FEAR: The Confession of Victor Gossard

What would you do if you killed someone? What if it was a complete accident? What if you were only a teenager? What if you were with your three best friends when it happened? Would you confess? Would you run? Would you be able to live with yourself?
FEAR is the first person confession of Vic Gossard. Ten years ago he and three of his friends killed a girl in the small town of Lancaster where they grew up. Now Vic has returned home to confess. To his parents. To the police.
Vic's confession shows us that not getting caught does not necessarily mean getting away with it. We learn about the intervening years, how what happened impacted upon every element of his life leaving him broken. An insomniac, alcoholic who is barely able to function. We also learn about the night of the incident, the hours leading up to it and the decisions made in the aftermath. Until finally, Vic reaches the point of no return.
FEAR is a tale of childhood innocence, friendship, loyalty, murder, depression and ultimately redemption.

Praise for FEAR: "Suppose you had been one of a gang of four young, happy lads who were celebrating leaving school, and you’d done something, collectively, which had resulted in a death. How would you live with it? This is the question posed in this unusual tale in which Vic Gossard, speaking into a digital recorder in his car in the middle of the night, wrestles with his demons. He is telling the tale of his despair, his friends, his family, and, just as it would if you were in that position, it comes out haphazardly in a stream-of-consciousness narrative which is so compelling it’s hard to stop reading. Because it’s told to the reader in the first person it has an intimacy about it.

This is a departure from Jamie Sinclair’s usual stories and a daring and worthwhile experiment. I really enjoyed it and it brought home how one uncharacteristic act by people who have previously led good lives, can devastate not only the victim and her family but the lives and families of the boys concerned. A very good read indeed."