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    One Step Too Far: A Novel
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    One Step Too Far: A Novel
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    One Step Too Far: A Novel
    Ebook352 pages6 hours

    One Step Too Far: A Novel

    By Tina Seskis

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    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. . . .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJan 27, 2015
    ISBN9780062340108
    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.

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    Reviews for One Step Too Far

    3.5/5

    187 ratings60 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I would compare this book to the movie "The Sixth Sense" - there is a major twist ending that hits you right in the gut, and if you go back and read it again, the clues are all there, you just didn't put them together properly. The book is incredibly entertaining, and well-paced to keep you hanging on and wanting more. Emily Coleman leaves her life behind to become Cat Brown, something she's thought about for many months, and knows will work because it's her maiden name. She leaves behind Ben and Charlie, and though she thinks of them often, she gets sucked into the city life of London. Though a few sections were confusingly vague in order to keep you guessing the truth, it was a great read.
    • 3/5
      This is going to be a hard one to review, mainly because the entire plot revolves around a huge plot twist that I refuse to spoil for you. So, yes, this will be a vague review. It doesn't help that I'm entirely on the fence about my feelings anyway. One Step Too Far started out wonderfully. I was intrigued by Emily and her backstory, wondering what on Earth would cause her to walk away from her seemingly perfect life. Then, things took a turn that I wasn't expecting. Normally I would have loved that. In this case though, it felt rushed. I'll expand below.

      Points go to Tina Seskis for crafting characters who are like night and day. Emily and her twin sister Caroline couldn't be more different if they tried. The fact that their childhood was laid bare, that we were able to see where the rift between them stemmed from, made Emily more real for me. I had no love for Caroline, no pity for her, and I'm not sure that I was meant to either. Emily shone through as a character who was lost, hurting, and broken. I didn't always agree with her choices, but I liked her well enough. That's the main reason why I made it to the end of this book. Although Emily's new life was sudden, and tough, I wanted her to succeed. I really did.

      Which is why I was so frustrated at the ending to this book. The plot twist that I mentioned above didn't make me feel surprised in a positive way. It actually made me angry. I felt like I had been knowingly misdirected. That I had spent the entire story feeling sorry for Emily, feeling proud of her for fighting so hard for a new life. When I finally figured out why she left in the first place, I was angry. It's probably just me, and that's perfectly fine. It's the truth though.

      The first three-quarters of this book were great. Full of a great feeling of tension and mystery. Full of interesting characters and all matter of problems for Emily to face. If only the ending had been more satisfying, this would have made a four star read for me.
    • 3/5
      This had the potential to be a 5 star book, but somewhere along the way the lack of editing and a simplified wrap up caused it to end with a whimper rather than a bang. If you've glanced at any of the other reviews under this title you will see that there was a major twist towards the end. Having anticipated this from the reviews, I still didn't guess the outcome correctly, although that didn't keep my imagination from running wild with all manor of incorrect scenarios throughout my reading.
      I thought the author's writing was marvelous, the idea terrific but the execution was just lacking.

    • 4/5
      Emily Coleman is happily married to Ben. They have a beautiful son and a lovely home. So what makes Emily get up one morning and leave her life, runaway and start a new one. It seems Emily has a secret.This is another book that claims if you liked Gone Girl and Girl on the Train then you will like this one. I have to say that I did very much like this book. I seem at the moment to enjoy these domestic thrillers. I was drawn straight into the story. I was intrigued right from the word go. I never guessed why Emily ran away. I think the story was flawed at times, and I can't say why without giving the story away. I was totally wrong with my thoughts on what the big reveal was. When the secret came clear I had to go back to the beginning to double check I hadn't missed something. I enjoyed this book and when the twist is not what I thought it was, for me that says I've just read a good book. I did think that the end of the story, after the twist was a bit of a mix up and perhaps unnecessary. However I still enjoyed the book and would say if you like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train then you will like this.
    • 4/5
      I was totally interested in this book and couldn't wait to find out the back story - until I realized I didn't even like the main character and actually wished something bad would happen to her. All in all - it was an interesting read.
    • 3/5
      One Step Too Far Is running away ever the answer? by Tina SeskisThis book intrigued me from the start. She takes off leaving her kids and husband to start a new life. The book travels back to the past to when they first met and onward. Learned a lot just from the fact that I've never been in London nor overseas. Interesting to learn about the modes of travel and the apartment setup. This all seems so strange to me.Never expected the party scenes, name changes, and the drugs and the life is so untypical as to what she had led to then. Chapters alternate between her twin sister and her family andher husband and her new life. Til you find out why she left it's a big mystery.
    • 5/5
      The story opens with a woman who's decided that she is going to run away from her current life and start anew, without the benefit of any family or friends. By the time the main character, Catherine Emily, has come full circle, the author has explored greed, poverty, adultery, fame, fortune, divorce, marriage, drugs, life and death just to name a few. From the start of the book, you become engrossed to the point you don't want to put it down. The author does this by telling each persons' point of view; thereby giving the reader a perspective she may not have considered, had the author decided to focus on Emily alone. From her parents marriage, to Emily and Carolines birth, to Cats' end and Emily's beginning, the reader continues to question what happened until the end when you finally learn the unexpected.I think this is a story, which the reader may take away several different ideas. For me, I found the most significant meaning to be selfishness. It made me think how as a society today, most of us place our wants and needs above those around us, to the point that we may even consider our lives more important than that of the stranger we stand beside each day. When I thought of the friend inviting Emily and her husband to her wedding, risking it being ruined by an embarrassing outburst, I found myself thinking how the best things, the moments we truly cherish and remember come when we choose to place anothers needs/wants above our own.
    • 3/5
      In ONE STEP TOO FAR, Emily Coleman decides that the life she is living isn't worth continuing, so she walks out of the house one morning after careful preparation and becomes Catherine "Cat" Brown. In doing so, she has left behind motherhood, her husband, parents who adore her, and her difficult and sometimes evil identical twin sister, Caroline.Tina Seskis tells Emily/Cat's story through different perspectives and in a non-linear fashion. This can be a bit frustrating--especially because I had to read the book in short bursts over a somewhat long period of time. The references throughout the novel of what drove Emily/Cat away from a home and husband that seemed so perfect left me both intrigued and exasperated, but when the facts behind her departure were divulged, all my exasperation left, and I raced through those pages and would not have been surprised if I was holding my breath while reading them.There is a lot to like about this book, but there are also a lot of questions left unanswered. It's bemusing that the author chose to over-share the details of Emily's father's indiscretions, yet left out mention of any efforts made by Emily's husband to find her. I could understand why Caroline wouldn't want her twin sister found, but what about Emily's parents? Those are the biggest questions I had, and there are countless others.Overall, I thought this was a solid book. It was annoying at times, and thrilling at others. I recommend it to fans of the genre.*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.
    • 3/5
      An unusual book about the life of twins, their differences and how they affected each other. Wasn't ever sure where the story was going until it seems a standard ending. Didn't thrill me.
    • 5/5
      Very clever twist.I was hovering around four stars for the first half of this book - but then it just took off in the last third and I had to stay up until the early hours to finish it. I tried to go to sleep before the end, but it wasn't possible, I put my kindle into white-on-black mode and read in the dark!When we first meet Emily she is on the run from husband, home and family, heading towards London with no fixed destination, some cash in her pocket and no job. On arrival in the city she takes on her second name, Catherine, abbreviating it to Cat. In desperation, she takes a room in a squalid shared house in a run-down area of London. The house is peopled by various weird characters, but Cat is helped by Angela, appropriately known as Angel, and they become fast friends. Angel also has skeletons in her past and is tactful enough not to ask any questions.As Cat starts to build herself a new life we are introduced to more and more of her back story. We learn that she has a twin sister, Caroline, but that they don't share the closeness associated with twins. Caroline has many problems and they have a habit of impacting on other members of her family. We learn about Cat's meeting with the man that would become her husband and the deep love they share. And about her parents and their rocky marriage. Angel's back story is also gradually revealed, though in less detail.As all the pieces slowly fit together, an image begins to reveal itself, but the big question all along, is why did Cat leave home in such a hurry. Ms Seskis keeps us waiting for the answer, but when it comes it's a brilliant twist - I had to read that paragraph three times!There have only been two other books in my reading history that had such an effective twist at the end: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris.The only thing that did irritate me about this book, was the rather over played, sorry-for-herself moaning about her past, in the first half, especially as we didn't actually know what she was feeling so down about at that time. Still, the book soon redeemed itself and is up with my favourite reads of this year.I am looking forward with anticipation, to reading Tina Seskis's second novel, The Serpentine Affair.
    • 3/5
      What makes a woman run away from a loving family? Author Tina Seskis examines this in her debut novel One Step Too Far. Emily seems to have it all, a loving husband, a beautiful son and another on the way, as well as a comfortable home and the perfect job. Granted her father's a bit of a roue, her mother seems to accept his philandering as the price for stability even at the cost of her pride, and Emily's twin sister, Caroline, is a walking litany of neurosis and addictions. So what makes Emily wake up one morning, pack a few essentials and run away to start a new life under a new name where she has nothing and knows noone.The book spends most of its time describing this new life of Emily's begun in a shabby apartment with new younger friends with whom she quickly turns to partying and drugs. And, although her new life eventually becomes much more glamourous certainly than the old one, she never stops missing Ben and Charlie, the loving family she left behind.The story is told from different viewpoints and can seem somewhat confusing at times as it switches people, times, and places. At times, the story seems to bog down in Emily's self-recriminations especially as, for most of the story, we have no idea why she is so consumed with guilt and grief.For me, the story never really seemed to take off until we start to learn what really happened to cause Emily's flight from her old life. Throughout the book, I had thought I knew what had gone wrong but I wasn't even close. Seskis does an amazing job of keeping the the reader in the dark and, when we finally learn the truth suddenly the whole tale leading up to the revelation takes on a whole different light.Although the story began a little slowly for my taste, the ending made the build-up worthwhile. If you like books with a twist, this one is well worth the read. A fine debut novel from author Tina Seskis.
    • 4/5
      4.0 out of 5 stars - TwistedEmily steps out of her life and marriage -- one day she gets on a train with money from her cleaned out bank account and a few clothes in a holdall. She leaves her wedding ring in a restroom on her way to a life that she reinvents day by day. The reader gets small hints that a tragedy has occurred which has propelled her to a strange city, a run down shared flophouse, and a new job. Without revealing any of her past, Emily, now Cat, tries to make new friends but gets caught up in her hysteria to leave memories buried thinking that everyone will be better off with her gone.The narrative shifts in voice and time as the reader is given glimpses into Cat's family and the events that have led up to her choice to flee rather than to deal with her life. Although the reader might not really like Cat or understand the (bad!!) decisions she makes at every turn, empathy comes.A delicious twist at the end that I didn't really see coming! It was quite entertaining and a very quick, enjoyable read. Will be recommending!Thank you to NetGalley and Kirk Parolles for the ARC.
    • 4/5
      My rating: 4 of 5 starsOne Step Too Far by Tina Seskis was published by Kirk Parolles and is an April 2013 release. The book begins in 2010. Emily decides to do what many people fantasize about. She packs a bag, withdraws money from the bank and skips out her husband, Ben and her family. She moves into a run down flophouse. She immediately becomes friends with Angel. The two hit off and Emily changes her name to Cat and picks up Angel's habits. She steals clothes, drinks to excess, and begins doing drugs. While at first we have no clue as to why Emily has made this decision, we get the feeling she is really proud of herself. She gets a job and starts the bottom and works her way up in record time. She becomes close with her boss, Simon. It all seems like she pulled it off. She actually left her old life behind and started an entirely new one. Of course there is a back story. First of all Emily is a twin. While Emily has always been the stable, responsible, successful sister, Caroline was always going through one crisis or another. She had eating disorders, drug and alcohol addictions, abortions, and was always in and out of rehab. Emily's parent's marriage was a sham and finally they divorce after Emily's marriage. We begin to get the idea that something happened that drove Emily and Ben apart. Something disrupted Emily's life to the point where she thought everyone was better off with her out of the picture. I also felt like Emily was in denial and had been unable to face whatever had happened. Therefore, she became a different person -from the dependable Emily, to party girl, Cat. Meanwhile, bits and pieces of Emily's life unfold. We learn how she and Ben met, fell in love, and got married. We learn about Caroline's problems and all the stunts she has pulled over the years. We learn about Emily's parents and her philandering father. Finally toward the end of the book we begin to get glimpses of what Ben has been going through after his wife walks out on him. Eventually, though things catch up to "Cat" and she is forced to face up to the events that caused her to run away. If you have read any reviews about this book, you have been told there is a major twist at the end. There is a twist, an no, I don't anyone would ever be able to see it coming. Once you digest that new view of things, the author still keeps you guessing a bit. I was rather pleased with the ending. This was an interesting novel. The themes explored are difficult and the road was hilly and curvy, very painful and sad. But, I loved how Emily still managed to land on her feet. I'm not sure what genre to place this one in. It was a mystery, but not in the traditional sense. It was I suppose more a drama about life and family and friendship and the curves life throws at us that we either are strong enough to deal with or we find some other way of coping. Some recover and get their lives back on track and others are never the same. Thankfully, we get the idea that things will work out for all the people featured in the novel.Overall I give this on an A-.Thanks to the author and Netgalley for the DRC of this book.
    • 4/5
      Galley courtesy of netgalley.comI really enjoyed having the opportunity to review this book. It's well-written and interesting and it is easy to become engaged with the characters - there were lots of them to identity with. The reader is left in suspense until very close to the end, as far as the reason why Cat chose to leave her family. And even following this revelation (which is absolutely vivid and gut-wrenching) there are more surprises at hand. I'm not entirely sure of the significance of the relationship between Cat's parents, but Cat's relationship with her sister is dealt with in a quite realistic manner. The author is a master at wording scenarios such that the reader is kept guessing. A super read for anyone who loves psychological fiction. Four out of five stars.
    • 5/5
      I didn't have high hopes for this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. Seskis switches the narrator between Emily, her family, and her friends and also between the present and the past. It's a great, complex, and heart wrenching read. I removed a half star because I felt that the ending was very rushed, but overall I really enjoyed this story.
    • 4/5
      This is a good story and a fantastic debut novel for Tina Seskis. A story that is a romance, a mystery novel and a thriller with a twist at the end all rolled into one. It took a little to settle into this story, but once there you just cant put it down.
    • 2/5
      Emily Coleman decides to leave her husband and child and walks out the door and to start a new life for herself. Why would a woman who seemingly has a great life, loving family take off, change her name and live as someone else just to avoid her past? First, I have to say that I was quite taken aback when Emily left her family. It made me wonder why and that is the whole premise of the book. The mystery surrounds her leaving and doesn’t get resolved until close to the end. But this didn’t hold enough interest for me. The first half of the book is about how Emily leaves, changes her name, finds a place to love and gets a new job. Then we learn what her husband was going through after she left him. And we learn more about her mother and twin sister and what Emily’s prior life were like.
    • 4/5
      After reading and enjoying A Serpentine Affair, I felt compelled to read another of Tina Seskis' books and I was once again rewarded with a suspenseful mystery that, quite maddeningly at times, keeps the reader in the dark until the very end. It's the kind of book that one can't put down due to the deep and unfulfilled need to know the details of the tragic event that led Emily onto her current path. I was hooked right from the start, although I must admit that I felt that Emily's decision to go into hiding didn't fit well with the tragic event that led to it (I can understand leaving, but 'hiding' didn't make much sense to me), and this irritated me a bit since it didn't tie up the plot as nicely as I'd have liked. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the author's writing style, and will definitely seek out more books from her in the future.
    • 4/5
      Amazing and psychologically intense debut novel by Seskis. Dysfunctional family, twins that are far from close and totally different. This is a novel that requires some patience, but not much because the writing is very good, as the story line slowly reveals itself. The reader is presented with the narration of one character, we learn about her before life in flashbacks, and from the beginning I had a hard time aligning the two different faces of this character. I could not believe they were the same person, the now actions so did not fit the before actions of this character. The ending explains everything and than it all came together in an emotion tour de force that was intense, heartbreaking and ultimately somewhat uplifting. Quite impressed.
    • 1/5
      We're first introduced to Emily Coleman as she leaves her family in Chorlton, taking a train to London. When she arrives in London, she is now Catherine "Cat" Brown and has obviously run away from her family. Not much is revealed about Cat except that her full name is actually Catherine Emily Brown Coleman, she is in late 20s/early 30s, she was educated as a lawyer, and that she is a wife and mother. Cat finds housing in a boarding house in East London and is befriended by one of the residents, Angel. Within one week of arriving in London Cat finds temporary employment as a receptionist for an advertising firm that becomes a permanent job. She gradually works her way up to account manager in less than one year. There's obviously something traumatic in Cat's past and Cat seems to understand that even though she has run away from her family and tried to start a new life, she can't run away from her memories. Bits and pieces of Cat's past are revealed as the story progresses. Cat has a twin sister, Caroline, and this sister has had a lifetime of mental health issues. Cat's parents have a strange and strained relationship that apparently doesn't really work for either of them and eventually they separate and divorce. Caroline has been hospitalized off-and-on for depression, drug rehabilitation, and more and has always been angry and antagonistic towards Cat. I found One Step Too Far to be an extremely slow read simply because it would jump back and forth between the present and the past and nothing ever seemed to be tied together. It was also difficult to watch as Cat tried to drown her sorrows in alcohol and illegal drugs. Although Ms. Seskis makes a point of highlighting Caroline's mental health issues and the dysfunctional nature of Cat's family, nothing is ever really resolved with Cat's obvious mental health issues. Caroline is a bit twisted and sometimes downright evil and spiteful. Cat's friend Angel is a good friend, but she's also the one that introduced Cat to illegal drugs. Cat obviously can't deal with some painful issue in her past, but running away and creating a new identity obviously doesn't work. Cat comes across as very mature at times with how she recreates herself and finds success in her new life. But as some mysterious anniversary looms, she appears immature as she struggles to deal with this date and comes perilously close to sabotaging her recreated life rather than dealing with the root cause of her problems. The ending attempts to resolve some issues, but I found the resolution just raised more questions than it attempted to answer. One Step Too Far didn't work for me. I didn't find any of the characters very likeable. The story dragged quite a bit (for me) and often didn't really seem to be going anywhere. The ending was a major surprise and seemed to be a rather weak attempt to bring all elements of the story together.
    • 4/5
      A great, fast-moving book. This is the tale of Emily who, following an undisclosed tragedy runs away from her loving home to reinvent herself as Cat, a harder and much more cynical version of herself. Despite the implausible situations she finds herself in, it's a real credit to the author that her life events are so believable in the context of the story. Once she has landed in the anonymity of London, Cat lurches from one holy mess to another. In fact our anti-heroine is a bit of a disaster area and actually really quite selfish, despite her inner monologues trying to convince herself otherwise, but still I wanted to read and read until the story concluded. Once the tragedy was revealed, I found that I had more sympathy for Cat, but still she continued to mess with people's lives. The ending, anything but predictable, was a huge relief for me. I won't include any spoilers but I felt the author had pinpointed just what the reader needed (this reader at least) after the fraught hours spent living alongside Cat. A great first novel and I will definitely be looking out for more by the author.
    • 3/5
      This started out pro9mising enough, but there were so many twists and turns, that I'm afraid I got rather impatient with it.Disappointing.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book and the story drew me in from the very first page. It begins with Emily leaving behind her family and starting another life many miles away. From the very beginning I was wondering what on earth could have happened to make someone do that. Emily seemingly had a perfect life -so why did she leave…?Emily is the product of a dysfunctional family, she has a twin sister , Caroline, just an hour younger than herself. Caroline is the exact opposite of Emily – Emily is fundamentally a good person whereas Caroline has a destructive nature. As the story progresses and we follow Emily in her new life – when she changes her name to Cat, there is a feeling of tension – it is always in the background that she is running away from someone/something and she goes to great lengths to ensure that she won’t be found. I wanted to dislike Emily/Cat for leaving her family, but I couldn’t. She isn’t perfect, she does have a flawed personality and she does get involved in situations that she shouldn’t but the author has made her a very real person. From the hovel that she first moves into and then to her ensuing friendship with Angel, who she meets when she moves to London, the story is believable. Angel too is an interesting character and with flashbacks we find out more about her life. The story is told with alternating chapters of the back story to the time when Cat and Caroline were born and their parent’s behaviours, their young lives and also Angel’s story and so the reader builds up a picture. Of course we are not told everything and when a tragic event brings Cat’s world crashing around her, we then discover the rest of her story. The story kept me hooked and I wanted to keep reading to discover more. For a debut novel it is excellent and I certainly look forward to reading more by this author. My thanks to Netgalley and publisher Kirk Parolles for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
    • 3/5
      This book starts out in one voice, and switches point of view frequently. It also switches to a narrator point of view at intervals. It can all be very distracting if you are not paying close attention. If you don't want to be confused, keep your mind on the story.It was an interesting tale of how Emily finally snapped after spending her entire life dealing with her not no sane family. She runs away and tries to start a new life, leaving me trying to figure out what happened that was so bad it would force her to such extremes and such a drastic change in life style. It was not revealed until the very end, extremely suspenseful. I was very surprised with the final telling of the tale.I feel like some of the book was unnecessary, could have been cut out and it wouldn't have made the story less interesting, maybe it would have even made it less confusing. I also questioned how her husband couldn't find her for a whole year. She was using her real name.Over all, I enjoyed it, and was kept on edge waiting to finally figure out what that turning point was that changed Emily Coleman to Cat Brown.I was given a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
    • 3/5
      This book as been sitting on my "to read" pile by my bed for quite some time. I finally embarked on reading it and found it a lot lighter and easier reading than expected. The blurb gave me the idea it was going to be a bit harrowing. Surprisingly I found it lighter than expected and a nice read. The ending was very rushed feeling which was my only disappointment. Would definitely read more by the same auther.
    • 4/5
      One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis is another first novel that's been getting lots of press lately. And it's my favourite genre - psychological suspense.Emily seems to have found happiness with her husband Ben, their solid careers and lovely home. Emily's childhood was somewhat unsettled - her father was a philanderer and her mother seemed simply overwhelmed. Emily is a twin and her sister Caroline was a difficult child - and an even more difficult adult. So, what would make Emily walk away from everything she had ever hoped to have? "It's funny how easy it , when it really comes down to it, to get up from your life and begin a new one."Seskis takes us along with Emily (now calling herself Cat) as she starts her new life. But she also slowly (and maddeningly - in a good way) fills in what has led to Emily taking such a drastic step. It was impossible not to keep reading 'just one more chapter' before turning off the light for the night. But, it is not only through Emily's eyes and memories that the pieces are filled in. Ben, Caroline, Emily's parents and Cat's new friend Angel all have chapters and voices of their own. These supporting character's chapters are quite involved and at times, I wondered about the amount of detail given. It was only after I finished the book and was thinking about the title, that I thought it fit - each and every player in the story makes a decision that crosses a line and takes things one step too far. Seskis mixes narratives and timelines - the reader needs to be on their toes. I quite liked the unpredictability of it all.But why, why, why is what kept me turning pages. I desperately wanted to know the reasons behind Emily's running.I don't want to give anything away, so suffice to say Seskis pulls a literary sleight of hand that is masterful. I found myself back at the beginning just to see where the wool was pulled over my eyes.After that spectacular reveal though, I did think that the part four ending that Seskis wrote took things just a step too far as well. It seemed to be overkill and the same sleight of hand language seemed too obvious.I did really enjoy One Step Too Far and it's definitely a recommended read for those who love psychological suspense.
    • 3/5
      I am not sure how to classify this book. It is not a mystery that is for sure. It never really goes anywhere and the few times I was "surprised"by something it tended to feel more of a letdown. The writing is fine, it's just that the story really wasn't that interesting.
    • 4/5
      I received a copy of this psychological thriller as an "advance reader's edition" from a give away that I entered -- and was I ever pleasantly surprised!! On the first page, Emily is leaving her old life to start new, and you can tell she's running away from something, but you don't know what or why. The outside cover says "No one has ever guessed Emily's secret. Will you?" Well, I didn't! But it certainly turned out to be a page turner, giving you little hints along the way but never enough to give anything away. I couldn't put it down, but was afraid that the ending might be disappointing. Well, it wasn't! I can't say too much because I don't want to give any spoilers, but I say "Read this one!" It was very well written, and I really enjoyed it :)
    • 5/5
      Very, very clever. I had to go back and see what I missed when I reached the end! Going back and forth in time really worked for me.
    • 4/5
      Contemporary, Mystery, Romantic ElementsLondon & Manchester EnglandEmily Coleman had a happy marriage, a lovely home and a beautiful family. At least she did until one morning when she walks out on all of it and right out of her life. She wants to start a life as someone new. Emily is now Cat and is working at a hip advertising agency in London. She has a new friend, Angel that she is living on the edge with. Cat has done everything possible to bury her old life and self. If fact she has managed to do it so well that no one can find her. What she can’t do is truly bury the past nor can she forget her memories. Soon she will have to face the truth of what she has done. It is a revelation so shocking it just might push her one step too far.This is a story the expertly weaves the past and present together in such a way that the reader slowly gets the whole picture. It also keeps readers guessing just why Emily walked out of her life. The story takes the reader on a wild ride with Emily as they work to figure out just what caused all that Emily does. Just as the reader thinks they have it figured out another clue is tossed out to make them guess again. This is an emotional story that pulls the reader in and keeps them captive until the very last page when the story ultimately comes full circle. It is definitely worth reading and getting lost in the story.Received a review copy