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6th August 2015
10:12am BST

After the Storm is set almost entirely on the old boat, adding to the sense of claustrophobia that creates a lot of the subtle and slowly building tension throughout the book. It’s a slow burner, with a lot remaining unsaid between the central characters.
If you like your thrillers breakneck speed, with twists and turns coming as quickly as a chapter ends, this one may not be for you. For the same reason, it may disappoint fans of Lythell’s first novel – the very well-received The Lie of You.
The suspense does build and every character does have a secret past to call their own, but the positioning of this book in the market does it no favours (the cover similarity to the likes of Gillian Flynn’s novels and Paula Hakwins’ The Girl on the Train is no accident).
This is more of a suspenseful relationship drama than a thriller, but if that’s the novel experience you’re primed for there is much to enjoy about Lythell’s descriptive style of writing and her layered portraits of flawed men and women and the relationships they create.
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