A Voice in the Night, Sarah Hawthorn

Synopsis and Review:

A Voice in the Night is a gripping, action-packed, debut thriller by Australian author, Sarah Hawthorn. The novel shifts between the past and the present and is set in New York, London, and Sydney.

Lucie was a young, stunning law intern in a New York City firm. She was madly in love with Martin, an older, married man who promised to leave his wife to be with Lucie – forever. On a mild and beautiful autumn morning, the lovers said good-bye and parted ways to begin their work day. Martin was planning a perfect dinner for them that evening at an exquisite restaurant. Lucie’s mind raced at the possible reasons for such a special night. She hoped that Martin was ready to take the next steps in planning their future together, and he wanted to celebrate. Lucie was so looking forward to that night and everything it could bring.

But there was a problem. It was September 11, 2001, and Martin never returned from work that day.

Twenty years later, Lucie is now a lawyer at a prestigious, demanding law firm in London. Her stressful professional life keeps her busy, but Lucie’s personal life never quite solidified in the years following Martin’s death. She finds herself in dead-end relationships, including an unhappy marriage that ended with a divorce and a bitter ex-husband. She begins dating Jonathan, a quiet, oddly anxious younger man with a loaded history of his own. She also spends time with Alan, her free spirited but arrogant sexual partner. Then, out of the blue, a mysterious letter arrives – a letter signed by her long deceased lover, Martin. After the letter comes expensive gifts – and phone calls from somebody claiming to be Martin. Either somebody is playing cruel mind games with Lucie, or Martin staged his own death, is still alive, and wants to find her again. With her sanity put to the test, Lucie goes on a quest to find answers. She soon discovers that their affair wasn’t Martin’s only secret, and she must now face a painful new reality about the man she loved and thought she knew.

I enjoyed A Voice in the Night and was taken in by Hawthorn’s writing style. The multiple themes make this book relatable to everybody; terrorism, epic tragedy, infidelity, marriage and relationships, sex and promiscuity, mental illness, substance abuse, loss, sexual harassment in the workplace, and on and on. This novel has it all, and Hawthorn presents these sensitive topics meaningfully, honestly, tactfully, and appropriately.

A Voice in the Night offers a wide range of intriguing and well-developed characters, each of them adding substance to the plot line in varied ways. My feelings about Lucie’s character shifted throughout the book. Initially, I didn’t like her selfish immaturity, especially when she got into her forties and was still acting like a twenty-something. However, I was able to sympathize with her later on. Hawthorn injected subtle undercurrents of the far-reaching, disastrous psychological consequences that September 11th had on a young woman just starting out in life. Unable to evolve beyond the trauma, Lucie remained frozen in time – her personal growth forever stunted and defined by that fateful event. Hawthorn did a brilliant job of capturing the long-term ramifications of a young woman’s emotional trauma, and how one’s past transgressions can come back to haunt them.

I loved how this novel stretched across three different parts of the world and spanned twenty years, both of which provided depth to the plot and imagery, and added complexity to the mystery. The multiple settings and time shifts were well organized, flowed smoothly and didn’t interfere with the clarity of the plot. Throughout the novel, Hawthorn highlights the complicated nature of love and family, transgressions and secrets – and what people will do for those they love. Hawthorn’s ability to pull the reader into the moods, the tension and suspense, made me want to keep reading. A Voice in the Night is an extremely well-written, fast-paced, twisting roller-coaster ride of lies, secrets and the price of deception. The rising tension culminates to two (yes two) explosive shockers at the very end, and I never would have predicted either one. This debut novel lingers long after it is finished, and I think it would make a phenomenal movie. I have added a new name to my favorite authors list, and I am eager to read more from Sarah Hawthorn. I highly recommend this chilling psychological thriller to adult readers.

Release date July 1 2021. I was provided with an advanced e-copy to write a review.

To learn more about Sarah Hawthorn, go to https://www.sarahhawthorn.com.au/.