One Step Too Far, by Tina Seskis @tinaseskis) – Review

About the book One Step Too Far

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: William Morrow (January 27, 2015)

The #1 international bestseller reminiscent of After I’m Gone, Sister, Before I Go to Sleep, and The Silent Wife—an intricately plotted, thoroughly addictive thriller that introduces a major new voice in suspense fiction—a mesmerizing and powerful novel that will keep you guessing to the very end.

No one has ever guessed Emily’s secret.

Will you?

A happy marriage. A beautiful family. A lovely home. So what makes Emily Coleman get up one morning and walk right out of her life—to start again as someone new?

Now, Emily has become Cat, working at a hip advertising agency in London and living on the edge with her inseparable new friend, Angel. Cat’s buried any trace of her old self so well, no one knows how to find her. But she can’t bury the past—or her own memories.

And soon, she’ll have to face the truth of what she’s done—a shocking revelation that may push her one step too far. . . .

Buy, read, and discuss One Step Too Far

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads

About the author, Tina Seskis

Tina Seskis grew up in Hampshire, England, and after graduating from the University of Bath spent more than twenty years working in marketing and advertising. One Step Too Far is her debut novel, and was first published independently in the UK, where it shot to the #1 spot on the bestseller list. Her second novel is forthcoming. She lives in North London with her husband and son.

Connect with Tina

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

I read this novel in the course of a single weekend afternoon, and literally could not put it down because it was so gripping.

It begins with protagonist Emily (now calling herself Cat) leaving her husband and family, and beginning a new life. We follow Cat as she establishes her new identity, finds a place to live, friends, and a job, experiments with drugs, and basically reclaims her lost single-girl life, but it’s clear that there’s something she’s not sharing with her new friends, or possibly with herself, and that something isn’t revealed until the book is 50% gone.

I don’t do synopses as a rule, so no, I’m not going to tell you what Emily/Cat’s secret is. Instead, I’m going to say that Tina Seskis wrote the hell out of this story, and turned what could have been a fairly standard trope (woman gets fed up with married life, starts new life as own alter-ego) and twists it into a compelling collection of people, places, and events that will have you laughing, crying, and – sometimes – wanting to reach into the pages and shake some sense into the characters.

Supporting characters include new housemate/best friend Angel, a lost waif who has more common sense than one might imagine, Emily’s twin sister Caroline, and Emily’s husband Ben. We don’t really meet Ben until the second half of the book, but once we do, many things from the first half click into place.

Based on my thorough enjoyment of this novel, I think it’s safe to say that Tina Seskis is a force to be reckoned with. Her dialogue is witty, her characters feel very real, and nothing about the story in One Step Too Far was remotely cliche. I can’t wait to read her next book, and I’m excited to see – read? – such a great new voice in contemporary fiction.

Goes well with Tapas and frou-frou cocktails.