Quite a lot of characters which was very confusing. It jumped around a lot as well which didn't add to my reading experience. Very slow but it picked me pace and the ending was good. My thanks to netgalley and the publisher's for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Loved this! A really good read, with well developed characters, brilliant plot twists and good, well paced writing.

Richard Armitage has drawn on all of his stage and screen experience to write a truly exhilarating thriller. Flicking between the past and present, we meet Ben Knot, top dog at school and now a successful architect. But Ben's world is about to come crashing down, not once but twice. Ben's school girlfriend is murdered and his friend Dave is convicted of the crime. Fast forward thirty years and Dave is released from prison, making Ben confront his past. There's also the small matter of facing bankruptcy, and some angry Russians.

Ben's son Nate however, is living his best life after being cast as the lead in a film. Things are not all as they seem though, and soon turn nasty for Nate and his sister Lily.

I absolutely loved The Cut and couldn't wait to read the whole thing. The tone is pitched just right, and it's a classy edition to the thriller genre.

This is my first read by Richard Armitage and proved to be an exciting, darkly layered plot.

It took me a while to get to grips with the multitude of characters, who appear in both timelines, sometimes with a slightly different name, it was a bit confusing. The first timeline was set in the schooldays with Ben and his friends, before the tragic death of one of them; the second being present day, back in the same village. Sometimes the jumps between timelines is not always clear, narrative jumping between action in both, and that can hinder the pace of the story.

Told from multiple viewpoints, as well as a few locations: Ben working abroad; Hollywood and the village, school or the surrounding areas. I felt some detracted from the focus on the main plot. The intention or main theme was quite easy to pick up, personally I would have preferred more focus there, rather than Ben’s business dealings, although they did contribute to his mental anguish and state of mind.

An enjoyable read which may have benefited from some dedicated focus on areas like the school bullying. The ending, whilst conclusive, felt rushed and left areas that could have been developed further, adding to the quality of the story.

Am in two minds about this one but to be fair it’s probably more 3.5⭐️ than 3. I enjoyed the premise and the story was good but at times it seemed too slow and I just wanted to get to the end reveal. The characters were well portrayed, easy to imagine and like or dislike but I felt it jumped between the dual times too much-just as I was enjoying the unfolding of the story or new developments it would change and leave me hanging.
Overall probably worth a read but not a book that will stay with me.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

The Cut … Richard Armitage’s second novel and he’s really excelled himself. This was such a gripping story spanning two timelines set 30 years apart. The plot was magnificent with no deviations or distractions. The story centres heavily on the characters, their lives, their feelings, their fears. With extremely powerful descriptive narrative Richard takes us back to the days of 1993 and then to the present day, almost alternatively through each chapter, adding to the feeling of something ominous bubbling. Taking us into The Mouth of Hell. A terrifying journey back and forth. Reaching a crescendo in the final twists and turns.. The final chapters, coming to the boil, do not disappoint and are beautifully written and had me completely mesmerized.
It's sensitively written and doesn’t glamourise the heartache of those who, during this period, didn’t fit in, were different or came from different backgrounds.
I loved the references to music. It certainly felt like at times that I was at musical event, with the sounds of the cello and piano pulling me in, spinning me round, the high notes, the low notes, the build up to a final heart stopping finale.
I also loved the dark, atmospheric setting. The descriptions of the raging storms and unpredictable weather that featured in this book perfectly mirrored the intensity of the plot and the chilling revelations about the characters and their lives. Making you head spin as rain lashed, lightening flashed and everything unraveled before our very eyes.
Wonderful.

I listened to the audiobook (released August 2024) as I read the ARC and spotted a few small changes to the text, either to correct a minor error or a sentence rephrasing or adjustment within a paragraph.


It took me a while to get into the story and the two different timelines - mainly 1994 and 2024. I think what made it confusing was the various names some of the characters were given e.g. Dreyesh was David or Patel, Mark was Mark Cherry or Marcello and later Max. Other characters were called by their full name, Christian name, or nickname. It took me a while to sort out who was who.


The story was told from various characters’ POVs in third person. The present day story was narrated in past tense, whereas the 1994 story was told in present tense. Not sure why, but it was noticeable.


I didn’t particularly like many of the characters, especially the main character - Ben - both his younger and older versions. Nor did I feel I got to know much about any of the characters. It’s a mostly action-led story, with vivid descriptions of the various settings.


I had a few issues with certain details. For example, if the pupils were celebrating leaving secondary/senior school they would have been in Year 11 rather than Year 9, and not be called middle school pupils. The boy in the prologue should have been at least 15, if not sixteen rather than fourteen, if he was about to leave school. And I doubt if the school would have had pupils aged from infants as well, unless it was an independent school that went through from primary to secondary. Minor points, but it shows the text needed a further edit.


I don’t know much about filming, but the idea of filming a scene in one shot, without rehearsals, and only one or two ‘technicians’ seemed implausible. As did the speed in which the filming began - and without a contract.


These are just a few issues that spring to mind.


That being said, I’m glad I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated well by Richard Armitage and Jacob Dudman. Overall, I liked the idea of the story and the narrative is compelling - if somewhat unbelievable at times - once you work out what’s going on. I don’t want to give too much away.


I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thirty years after a teenager was murdered, her killer is about to be released from prison. By coincidence, a production company is shooting a film which bears a striking resemblance to the events surrounding the murder. Is someone out for revenge or trying to reframe the past?

The Cut by Richard Armitage opens in 1994 with a nightmarish scene of a young woman being chased through a storm. From a high vantage point, someone is watching the events as they unfold. The story then jumps to 2023, and we meet architect Ben Knott, a school friend of the victim at the time of her death. Ben is on his second marriage and has two teenage children, Lily and Nate.

The story alternates between 1994 and 2023. In the past, we meet Ben and his circle of friends. The group is a strange mixture of mainly unpleasant characters held together by Ben. Ben's intelligence, physique and home background have allowed him to get away with some unsavory behaviour. In 2023, we meet a very different character, a successful family man who is haunted by past events.

As the storyline alternates between the two time periods, we see everything leading up to the night of the murder. We discover that the bonds of friendship are tenuous, mainly because of the cruel nature of teenagers. In the present, Ben's fourteen-year-old son, Nate, is chosen to star in a "found footage" film. The nature in which Nate is encouraged to audition is creepy, reinforcing the message that you never know who is at the other end of an online conversation. The two sets of events slowly begin to merge, and Ben realises that someone knows more about the murder than the police uncovered.

The terrifying opening and the tense conclusion keep your heart racing. I did find the middle section a little slow and confusing, however, I was determined to read on to find answers. The reader is kept in suspense for the majority of the novel as to the identity of the victim and her murderer, the Mill Killer. Shocks are in store when all is revealed, including the identity of the person manipulating the modern-day events and the reader eventually learns about what really happened on that stormy night in 1994.

This is a dark, atmospheric mystery told from multiple POVs. I found the large cast of characters and the dual timelines confusing at times. The book deals with some unsettling issues - homophobia, racism and bullying. Overall I found this to be an enjoyable read but not quite as gripping as expected.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

A book that felt like it took me right in to the centre of it all. And I felt the darkness and atmospheric unease right from the start. This built throughout and so did the tension. Were we falling into the trap of paranoid with our main character or was there sinister dealings going on?
I felt like I could see the old mill,feel the quiet ess of the streets and big houses.
I was fully immersed in what was happening in the present and then how it was linked to the past if that was indeed the case. Both timelines were written just as well as the other and love the switch and learning more from both.
Some of it felt so real and sometimes hard. The bullying aspect held a knot in my stomach. And then trying to guess of any revenge or just guilt? Grudges and moving on?
There was so many layers that added much richness to the book and the characters involved. And all of them were handled really well.
I was hooked. And gladly read this from beginning to end.

I really liked the premise of this book but found that it was incredibly slow and the modern timeline felt really contrived. I really struggled in the middle of the book and found myself not caring how it ended. The final 10% was decent but still left many unanswered questions.

3 5⭐️
I really enjoyed this book. Told in dual time lines 1994 and 2024. Had me hooked the whole way through. Thank you to Netgalley and Faber and Faber Ltd for ARC.

Sadly, after reading ten percent of this book, I decided that it is not for me. The writing style seemed odd, it was too descriptive for a mystery-triller. I found out that this first came out as an audio book, so I'd be willing to listen to the audio book, I'm sure I will enjoy it more.

I enjoyed this book for the characters as much as for the story. There is an untrustworthiness permeating most of the characters which is fun to unpick as the plot unfolds. It’s well written, without melodrama but with a lot of atmospheric language, Readers should also consider listening to the audiobook, narrated by the author. It adds a whole new level to the experience.

There is something dark and brooding about this latest thriller from Richard Armitage that just had me drawn in from the beginning. There is a real sense of tension in those opening chapters, where we bear witness to an event that is going to direct and inform all that will come to pass in the remainder of the book. You can feel those early spikes of adrenaline, and that grip of fear that spills from the witnessing character, both intimately involved and completely removed at the same time, if that is even possible. A distant voyeur if you like, who captures what happens on film before finding themselves right in the cross hairs of the bad guy. It's suspenseful, tingly intensity, framed by fireworks and leading to a shadow that will plague the small town of Barton Mallet for years to come.

And that is just the opener. We join the main story thirty years later, with most of the main players back in situ in Barton Mallet, and a murderer about to be released on parole, much to the communities protestations. You can feel that tension still pulsing, albeit to a lesser degree, flaring up each time that the impending release is raised. And this is where we arelly get to know the key characters in this thriller, principally Ben Knott, whose girlfriend, Annie, was the poor victim three decades earlier. Ben is a complex and damaged character, who past and present mould him into someone who it is hard to feel sympathy for, but whose fate I became completely invested in. He becomes, in a way, a victim himself, but the people behind this campaign against him are not entirely clear, for reasons that become clear in the reading.

Despite his tragic origin story, Ben has carved a successful career for himself as an architect, and he and his family are the focus for much of the story. His daughter is an accomplished sportswoman, and his son, Nathan, although quieter, seems to revel in the art of acting, thrilled to be chosen to play the lead in a new 'found footage' thriller to be filmed in the town. And it soon becomes a case of art imitating life with a lot of the plot of this film, The Cut, being uncomfortably close to home for Ben.

I really liked the way in which the author has built the tension here, using night shoots to create a kind of horror vibe, whilst cutting back and forth between Ben's present and the past he would rather forget, to enhance the psychological impact of the scenes Nathan is filming. We, as readers, and Ben as our protagonist, understand their relevance, even if no-one else around Ben does. The author's own experience in TV and Film really comes to play here, creating a sense of authenticity and intensity that really aids the plot, whilst not overloading readers with technical knowhow that would otherwise have slowed the action down.

Well, noone but the director that is, whose manipulations are the kind that drew a wry smile from me as I read, starting to build an understanding of where this book might be leading. The more I read, the harder I found it so feel sympathy for Ben, for various reasons, although I did feel apprehensive about what might happen to Nathan and his sister, Lily, caught up as they are in all the subterfuge and tragedy. And as for who is really directing the action, who the mysterious producer pulling Director, Karine's, strings is a question that hangs over us until nearly the end of the book, although there are hefty clues that will give eagle eyed readers a fair idea.

As this book was previously released as a Audible Original title , I took the opportunity to listen to a bit of the audiobook too. Narrated by the author and Jacob Dudman, this really is an excellent production piece, creation that necessary sombre tension that this kind of thriller really needs. It actually has a very cinematic feel to it, and not just because it is about the creation of a film. It is that mixture of tension, suspense and intense characterisation that really makes the story land perfectly, and I could easily see it on the small screen. The slow erosion of Ben's sanity, through the course of the book, the gradual reveal of what really happened in the fateful summer, all made for a gripping, dark drama that I think thriller lovers will really enjoy.

Chilling.

In 1994, a group of village kids navigate their last months of school. The summer was supposed to be perfect, but somehow, one of them ends up murdered.

In 2004, the murderer is about to be released from prison. As tension in the village rises, a director charges in to make a horror movie about what happened all those years ago. And it soon becomes clear that she will use anyone to finally reveal the truth about the murder.

Past and present collide as secrets are revealed at breakneck speed and inevitably culminate in the final reveal of the truth...

This second book of Richard Armitage's was even more claustrophobic than the first. It was incredibly hard to put down, even at the most disgusting behavior of some of the main characters. Seldom have I needed to watch people get their comeuppance more...

I am so excited to see what Armitage does next, this was just terrific!

Content warning: the characters from the 90s are openly and horribly homophobic and racist, and torture the gay and the Asian character relentlessly.

The Cut is a vividly written lurid B picture of a novel, a kind of I Still Know What You Did Thirty Years Ago sort of thing.
Thirty years ago, Ben's girlfriend is horribly murdered. Cut to today, the person who went to prison has been released.
In a preposterous, but fun, turn of events, Ben's son is cast in the film version of the story, as Ben The film is a nasty found footage film done on the cheap: it's a psychological thriller inside a psychological thriller, where the writer keeps upping the pressure on both Ben and the Ben in the film.
Confused? You will be.

This was an enjoyable read that I just could not put down, it gripped me right from the very start and kept me guessing right until the end.

I think this had a great premise but then didn’t fully deliver for me. Armitage has a gripping style of writing and the mystery is interesting, but I struggled with connecting with the characters.

A read that at times was rather slow it felt like it needed a good kick at times.
Dual timelines from teenage and adult points of view from 1994 and 2024.
The characters were a mixed bunch some likable some not so.
After the authors first book Geneva I expected a bit more from this one but found it to just be an okay read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Faber&Faber for the Arc.