When The Lights Go Out – Chris Curran
Who can you trust…
WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT
A group of new friends. But can she trust them?
For struggling actress Ava, landing a role with the Chimera Theatre Group could lead to her big break. And relocating to a remote country village means stepping out from the shadow of her boyfriend-despite his determination not to let her go.
Everyone in the group seems so welcoming, they’re one big happy family. But, like all families, they each have secrets. And someone in the group doesn’t want certain secrets to get out…
My thanks to the publishers for the review copy I received and to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to host the opening leg of the tour for When The Lights Go Out
I don’t host a blog tour for weeks then suddenly I find I have the honour of being asked to open two different tours over two consecutive days. Welcome to the When The Lights Go Out tour, the schedule of hosts is at the foot of my review. It’s rather apt this book is embarking on a tour as the characters in the story are members of the Chimera Theatre Group and as a small collective of talent they too tour to present their work and entertain as they go.
Our focus is on Ava. When we meet her she is in a stagnating relationship with another actor. His career is going better than her own and their relationship isn’t going anywhere. But a chance encounter with a member of the Chimera Theatre Group sees Ava being offered the opportunity to join Chimera and get out the city to stay and work with the others in the Group out in rural Gloucestershire. Jumping at a chance for a fresh start Ava takes up the offer.
From the opening pages Chris Curran makes sure readers know Ava is taking steps into a dangerous unknown. An incident in the opening chapter puts Ava immediately into a dangerous situation and as the chapter draws to a close the readers know there are secrets and suspicions as to how accidental the cause of the dangerous sitation may have been. I love when a story hits the ground running and makes it clear that every seemingly random action may actually be a deliberate or malicious act by persons unknown. Or a sneaky red herring laid down by the author to keep me guessing!
As I got deeper into the story I had the feeling of foreboding, something unpleasant was going to happen. Not the malicious or nasty type of “something” which peppered the early chapters but something BAD. What made that foreboding worse was that the characters knew this too – there was a collective bracing taking place between the cast and this reader.
Chris Curran has worked wonders assembling a small cast of characters that I found compelling to read about and I became invested in their complex relationships. The events around these characters are twisty and often surprising – I treated all with suspicion but couldn’t stop reading.
I had huge fun reading When The Lights Go Out. It’s wickedly plotted and nips along at a nice pace to keep the tension running through the chapters. Seek this one out, it’s highly recommended.
When The Lights Go Out is published by One More Chapter and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B1LW2V8Y/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
