Twenty-Seven Minutes
An astonishing crime thriller debut with a shocking twist
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
It takes one moment to call for help. So why did he wait?
'The rare gift that delivers it all: elevated prose, characters with depth, unpredictable twists, and a pitch-perfect mood that is wonderfully consuming ... A must-read debut' Ashley Audrain, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Push
THE QUESTION
For the last ten years, the small town of West Wilmer has been struggling to answer one question: On the night of the car accident that killed his sister, why did it take Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to call for help? If he'd called sooner, Phoebe might still be alive.
THE SECRET
As the anniversary of Phoebe's death approaches, Grant is consumed by his memories and the secret that's been suffocating him for years. But he and Phoebe weren't the only ones in the car that night. Becca was there too - she's the only other person who knows what really happened. Or is she?
THE TRUTH
Everyone in West Wilmer remembers Phoebe, but only June remembers that another person was lost that night. Her brother Wyatt has been missing for ten years and, now that her mother is dead, June has no one left - no family, no friends. Until someone appears at her door.
Someone who may know where Wyatt went all those years ago.
Someone who knows what really happened on the bridge that night.
Someone who is ready to tell the truth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Canadian journalist Tate starts out stronger than she finishes in her lackluster debut about the small-town ripples caused by a teenager's suspicious death. In a poignant prologue, 17-year-old Phoebe Dean is introduced dying on a bridge in the tiny American town of West Wilmer after a horrific car accident. Ten years later, the community prepares to hold a decennial memorial service in Phoebe's honor. The looming commemoration reawakens fraught memories for her older brother, Grant, who was driving the truck Phoebe was in before she died. The official story was that Grant hit a deer, and Phoebe, who wasn't wearing her seat belt, died almost immediately after the vehicle spun out from the impact. A vocal group of locals, however, blame Grant for her death, since he delayed calling 911 for 27 minutes after the accident—possibly, they claim, because he was intoxicated. As the memorial approaches, Grant conspires with his friend, Becca, who was in the back seat of the truck, to keep the truth behind Phoebe's death a secret, even as June, whose brother disappeared the same night Phoebe died, begins to wonder if the tragedies may be linked. Unfortunately, the truth Grant's been hiding is not especially shocking, and Tate winds up delivering a drawn-out thriller with a disappointing payoff. Genre fans will feel they've read this one before.
