Mothers – united in grief. Alice is the mother of Benny – upright, kind, hardworking and looking forward to his future and Lou – scruffy, disrespectful and a drop-out. Lou’s passion is restoring an old Tiger motorbike that his grandfather had bought for him. Benny, on the other hand, is packing his things, ready for university beginning in a few weeks. Alice oversees several libraries. Indigo is the mother of Kane. He is also planning on leaving for university. She has a totally different nature to Alice. Never worked in an office and bikes everywhere. The boys know each other, in fact, they’re good friends, but their mothers have never met – until tragedy strikes. Lou dies after a night out, and Kane is charged with his murder. Emily Koch tells weaves a beautiful warm story around these two families. Two mothers struck down in grief for different reasons. Women who will learn more about their resilience as their paths intertwine. But possibly the most important lesson they will learn is who their sons genuinely are. The book had a profound effect on me and one that I would very much like to read again. Rony Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

Good. Interesting characters and concept. A real page turner. Kept me guessing till the end. Love the writing style and how it makes it such a atmospheric book. Thank you Vintage for inviting me to read this via Netgalley.

Enjoyed this novel very much. The storyline flowed seamlessly, and the characters were engaging. Will definitely pick up more books by this author.

After reading and totally loving Emily Koch’s debut If I Die Before I Wake, I couldn’t wait to read her second novel Keep Him Close. The author’s first novel was exceptional, her skill as a writer transcending that of novelists with many books under their belt. Second novels, however, can often be the ‘make or break’ book, proving more challenging than the debut as it piles on the pressure for the author to repeat the same level of success. So, was Emily Koch able to sustain this for her second novel? Read on to find out… Firstly, I was completely drawn in by both the story’s premise and its location. The story is set in and around central Bristol, moving towards the north side of the city. I have lived in Bristol all of my life, and the prison itself is somewhere that I walked past every day when I was at secretarial college. Just walking past this place sends shivers down your spine, and it seems hard to comprehend that houses have been built so close by, as if it is a school or something. The story centres around two women, Alice (whose son, Lou, has been killed) and Indigo (whose son, Kane, has been charged with his murder). Alice, lives in one of the houses that backs on to the prison, and the fact that her son’s killer is within such close proximity, immediately makes the story even more chilling. Both women are single parents but characterisation of these two mothers are far from stereotypical. The mother of the victim has a stifled relationship with her son, whereas the mother of the accused has a more laid-back style of parenting and has a close bond with her son. When Indigo (mother of the accused) walks into the library where Alice (mother of the victim) works, wanting to access the internet to try and help her son, Alice soon discovers who Indigo is, but Indigo is oblivious to Alice’s identity. With chapters mostly alternating around the different perspectives of Alice and Indigo, this imbalance of knowing cleverly drives the narrative forward through the author’s choice of narrative perspective, where whilst Alice’s story is narrated in third-person, Indigo’s is told in first-person. This brings Indigo’s character slightly closer to the reader; and by extension, Kane’s story and whether he is really guilty or not, is what makes the story so compelling. One of the themes running through the story is that things aren’t always what they first appear to be, and this is particularly true with Alice. Alice comes across as cold-hearted and not particularly likeable; however, as the story progresses, this changes and there are some real tear-jerker moments as we get to know both the real Alice and how her son really felt about her. The power of a mother’s love also runs strongly through the narrative, and this is put to the test when the two women put themselves in danger as they face some much darker characters in an attempt to find out what happened on that fateful night. I couldn’t help but think what a brilliant detective duo the two women would make in a future novel! Emily Koch has absolutely smashed this second novel. Her skill for sucking the reader in to a brilliantly plotted storyline with fantastic characters really is quite something and I can’t wait for Book 3! I would recommend this book for fans of Clare Mackintosh, Jo Ullah, or Cara Hunter.

Keep Him Close by Emily Koch is a rollercoaster of emotion. The plot focuses on two women and their families caught up on an avoidable tragedy. The characterisation is particularly strong and so believable. The relationship developing between the women at the core of the book is described in such detail, I almost felt I knew them myself. I thoroughly recommend it to all who enjoy a family drama. My thanks to Netgalley and Harvill Secker, part of the Penguin Random House group of publishers.