Debut writer, Caitlin Wahrer has written an accomplished and immersive novel which is a real page turner of a psychological drama. It’s about Nick Hall, a gay 20 year old College student who goes out one night with friends, meets an older man at a bar and goes back to a motel with him for a one-night stand. The next morning he wakes up covered in blood, bruised and alone in the room with no real memory of what happened the night before. Compassionate and diligent Detective John Rice is determined to bring the perpetrator to justice but finds himself tied up in the intricacies of the Hall family.

Nick is the younger brother of Tony, a family orientated and fiercely loyal man who has been a father figure to Nick protecting him from their cruel alcoholic and violent father. There are 17 years between them but they are incredibly close, with Tony’s wife Julia, a former lawyer, seeing him more like a little brother than a brother in law. Nick’s sexual assault upends their lives completely and creates fractures in their family unit. Nick is traumatised, becoming increasingly withdrawn and Tony feels immense guilt at being unable to protect his brother, whilst Julia tries to keep her family from falling apart.

When the man who assaulted Nick is found and arrested, he tells a different story to the one Nick has provided. He says that Nick consented and wanted things to be rough and that Nick is lying. As Nick doubts his memories, Tony becomes increasingly distressed at what has happened to his brother and tensions begin to mount.

This isn’t a police procedural book about bringing a criminal to justice at all, it is more a novel which examines male to male sexual assault, an issue which isn’t really talked about. It is sensitively handled and deeply emotional and as the story becomes public, the media begins to circle, questioning what happened and blaming Nick for his experiences. This trial by press and social media is anger inducing, in fact it made me furious. Wahrer’s writing of this is spot on, challenging preconceptions and bringing to the fore important social issues such as toxic masculinity.

Set over two timescales, late 2015/early 2016 and 2019, it explores the assault and the immediate aftermath, showing us Nick’s fragile mental health and the pain Tony feels, and the long term impact of the events of that night. In 2019, Julia meets with terminally ill Detective John Rice who has been impacted by the case, carrying the scars with him long after it was over. It is clear that this devastating event has caused fissures and damage to all involved.

Damage is such a powerful read; human, clever and emotive and it has a really great plot which really kept me guessing. This doesn’t feel like a debut novel at all, it is clearly well researched and whilst it deals with a difficult issue it does so with great sensitivity and is an absorbing read. Highly recommended.

A gripping, shocking debut.

This is hard hitting and the subject matter is quite emotive and shows how a family has to deal with the aftermath of a violent sexual assault.

Book is very well written - it's hard to tell that this is a debut.

What a roller-coaster. You never know what is going to happen next. A brutal rape and its repercussions not only on the male victim but on his family.
Hooked me from the start, made uncomfortable reading at times but so believable that it could happen in real time.

3.5 stars. This book started off really well and hooked me from the beginning. It then unfortunately slowed down and I struggled to continue. It definitely has potential but I felt it was too long and went into too much unnecessary information. The ending was unexpected and I enjoyed it

Tony had always looked out for his younger brother, Nick. So when he's called to a hospital bed where Nick is lying battered and bruised after a violent sexual assault, his protective instincts flare, and a white hot rage begins to build. As a small-town New England lawyer, Tony's wife, Julia has cases involving children all the time.
when Detective Rice get assigned to this one, Julia feels they're in good hands. Especially as she senses Rice, too, understands how can quickly get complicated. Very complicated.

This book is a bit of a slow burner and it's told from multiple points of view, But it's worth sticking with as it gets more gripping as the tension builds. This is a well written story that covers quite a sensitive topic. I never saw the twist at the end coming. The characters were well developed. This is a really good debut novel.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #PenguinMichaelJosephUK and the author #CaitlinWahrer for my ARC of #Damage in exchange for an honest review

This is quite a gritty psychological thriller. A young man wakes up in a hotel room, discovering that he has been assaulted by the man he willingly went to the room with the night before. An interesting spin on the standard rape story. However, the story isn't so much about the rape and the victim, but the repercussions of the case as his protective step-brother and his wife try to cope with what has happened, and is happening, to the victim.

The story is told well, although it does jump back and forth in time as we follow the case in the past, but then the detective is talking to the sister in law in the present, with hints of what has happened. And who do we believe? Is Nick telling all the truth, is Tony on a course of self-destruction in his determination to protect and avenge his brother? It explores the lengths we will go to help those we love, as well as how much self-preservation will kick in, regardless of who else it may hurt.

The story develops quite slowly, but that gives the reader time to absorb all the nuances and understand what is happening, and how people are damaged by one shocking night out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a strong, well written drama about a terrible sexual assault on a young male and the ripple effect on his closest family. The characters are so well written and it's a real page turner.

It's not an easy read at times, but, I struggled to put it down and was gripped by the twists and turns.
Nick is the young man who is assaulted and the story revolves around him, his brother Tony and his sister-in-law, Julia as well as the police detective, Rice.
Nick and Tony are very close, particularly as their abusive, alcoholic father was pretty absent as they grew up, so, they've learned to depend upon each other. This makes Nick's reaction to the situation all the more explosive.

A really good strong 3* Good Read from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for the opportunity to preview.

A traumatic male rape tests a family’s bonds and their individual values on law, justice and retribution.
It’s a powerful page-turner that starts with a cop in 2019 who was on the investigation and wants to know the real truth and confess, before he dies of cancer, and the unfolding case in 2015/16.
The characters are very believable and the topic of male rape is handled with sensitivity and awareness of the issues. It also maintains a fine balance between family drama and thriller that feels worthy of John Grisham at times.

I’d like to thank Ella from Penguin Michael Joseph for inviting me to take part in the blog tour. After being part of the cover reveal earlier this year I was very excited and intrigued to read this one.

The entire story was centred around Nick, a young man who had just been raped and the effects that had on his whole family. It was refreshing to read a rape story where the victim was male as quite often we only associate this crime with female victims. The story is told from several POV; Nick, Tony, Julia and John Rice. It was very interesting to see how events after the rape unfolded and how each character felt at different points. The short snappy chapters kept the pace going and had me wanting to know more and more.

My heart broke for Nick and what he went through, his story was told with sensitivity and a care that matched his beautiful personality. I was in awe of his relationship with Tony and there were tender moments between the two of them that made feel so comforted by the strength of their sibling bond.

Tony at times seemed to have a harder time than Nick at coping. This was largely due to his need to protect Nick as that was what he had done his whole life. The role Tony had taken on his own life carried its own burdens and Caitlin Wahrer deals with these issues effortlessly. She showed the impact a rape case has not just on the victim, but the family as well.

Julia was desperate to be there for everyone and keep everyone happy. She truly was the rock, the go between and everything else that the two brothers needed. The conversations between herself and John Rice had me running a million different theories through my head and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Whilst we had a few twists and turns along the way the final revelation was well thought out and left me speechless. Caitlin Wahrer has created a brilliantly disturbing debut, full of emotion, that I found impossible to put down. It will stay with readers long after they’ve turned the final page.

Please don’t forget to check out the other stops on the blog tour and get yourself a copy of Damage!

Fantastic story.
It kind of takes you on a journey that you expect but it takes a few unexpected twists along the way. You kind of sense what is going to happen, especially as its centred around a family, but when you think you have it sussed - BANG! another twist,

I loved it from the beginning, the middle and to the end ...

This book is a gritty thriller which covers some hard hitting topics including child abuse/neglect, rape and self harm. The story follows Nick after he is brutally raped and assaulted and his family members, Tony and Julia, who are doing their best to support him through this difficult time. The book follows the investigation into finding and prosecuting Nick's assailant and the realities that come following such a personal and horrific crime.

It flicks between the time of the crime and the current time which was slightly confusing at first, but once I got in to the book, it became the perfect way to build suspense and drop clues about the way the story was going to turn out. There were many twists and turns along the way and I regularly found myself putting myself in the character's situation and wondering what I would do. The book ends up making you think about the justice system and just how far you would go to protect your family.

It took a few chapters to get in to, but after that, I was hooked and ended up having few late nights to get it finished!!

It's hard to believe this superb family drama of a psychological thriller is a debut, Caitlin Wahrer sensitively examines an issue that rarely gets any coverage and which society is deeply uncomfortable with. 20 year old gay Maine student, Nick Hall meets the much older good looking 'Josh' at a bar, leaving with him for a one night stand at a motel. The hellish nightmare of this terrifying encounter results in Nick being brutally sexually assaulted, he reports it to the police. The case is taken on by the caring and compassionate Detective John Rice, determined to do the best he can to get justice. The repercussions of what has happened to Nick devastates his family, his older brother by 17 years, Tony, is happily married to former lawyer, Julia, and has two young children, Chloe and Sebastian.

Tony has been a protective and loving father figure for Nick throughout his growing up years, he is left reeling, feeling helpless and guilty that he wasn't there for Nick when he needed him most. Against all the odds, the perpetrator is identified and charged, and upon attaining bail, persuasively articulates in the media that Nick's version of what happened is lies, and that it was Nick who had wanted the 'rough sex'. The public weigh in with their uninformed opinions, judgements, and comments on social media, intensifying the stress and pressures on Nick and his family. Nick's life further unravels, affecting his fragmenting mental health, questioning his concept of masculinity and his identity, struggling with the concept of being a victim and the loss of power associated with it, unsurprising particularly given society's discomfort with male rape victims. Julia becomes increasingly worried as Tony's rage and need for vengeance threatens her marriage and the family. Where will it all end?

There is a dual narrative, with most of the storyline set in 2015, going into 2016, and a meeting in 2019 at the home of Detective Rice, dying of cancer, discussing with Julia the personal cost to him of Nick's case. One of the strongest parts of the novel is the documentation of the fallout of the sexual assault on Nick, the trial preparations and process, his self hatred, his conflicting feelings, and just how low things got for him, and how long it can take before therapy can have any meaningful impact. This is a wonderfully thought provoking read, hard hitting, dark, intense, suspenseful, and with an array of twists that made this an utterly riveting and emotional rollercoaster of an experience. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Wow- I needed to take a moment to process this book which I loved!
The characters leapt off the page, each with their own human traits, frailties and flaws, each pulling me into their world of family, emotions, fear and confusion. Julia, Tony & Nick Hall.
Detective John Rice made for an excellent and astute detective, with his devotion to the job and his church, showing a real warmth and understanding of people.
The story runs at a pace throughout, told from a variety of characters POV and also different timelines. There was never a moment when I wasn’t compelled to just read a bit more, wanting to follow the unfolding well-plotted story.
The difficult subject matter (male rape) I felt was handled effectively but with sensitivity throughout. The honesty with which the author captured the characters thoughts and secrets was perfectly crafted. I highly recommend this book - a cracker of a debut novel!

I've spent about ten days with Nick, Tony, and Julia. Julia and Tony are married, and Nick is Tony's younger brother. They both suffered at the hands of an abusive father, Tony has always been Nick's protector. When Nick is violently assaulted, Tony finds it hard to cope with the fact that he wasn't there, and things start to spiral out of control..
An interesting read with emotionally charged characters

The premise of this book was interesting, there are not many books talling about male sexual assault. Unfortunately I didn't finish it as I found it it wasn't gripping enough, I was getting bored and the writing is not my cup of tea.

Wow, this novel really hits hard. It blew me away, and that kind of came out of nowhere because I stumbled upon it only through another review on goodreads. I'm really lucky I did, because this is such an amazing book.

Part police procedural/thriller, part literary drama, "Damage" deals with the aftermath of a rape. A crime so brutal and horrible, it impacts not only the life of the victim, Nick, but of his entire family too. The sibling relationship between Nick and his older brother Tony, who is more like a father to him, really, is both touching and heartbreaking. All the characters are complex and well-written, and quite frankly, this book is a series of gut wrenching moments that I will definitely take with me. Noth the storytelling and the writing are outstanding and I quite liked the commentary regarding male rape victims - it's an important topic that is still rarely being talked about in more mainstream media. "Damage" manages to raise awareness while at the same time keeping up a high level of suspense. I read this in one sitting because I simply could not put it down.

Also the author really got me good at a later point at a story. I was about to actually be disappointed with certain plot developments until Wahrer just turned it all around and played me like a fool. I loved it. So while this novel centers around very heavy topics and truly takes its time to show the emotional and psychological toll a crime like this can take on all the people involved, it doesn't lave you feeling exhausted and depressed. While the ending might be controversial to some, for me it just feels like a victory. It's as dark as the rest of the novel - and fits it perfectly thus.

Easily a 4,5 stars read with the very minor complaint that I never really connected with the detective character, rounded up to 5 because of the sheer importance of the novel's subject matter.

I quite enjoyed this book but found it a bit slow in places . On the whole though it was well worth reading . I enjoyed the family dynamics and the love between the brothers. Quite hard to read with the assault but it’s what happens in real life . I didn’t predict the end which is unusual and I will recommend this book . Only four star as it was a bit slow at times

Damage by Caitlin Wahrer Pub Date: 8 July 2021
Sometimes, the true story is the hardest to believe.
TONY has always looked out for his younger brother, Nick. So when Nick is badly hurt, and it seems like he was the victim of sexual assault, Tony's anger flares.
JULIA is alarmed by her husband Tony's obsession with Nick's case. But, of course, she's always known Tony has a temper. But does she know what he's capable of?
NICK went out for a drink. After that, everything's a blank. When he woke up, he found himself in a world of confusion and pain, and the man who hurt him doesn't deny doing it. But he says the whole thing was consensual.
Three ordinary people, one life-shattering event. When the police get involved with this family in crisis, all the cracks will start to show.
Wow-what an outstanding debut; Caitlin Whahrer should be mighty proud of herself.
The storyline is descriptive, unsettling and original; it covers Male Rape, a complex subject, but it is refreshing to be reminded that men can also be victims of sexual assault. The author covers the topic with perception and sensitivity, especially the feelings of shame and confusion.
The inventive twists propel the story forwards, and I didn't predict how the novel would end.
I am thrilled to recommend it.
I want to thank NetGalley, Penguin Michale Joseph UK and author Caitlin Wahrer for a pre-publication copy to review.

Tony and Nick had pretty grim childhoods with different mothers and an aggressive alcoholic father. Tony looked out for Nick all through his young life.

An evening out for Nick turned into an appalling crime which set the scene for this story.

Tony and his wife Julia continue to support Nick and try to be of help wherever it is possible but this situation has made huge complications in their lives and the different ways in which they deal with what has happened.

It is a difficult subject to read but was well written. However, for me it was not a fast pace book and dragged too much in quite a few areas.

Tony has always looked out for his little brother Nick. He is married to Julia with two small children.
Nick goes out to meet a friend one night and wakes up the next morning in a hotel room, badly bruised and battered, a victim of a sexual assault.
The man who did it says it was consensual which Nick denies.
Tony has a temper and now he is angry. Angry about what has happened to Nick and angry at the person who did it.
The police are now involved but can the family hold up under the pressure.
Watch out for the twist at the end!