By: Tess Sharpe
Genre: YFCB - Thrillers (Children's / Teenage)
Published by: Hachette Children's Books
Published: 9 Feb 2021
ISBN: 9781444960112

Description

Soon to be a Netflix film starring Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown - this must-read psychological thriller, perfect for fans of One of Us Is Lying, will leave you guessing until the final page. 'Slick, stylish and full of suspense' - Sophie McKenzie. As an ex con artist, Nora has always got herself out of tricky situations. But the ultimate test lies in wait when she's taken hostage in a bank heist. And this time, Nora doesn't have an escape plan...


Meet Nora. Also known as Rebecca, Samantha, Haley, Katie and Ashley - the girls she's been. Nora didn't choose a life of deception - she was born into it. As the daughter of a con artist who targeted criminal men, Nora always had to play a part. But when her mother fell for one of the men instead of conning him, Nora pulled the ultimate con herself: escape. For five years Nora's been playing at normal - but things are far from it when she finds herself held at gunpoint in the middle of a bank heist, along with Wes (her ex-boyfriend) and Iris (her secret new girlfriend and mutual friend of Wes ... awkward).


Now it will take all of Nora's con artistry skills to get them out alive. Because the gunmen have no idea who she really is - that girl has been in hiding for far too long...


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Review

This is an absolute edge of your seat thriller! It grabs you from the first scene, where we find our heroine Nora entering a bank with her best friends, Wes and Iris, only to get stuck in the middle of a robbery.


Nora immediately starts calculating possible scenarios as to how they can all leave the bank alive, as things get worse and worse.


We discover more about all of the girls Nora has been, as her con-artist mother used her from an early age as part of her criminal plans that had them constantly changing address and identity. For Nora, this changed at 12 when she was saved by her half-sister who had endured the same upbringing.


Chapters swap between the ‘now’ of the bank robbery and Nora’s past that has given her the ability to react under these extreme circumstances.


Nora is a kick-ass character with cunning and fortitude that you cannot help but love and cheer on, while feeling sorry for the struggles she faced in her earlier life.


This is a gripping psychological thriller that does contain a level of violence and subtly referred to themes that make it best suited to readers aged 14 and above.


Reviewed by Rob