The Next Girl by Australian author Pip Drysdale is a work of fiction in the psychological thriller subgenre. Filled with suspense, mystery, and plenty of drama.
Billie, a paralegal works for a New York legal firm. They had been working on a case against Doctor Samuel Grange v victim, Jane Delaney. The case went to court and the firm suffered a loss at the hands of Billie’s involvement. She is looking down the barrel at dismissal and to get over her disappointment, drinking an excessive amount of alcohol seems the only option.
The next morning as she wakes, she is in an unfamiliar bed and sees another very real human beside her who she doesn’t recognise. She cannot call to mind how she got there and who he is. Now she must go into memory recall overdrive and figure out what led her there. As memories flood back in, she knows one thing is for sure, today she will be fired.
Samuel Grange, the accused is a wealthy doctor who thinks he is superior to everyone else. With his charge being dismissed Billie is certain his is guilty and will repeat his behaviour and find new women to abuse. But before that will happen, she devises a plan to stop him and make herself his next victim.
The Next Girl draws you in right from the first page, and the more you read, the more you want to read. It stealthily tightens its grip on you, unwilling to let you put the book down until you reach the end.
The narrative’s twists and turns produce a powerful impression, and it will keep you guessing all the way through. I loved how the story was narrated by Billie, her vivid depictions of scenes made reading the book feel like I was right there in the middle of all the action, helplessly watching every movement. Drysdale did not disappoint, delivering revelations and surprises with perfect pacing to make this an ideal and engrossing read.
The characters are skillfully developed with a mixture of relatable likeable and unlikeable people with real lives and the flaws we expect them to have. Billie is a young, feisty, and an intelligent woman with a mind of her own trying to find answers to the many questions in her head. Samuel Grange comes across as obnoxious with an elevated sense of self-worth and more important than others.
This is up there one of the most twisted psychological thrillers I have read. I highly recommend to fans of the genre.
Thank you, Beauty and Lace and Simon & Schuster Australia, for the opportunity to read and review.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading The Next Girl by Pip Drysdale. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
My love of books started at a very young age. My mum has always been a reader and encouraged me to read, buying me endless book from classic fairy tales advancing to the world of Enid Blyton, CS Lewis, Louisa May Alcott, Kathryn Kenny, Carolyn Keene, Francine Pascal. In my adult years the list of authors is endless and every room in my house is filled with books.
One of my favourite novels is Narnia which has always has a special place in my heart. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1978 and when I was given this book to read it let me escape to another world where I felt like I was in the book with all the characters, it wasfun and exciting to escape from reality and eased the ups and downs of the disease at such a young age.
In books nothing is impossible and there is endless potential and hundreds of places to explore or being taken to places that are only made up from the authors’ great minds, the past and future to navigate, characters lives you step into taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride or being scared out of your wits. I can experience things that I can’t in real life because they’re not possible or real. It challenges my perspective and mindset expanding my worldview.
I find joy, comfort and peace with books, many people may not get it, but I know bookworms like me truly understand. Reading makes my heart happy.
This book took a while to get to me, but it was well worth the wait! It kept me on my toes and kept me guessing and I had no idea how it was going to end. I developed different theories while reading, but none of them were right and I liked that I didn’t know what the ending was. The main character, Billie was complex and intelligent. She keeps track of certain people online and sometimes even does a bit of hacking to get into their accounts – it’s so complex. I finished this off last night reading by candlelight during a power failure and it was the perfect setting for the ending. Thank you so much Beauty and Lace for letting me review this book >:o)