the story with the dark and twisted turns. Good read, interesting and entertaining.

Chris McGeorge writes the type of novels that I love to read and even though all of his books are completely different, he gives the locked-in mystery trope always a baffling new spin. In the first novel the objective was to literally get out of a room, in the second novel there was a tunnel where everyone went in but only one person came out and everyone else went missing, and now I had the pleasure of reading about an impossible murder in prison…

This is not a typical prison though, North Fern is one-of-a-kind. The author gives the prison a cool sci-fi vibe with the implementation of electronic cuffs and the replacement of real windows by led screens that only project images of blue skies. They don’t allow visitors in this prison either and if you thought that was horrible, how about having to watch the same fifties movie every single week on movie night for years? Presence mandatory, of course.

This is the place Cara Lockhart is sent to and when her cellmate is murdered, all eyes are on her. I knew she was a convicted murderer – they call her The Butcher – but I believed her. It’s impossible not to sympathise with Cara, she’s easy to like, even identify with, and a clever woman who’s not fooled easily at all. We are not told from the start but intermittent with Cara’s own ‘investigation’ of what is going on the author releases little pieces of the background story that earned her that terrible nickname.

Who, how and why are the million dollar questions and anyone who can solve this puzzle without help shall have my everlasting admiration. I was certainly convinced that someone wanted to set her up but it wasn’t only interested to know who could do this when their cell was locked but, even more interesting was finding out why. Well the truth was a real kicker. I could think of only a few persons capable but I especially enjoyed the shock factor of learning the reasons why all this had happened.

I might not have been the biggest fan of the psychological warfare of the same old movie that Cara had to watch in isolation and the author might have taken it a bit too far there but the plot construction itself was rather genius and it all falls into the right place at the right time.

Inside Out was an exciting read that had me rooting for Cara from the start. It was deviously twisted and I’ve never seen revenge take this kind of proportions. I can’t wait to read his next novel 😃.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for the arc of this book by Chris McGeorge,

4 star read for me- a good quick read read within 24 hours, a hooking, gripping and page turning book had me wanting more, recommend to all.
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