Witness

“He would never comprehend what I was going through unless I told him, but he’d never look at me the same way again if I did.”

With so many thrillers flooding the literary market these days, it gets hard to come across fresh ideas at times. Harder still is to come across ideas that appear old and familiar only from a distance but gradually become unlike anything you have ever read or heard of as you step closer. Witness by Caroline Mitchell is one such idea executed oh so perfectly!

The story revolves around Rebecca, who found her way out of domestic abuse by testifying against her abusive partner Solomon some ten years back. Having moved to the Welsh countryside, she is now the wife of Sean Walker, a vet, and mother of their daughter Lottie.

Meanwhile back in prison, Solomon has spent ten years to craft his calculated revenge, as he always saw her testimony against him as the ultimate betrayal. He plots ten crimes, in increasing degrees of severity, for which Rebecca has to be a silent witness. The victims of these crimes would be her choice. A choice that if left unexercised would let the default victim be someone she loves.

Told in alternating viewpoints of Solomon and Rebecca along with glimpses of the past through Rebecca’s diary, the author has given an honest portrayal of both the victim and the abuser. With its nail-biting twists and tight-knitted plot, this book is surely a win for lovers of suspense.