What a gripping and emotional ride. The themes of tragedy, loss, and investigation in this book will keep you immersed. The dark and tense atmosphere, combined with the mysterious circumstances of the children's disappearance, will keep you on the edge of your seat, a fantastic debut, looking forward to more books by this Author.

Wow! What a story. Utterly compelling tale that had me on the edge of my seat.
The writing is exceptional. At its heart, it is a police procedural but with raw emotion.

I've seldom seen a better scene set for an impending loss.
The aftermath of the storm and the real emotion the author gets across is top-drawer stuff. An easy 5-star award.

When Andrew and Sophie take their daughter, Maria, and her best friend, Joe, to the beach in a storm, there is a tragic accident.
What follows is two families ripped apart by grief, suspicion and anger.
After the Storm is a book dripping with sadness. I sobbed in places!
A compelling story.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I requested this book, and it wasn't how I imagined. But it was a brilliant read. It was heartbreaking but tactfully dealt with and a compelling thriller.

I thought the characters in this book were wonderfully created, very human, resilient but flawed and emotion was very well portrayed. It definitely had me a little choked at a couple of points.

I'd definitely recommend!

Fantastic book, couldn't put it down. Loved that I couldn't work out what was going to happen next it kept me hooked.

Well, I'm disappointed (with myself, really) to say that this book didn't work for me so well.
In theory, the plot appeals to me: a big drama about one child being lost at sea and how their parents struggle to accept their loss.
Those parents start to blame the other parents whose another child was also playing at the beach.
What didn't work with me were the detectives. I usually dislike mystery or thriller novels with dectectives or cops POVs, and the ones in this book were, to me, particularly hard to swallow.
The plot twists were so not twisty, in my opinion. Some of the repercussions were very predictable and the ones that I didn't find predictable, were not surprising at all.
The author's writing was decent enough to hold my attention, but all in all, this book turned out to be just fine to me. Not memorable.
I'm sure it has its audience. Other readers might like this much more than I did.

What a story.
After the first few chapters I stopped reading as I wasn't sure I wanted to continue. But I found myself thinking about the story so went back to it. I'm glad I did as even though it wasn't an easy read it was a compelling one.
I felt drawn into the emotions of all the characters as though I was living it along with them.

Harrowing story of a tragic accident at the beach! Although it is heartwrenching it is also unputdownable.... You will probably need tissues on standby!! Andrew and Sophie look after their friends (Chris & Laura) little boy Joe, it's a good thing their daughter Maria is best friends with him as they see a lot of each other. Andrew and Sophie take the children to the beach one day, but what happens whilst there causes their lives to change irreversibly, and sends them on a downward spiral, during which their friendship disintegrates.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book. I will be recommending it to everyone I know.

Not for the faint hearted, this harrowing storyline follows a trajectory of engulfing tragedy after a calamitous decision destroys the lives of everyone in its wake. Two families, strong bonds and probability of life long friendships for both generations until one innocent yet foolish mistake of such magnitude there would, nor could be the emergence of any winner. Everyone damaged beyond redemption. Every parents worst nightmare: A weekend outing for two excited children becomes a fight for survival , their lives in mortal danger from which there is only one survivor. Excellent characterisation as the bonds of friendship and loyalty are tested beyond the limits of normal experience with the repercussions of the calamity dragging individuals away from the ties of friendship and decency into the depths of madness required to protect family from extreme exposure to external violence and danger. Many thanks to author with a note to research more books from this enthralling writer , publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This book was fantastic and absolutely impossible to put down!

I spent the first half of the book in floods then the second half unpicking what was going on. This is a story you can imagine yourself in and how you would manage it.

Just brilliant!

Two families, intertwined. Busy professionals Chris and Linda, who rely on best friends Andrew and Sophie to be on call for child minding duties for their little boy Joe. Luckily, Joe is best friends with Maria, Andrew and Sophie’s little girl. Maria is a child determined to get her way, Joe is a lovely little chap who quite willingly allows Maria to be boss, some would say they had the perfect friendship.

Told from various POV, this was a strong story from the start. A powerful debut and captivating read. Emotional and suspenseful, a story of loyalty and family.

For me the story did lose its way a little in the middle, and there was a fair bit of mansplaining at the start (acronyms in brackets!!!) and a lot of ‘family comes first’, but all in all a great debut, an author to watch out for.

3.5*

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK.

Absolutely unputdownable!! This booked gripped me from the start and wouldn’t let go until the last page. I kept thinking what would I have done? It was so easy to connect to the characters and feel what they were feeling. My heart broke on multiple occasions throughout but I had to keep going. I needed to know. The ending shocked me and what really happened that day at the beach I had never imagined. Amazing read and highly recommended

Wow , what a book. This is not an easy read, it is about the loss of a child who was with friends of his parents at the time. The incident is investigated and the events after what happened told from different viewpoints. The father of the boy, Joe is Chris and he is a policeman. Andrew and his wife Sophie who were looking after Joe and their own daughter, Maria are also changed by what happened. As the book progresses, the tragic plot emerges of what happened and the effect it had on both families. You are compelled to keep reading, even though their lives are disintegrating and you know it is not going to end well. The writing is spot on, triggering your own emotions as a reader and the viewpoints of the families are well portrayed so you understand their actions and the reasoning behind them.
Thanks to Net Galley for a great read, definately a book that you think about long after you have finished it.

A very challenging book based on every parent’s nightmare. I felt all the emotions portrayed and felt compelled to read to the end, shedding a few tears on the way. An excellent debut.

A poignant thriller….no happy endings here.

Andrew and Sophie take their daughter Maria and her best friend Joe to the beach. While the adults are momentarily distracted both children get washed out into the ocean. Andrew rushes after them but only returns with Maria; he was unable to save Joe. Joe’s parents, Chris and Linda, Andrew and Sophie’s best friends, are decimated. Police officer Sue Wilmott investigates but it appears to be just a tragic accident. Is it anything more?

Well, I’m not an old copper, but I knew where Chris was and what he was doing….so why didn’t the police know? These are not the brightest cops.

After the Storm is a fantastic achievement for a debut novel. It is a great story dealing with difficult subject matters. The characters are well written and very believable. I jumped from empathising with one parent to the other as I'm sure was intended. The police procedures were very believable, to be expected from an ex cop, but not too technical. Very well done. I'll definitely watch out for more books from G.D.Wright.
Thank you to NetGalley and the
publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

After the Storm is an enjoyable debut novel that is different from normal police procedural thrillers as it is more emotion driven rather than focusing on the hows and whys of an investigation.

The book takes a little while to warm up and at times the writing didn’t quite flow but overall this is a good debut and I look forward to reading further books from this author.

'After the Storm' is a highly emotional book that deals with the aftermath of the tragic drowning of a six year old. At times it was not an easy read but it was always compelling. Told from multiple POV's the storyline steers us through the following hours, days and weeks and never lets up. My heart went out to both families and also to the police involved. A great debut novel. Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for an early read.

After the Storm is about the storm of grief and the lengths you’d go for your loved ones.
It starts off strongly. Wright’s detailed descriptions of both the physical and psychological is gripping.
The bereavement and the personal are so potent that the investigative/detective and thriller elements of the book become secondary to the emotions conveyed and evoked. And glad this was so.
3.5 stars rounded up because of the author’s craft and skill at representing grieving humans, and the psychologically claustrophobic and loving communities.
Plot 3
Characterisation 3.5
Concept 4
Mood 5
Writing style 4.5

What a gritty crime book. When those children go in the sea, i think anyone would feel the same. It's hard to read but so realstic. The fear and panic.I was there with them, gripping stuff!