I’m excited to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for chilling psychological thriller Final Cut by S J Watson. Thank you to Anne Cater and Doubleday Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
About the book:
S J Watson writes:
In writing Final Cut I wanted to move away slightly from the entirely domestic, urban and claustrophobic feel of Before I Go To Sleep and open the story world a little. I’m returning to my preoccupations of memory, narrative and identity, though bringing a fresh spin and new maturity to them.
The story follows a young ambitious documentary film maker whose first film was lauded and her second less so, and who is struggling with her third film. She hits on the idea of making a film about life in a small, northern village and is persuaded, against her better judgement and for reasons unknown, to film in Blackwood Bay. Once there she discovers a town shrouded in mystery and full of secrets, that threaten to engulf and ultimately destroy her. She has to dig deep to save herself, as well as the lives of others.
In researching the book, I was drawn to the idea of the way we document our lives now, on Instagram and Twitter etc., and the downsides of that, as well as the darkness that can hide in plain sight and the abuses that people can visit on their fellow humans. The sad fact is I had to tone down some of the horrific atrocities I read about, or else the book would’ve been too dark, even for me.
About the author:
S. J. Watson’s first novel, Before I Go To Sleep, became a phenomenal international success and has now sold over 6,000,000 copies world- wide. It won the Crime Writers’ Association Award for Best Debut Novel and the Galaxy National Book Award for Crime Thriller of the Year.
The film of the book, starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong, and directed by Rowan Joffe, was released in September 2014. S. J. Watson’s second novel,
Second Life, a psychological thriller, was published to acclaim in 2015.
S. J. Watson was born in the Midlands and now lives in London.
My Review:
I loved S J Watson’s debut thriller Before I Go To Sleep, so was excited to be given the opportunity to read Final Cut as part of the blog tour. And I was not disappointed! Final Cut is a slow burner of a book that gradually builds up the tension as the chilling story is slowly revealed.
Blackwood Bay is an ordinary place inhabited by ordinary people. A once vibrant seaside destination it is now a ghost town, making it the perfect location for young film maker Alex to shoot her new documentary. But her arrival arouses suspicion, the local people wary of the motive behind Alex’s decision to film there, especially considering the history the town has with young girls vanishing without a trace. Is she only interested in the every day life of Blackwood Bay? Or does she have an ulterior motive for being there?
Final Cut is a chilling, atmospheric slow burner of a read that captured my imagination from the very first page. Alex is an intriguing character who I liked from the outset, with it soon becoming apparent that there is so much more to her than at first meets the eye. Feeling on edge as soon as she arrives in the seaside town, Alex is convinced the locals know more than they’re letting on and, with secrets of her own she is desperate to keep under wraps, she begins to investigate the history of Blackwood Bay and the mystery of the missing girls.
Split between then and now the story builds up the tension slowly, the atmosphere palpable as the chilling secrets begin to emerge. S J Watson’s writing is superb as the suspense deepens and the story twists and turns leading to shocking revelations that I did not see coming.
Final Cut is an atmospheric psychological thriller that kept me guessing from beginning to end. It isn’t a fast paced read by any means, but the eeriness of the setting and the strength of the writing drew me in from the very first page and didn’t let go until the final page had been turned. I love S J Watson’s writing and can’t wait to read whatever he comes up with next.
Final Cut by S J Watson is available to purchase now: Amazon UK
Check out what these other lovely bloggers have to say about this book:
Cal Turner Reviews 
Huge thanks for the blog tour support xx
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