The movies Single White Female and Fatal Attraction launched the phenomena of crazy chicks for my generation. Both were shocking at the time of their release and set the bar for obsessiveness. Indeed, 20-30 years on we still talk about SWFing someone or ‘bunny boilers’.

It probably means books involving characters obsessed with others are less surprising than they once were. Or perhaps less horrific (rather than predictable) because we’ve become inured in some way. Your Closest Friend by Karen Perry explores such an obsession, though it’s borne of a very unusual situation.

Your Closest Friend
by Karen Perry
Published by Michael Joseph
on June 1st 2018
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Thriller / Suspense, Psychological Thriller
ISBN: 9781405936668, B078SLBS9T
Pages: 400

Goodreads

On a hot humid night in London, Cara Jameson's busy, fulfilling life is interrupted with the sound of gunfire. Panic and terror grip the street as the air is filled with screaming and Cara is pulled roughly to safety by a stranger.

Taking refuge in a storeroom, Cara huddles with her savior - Amy - and in the darkness she shares more in those hours than ever has with even her husband. When she emerges hours later, a bond forged in the trauma of that night has formed between them.

Returning to work, Cara tries to put the experience behind her, but the incident has taken its toll and as cracks begin to show in her perfect life and marriage, Amy reappears, set on pursuing a friendship.

Cara wished she hadn't shared everything she did in those hours of darkness. But as her life skids towards deepening violence, there is only one person she can turn to: Amy, her closest friend.

In some ways Cara meets Amy at the most inopportune time. For her. It’s good timing for Amy, but for Cara… she’s feeling fragile after being confronted by an old love and with an old secret. Being caught up in a terrifying terror attack compounds that fragility and means she’s probably more vulnerable than she’d normally be.

And unfortunately for Cara, the turmoil comes from several sources. Not just Amy.

Amy’s backstory unfolds throughout the novel and I appreciated that Perry didn’t cast her as a complete crazy. She’s sympathetic and – mostly, or initially – kinda likeable. Similarly Cara was happily complex. She’s fallible and we’re in her head (as well as Amy’s) so know that she’s struggling with her conscience over the spate of recent events.

Perry also paces this novel well so there’s a tension building and (though there’s an element of predictability) we’re not quite sure ‘who’ will blow first or what the repercussions will be.

Your Closest Friend by Karen Perry was published by Michael Joseph (Penguin UK) and is now available.

I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher for review.