The Vow: A book review

Title: The Vow

Author: Debbie Howells

# of pages: 386

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Published date: 15^th Oct

Published by: Avon books UK

Debbie Howells’s The Vow is a tale of loss, betrayal and revenge.

“… And for a fleeting moment, even though she was empty inside, the rain would always clear and the sun would come out…..”
excerpt from the book

Amy is getting married in two weeks. She has always dreamt of this day and, for her, no one can be better than Matt. Amy works as a herbalist and, that keeps the day otherwise full. She waits for Matt to come from work to discuss the details of the wedding. Amy receives a call from Matt telling her he will be late in the evening. And that’s, the last time she heard from him! Next day when he did not come back home, she reported him missing. As the police investigate, they find the duplicitous life of Matt. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. This revelation shatters Amy’s faith. She is in shock with the incidents happening around his disappearance. But thing’s keeps getting complicated for her. Someone is tormenting her, someone with devilish intent. Will Amy freefall into this chaos or, she will pull herself up?

Amy narrates her story, alternating between Jess (daughter of Amy) and Fiona’s narration. Jess’s narration which starts later gives the reader a perspective to the story. The plot involves a few characters and, navigating through them is easy. As the chapters progress, everyone seems to have a motive in the disappearance of Matt.

The story captures the reader’s attention, and one cannot keep the book down. The central theme is abusive relationships. Unlike, the physical abuse this abuse does not leave any mark on the body. But it scars the mind and soul of the victim.

Debbie Howells builds up the story with a good pace, to let the reader soak up the clues and past episodes.

Jess, Fiona and Amy capture of most of the scenes, but it ended abruptly for Fiona. The readers would have preferred to know what happens with her at the end. Amy and Jess develop with the story.

Howells writing is impeccable. She weaves a mystery with a gentle pace and engaging readers her with subtlety.

My rating for the book is 3.5 stars.