A Window Breaks by C.M. Ewan

A Window Breaks
By C.M. Ewan
Published by Pan (31 October 2019)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley

Publisher's description

If your family was targeted in the middle of the night, what would you do?

You are asleep. A noise wakes you.

You stir, unsure why, and turn to your wife.

Then you hear it.

Glass. Crunching underfoot.

Your worst fears are about to be realized.

Someone is inside your home.

Your choices are limited.

You can run. Or stay and fight. 

What would you do?

My verdict
I was hooked from the outset. If it hadn't been for sleep and work, I would have read A Window Breaks in one sitting - instead, it took two sittings. My first sitting involved reading until 1.15 am. My second sitting involved ditching work for an hour after lunch (just as well I work for myself so my time is my own).

The book is split into two parts. There's the present, as Tom and Rachel try to keep their 13-year-old daughter safe from the armed intruders. And then there's the past, following the story of their 16-year-old son, Michael, who was killed in a car crash nine months earlier. Events are cleverly revealed by going backwards in time, with snippets of what really happened that night and how Tom has struggled to come to terms with Michael's death.

I read this book so quickly - I barely took a breath and could feel my heart pounding throughout. I had to force myself to slow down. I often worry with these fast-paced thrillers that everything will be unbelievable. But this all felt so real - from the characters to the setting and even the plot. It all seemed plausible too, nothing so outlandish that I sat there shaking my head. I could feel the tension, every moment of fear. I could picture it all. I felt as though I was there.

This is likely to be one of my books of the year.