Jane Bell kills her neighbour James by crushing him with her car. Why? You might well ask. She is fiercely protective of her two young children, so when she sees a receipt for items he has bought which could be components for making a bomb, she decides to take action. Killing him is the only choice she has when al the authorities who should have acted fail to do so. James had intended to detonate three bombs at the local primary school, potentially killing nearly three hundred children, her own included.

The premise of this is interesting, unfortunately the writing is so overblown it makes for tedious reading.:

“….my phone rings…..the mobile scuttles across my desk on the legs of its vibrations.” This conjures up an interesting scene in my head where the phone turns into a crab. Surely this isn’t what the author intended?

The detective interviewing Jane has a vivid way of describing his feelings:

“I know it will have infected him the way it has me, a cement mixer dropping its load through your limbs, while you just hope you can get enough done before it sets…”

and this:

“I rub my left palm across my eyes as if I could push away the boulder that’s been dropped into my gut”.

Later we have:

“Then the ice turns to flames, searing through my veins. Red, hot, branding me with fury…”

These are but a few examples which occur just a few pages apart. The author obviously feels the need to bludgeon the reader constantly, with as many words as possible, to get the message across that this detective is a man who cares, who has emotions, who isn’t just an “ordinary run-of-the-mill-everyday-cop with Issues. Enough already. I get the picture. The author would do well to remember that often “less is more”.

I’m less than a third of the way into this book and already I’m overwhelmed with all these words. I can’t continue. I give up.

Enjoyed this book!
I always find these 'moral dilemma' books a little bit too real, rather than an escape
However, this was well written with a lot of twsits and turns so became more of an escape as it went on.
have recommended to a few people, give this book a try!

This is a great crime thriller. It is extremely addictive. It is gripping and pacy.
A well written book

Really enjoyed this - will definitely be recommending and looking forward to the next one by this author!

Enjoyed the way this story played out and the different perspectives of characters within the story
Recommended and would read others by this authour

I read this book as part of my "real life" book club because the blurb was really interesting and I felt it would encourage a great debate.

Unfortunately, whilst the premise and idea were good, the actual execution of the story fell rather flat for me personally.

It was hard to warm to any characters and, in my opinion, there were too many narrators for this story.

The plot revolves around a courtcase of Jane Bell - mother to 2 young children, who deliberately kills her neighbour with her car and faces a charge of murder. This however is only the start, because the dead neighbour appears to be a terrorist who had 3 bombs in his house ready to detonate at the local primary school killing almost 300 children.

The Choice Jane Bell made to stop this potential tragedy has cost her her freedom, but I think the author wants the reader to ask how far would you go to save your family?

This certainly made an interesting discussion and whilst most of my book club really enjoyed the book, I personally found it implausible and questioned whether the police really would ignore all Jane's pleas for help before she took the law into her own deadly hands.

Read the synopsis for this and it sounded great but for me the story just fell a little flat. I struggled to care about the characters. It was an interesting and quick read though and it was a decent storyline just something missing for me

Dark thriller that had you hooked from the off. The book was very well written. Great plot. Very exciting. Fast paced to get your heart racing. Loved this book

This novel was amazingggggg! Exquisitely plotted, gloriously readable with every element a good thriller should have and more including a shocking final reveal.

The Choice is a gripping read. From the first sentence to the last it hooks the reader in and doesn't let you go. Full of twist and turns, you often wonder what would you have done?

The premise for this book drew me I immediately. It certainly has a different plot to to the many other books I've read. My thinking throughout was will she won't she . It's actually a thought provoking book as you wonder what you yourself would do . It stalled midway for me but then it picked up brilliantly

Interesting premise, but I didn't feel the book delivered unfortunately.
Far too long and repetitive and although I liked that the chapters were from the pov of different characters, I felt some of them were pointless.
I didn't feel the chapters by the juror, journalist or husband added much and although the police officer's take was Interesting, I found his back story detracted from the plot.
Overall I feel the story could have been half as long as it was, I felt like it dragged and was a chore to get through and the ending felt rushed and not very satisfactory.
My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for my eARC in return for my honest review.

I devoured this book. It was thriller and was really well written, I enjoyed the different characters in this novel and thought Jane was brilliantly written and so easy to empathize with. I would definitely recommend this book and cannot recommend it enough.

I loved the idea of this book as soon as I read the blurb! There’s nothing like a good moral and legal dilemma to get you thinking! This book focuses on the case of Jane Bell who is arrested for murder after she runs over and kills her next-door neighbour. Sounds simple enough so far, but the plot thickens when Jane had found out that her neighbour was a terrorist who was planning to blow up the local primary school, and despite her best efforts to report him to the authorities, she found herself having to deal with the situation.

Now, I do love a book which gets you asking yourself “what would I have done?”, and this book gets you asking that question from many different viewpoints! Jane Bell’s story is particularly sad, she had obviously tried everything to report her neighbour, James Foster, but her pleas for him to be investigated fell on deaf ears. Was she wrong to do what she did? Should she have taken the law into her own hands? Should she be tried for murder, even though she prevented the death of hundreds of innocent children? There are so many ways to look at what she did, and I’m sure all that read this will have their own differing opinions as to what was right and wrong! My favourite character must be Bill, the Detective Inspector who arrests her. Bill is obviously horrified to find that the police service let Jane down by not taking her concerns seriously, and this gives him decisions to make over his own future.

The storyline alternates with chapters from the perspectives of several of the characters – Jane, Jane’s husband, Bill, the local journalist, Aneesa and the defence barrister, Simon. Whilst there are a lot of character’s viewpoints to consider, the switching between them is done effortlessly and easily. I liked hearing their different views, and the storyline takes us through the months preceding James Foster being killed, after Jane’s arrest and the subsequent court case. It was an emotional and sometimes disturbing read, but certainly got me thinking whether Jane was the hero that society deemed her to be, or the criminal that the law determines. It is a suspense and tension filled read with an expected twist that I didn’t see coming and will leave you thinking about it after the book has finished. Would definitely recommend.

Being a primary school teacher, the premise of this book instantly had me hooked. The twist at the end - so unpredictable, I could never have seen it coming! It kept me reading and turning the pages, I read it in approx 3 hours. Will be recommending it to everyone and also looking out for more by this author!

This was everything you need for a thriller and crime story. It is not as black and white as you first think and like most typical thrillers, is full of twists. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

found this one interesting and really makes u think about what is right and wrong and what would you do in this situation

An excellent read. I was gripped from the beginning. A book of dilemmas and morals, i was constantly challenged as the case unravelled, discovering the perspectives of the different characters, their thoughts and feelings. An excellent read, cannot recommend it enough.

I thoroughly enjoyed this deceptively straightforward story. She deliberately drove straight at him and killed him, so it’s murder right?

If only it were that simple.

I was completely gripped by “The Choice” - it’s provocative, thought provoking and insightful. The Epilogue is a stunner.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. Highly recommended.

I liked the premise of the plot, which constantly made you think, "what would you have done if it were you?" Would you too have been willing to commit murder in order to save your children? It comes down to those natural parental instincts and whether you are willing to listen to your gut or go against all your morals and values.

I wasn't a fan of the writing, I felt like it was too choppy. However, it was a good thriller.