Book Review: Look Behid You by Sibel Hodge

Release Date: April 15th, 2014

       This book keeps you guessing the whole way through.  In the beginning, you'll have the whole thing figured out.  Then you second guess yourself.  By the middle of the book, you'll know you the murderer is, but doubt will start to crept in. At some point you'll finally give up, continue reading and just enjoy the story.  This isn't an action packed book but a slow and suspenseful mystery, filled with hold-your-breathe type of moments.

       Look Behind You starts off with Chloe escaping an underground room, afraid that she was left there to die.  She escapes, runs through the woods to a nearby road, and is rescued by someone driving by.  Chloe is taken to the hospital and discovers that the last thing she remembers had happened seven weeks ago.  She tells the doctors what happened, that someone had left her for dead, but they don't believe her tall-tale.  They tell her that 4 weeks ago, she came to them with a similar story:  She had been depressed and they believe she had a bad psychotic reaction to her anti-depressants.  She hadn't let it go so they had carted her off to a psychiatric ward for a week until her anti-depressants had a chance to make it out of her system.
       She may have had a bad reaction to her meds then but she knows what just happened to her was real, she has the scratches and bruises to prove it.  Still, Chloe begins to doubt herself.  The doctors, her husband, her boss- they all believe that she is having another psychotic reaction.  No one believes her, except for her very good-looking coworker.  She starts looking for clues, proof, anything to help her find out the truth.  Was it all in her mind?  Was she really bound by rope in an underground room?  Can she tell what's real anymore?
       As well as trying to solve her own near-murder, Chloe is also dealing with her protective husband.  After what has supposedly happened to Chloe, he is being more protective than normal, trying to keep tabs on her and keep her safe.

"I lie there, staring into the darkness, one thought chasing another.  Round and round I go, My head in tortuous turmoil."  -Chapter 13

" 'I didn't try to kill myself, Theresa,' I say with as much conviction as I can.  I feel like I've become invisible.  I'm talking, but no one is actually listening to what I'm saying."  -Chapter 20

       Like I said, this isn't a super faced-paced book but it was absolutely not boring.  The characters and Chloe's thought process are very well built and put together.  It makes for a great psychological thriller and I like it even more because it's not the scary-type of thriller but suspenseful... I don't do scary well.  I really enjoyed it and would read it again in the future.  I ESPECIALLY love that this book takes place in England!  Sometimes I would forget that, read a part about the husband travelling 400 miles to Scotland, and think 'what?!'.  Being from the USA, it always took me a couple seconds to remember where the characters are living.  I especially loved the words that are used, that are common in England but not everyday words here in America (or Oregon, at least):
                   a row = a fight
                   a biro = a ball point pen
                   a mobile = a cell phone
                   rubbish = garbage
                   the bin = garbage can
                   hire a car = rent a car
                   bedclothes = bed sheets
                   handbag = purse
                   tablets = pills
                    **WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITES? Comment :o)

*This book was provided by NetGalley.com in return for an honest review.