Adult contemporary crime / sci-fi thriller with a razor-sharp hook. This is an absolute page-turner that had me hooked from beginning to end. The premise: a young man becomes inexplicably entangled in organised crime and kills someone. His mother is desperate to understand how it happened—and how she might prevent it. As this story unravels - backwards as we go back in time , further than anyone could imagine - more and more puzzle pieces are discovered… McAllister layers crime, mystery, and speculative twists with such precision that every reveal feels both surprising and inevitable. The way hidden secrets are slowly unravelled is masterfully done, and the structure itself is part of the thrill. I tore through this in record time. Smart, gripping, and full of heart—it’s absolutely worth the read.

Another mind blowing novel from a great writer. This is an incredibly good read with plotting of the highest order. It's simply ingenious! All I will say about the plot is that Jen witnesses her son, Todd, commit a murder late at night. When she wakes the next morning the crime hasn't happened. Is this a second chance? Can Jen stop her son? Great characters, brilliant action, wonderful pacing and a magnificent ending. Superb! Many thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wrong Place Wrong Time from Gillian McAllister is hands down the best thriller I have ever read. It’s astonishingly good from start to finish and it will be worth all of the hype it will doubtlessly gain upon its release. Five stars just doesn’t seem enough. Wrong Place Wrong Time follows Jen who is living every parent’s worst nightmare. Her happy, funny, astonishingly clever son commits a terrible crime; he murders a complete stranger on his way home from a night out. Jen doesn’t know who the man is nor why Todd did what he did, she only knows her boy is in custody with his promising future lost. That night Jen falls asleep in despair, but when she wakes up Todd is at home, and it’s yesterday. Each morning she wakes up another day before the murder with another chance to stop it. Somewhere in the past lie the answers and Jen has no choice but to find them. This story is so very clever, the way that McAllister has Jen solving the mystery surrounding the murder in reverse is just magnificent storytelling. Each day that Jen finds herself in has some significant meaning, linked to finding the answers as to why Todd commits the crime he does. The issue for Jen, however, is that to discover the answers she first needs to figure out what questions she needs to be asking, and of whom. There are so many twists and turns as we uncover more pieces of information. Wrong Place Wrong Time is a perfect puzzle that becomes clear at towards its ending and will have you scraping your jaw off the floor. Whilst the main focus of this novel is Jen’s pursuit of the answers to the mystery surrounding the murder, there is also the theme of parental self-doubt and guilt. I thought McAllister dealt with this so beautifully. Jen, like all parents, worries about how well she has parented Todd. She begins to wonder if she has made mistakes that has contributed to this crime. I won’t say how her feelings around this are resolved as it would spoil things but I will say that the exploration of Jen’s anxieties surrounding her parenting and her love for Todd added real depth to this story. Overall this was a fantastic and unforgettable thriller that I cannot recommended highly enough. With thanks to Netgally and Penguin Michael Joseph for the advanced copy in return for my honest review.

I received a copy of this from the publisher Penguin Michael Joseph, and Netgalley in return for an honest review. I wish I hadn't waited so long to read this one. I’ve not read any of Gillian’s books before, and this did not disappoint! I loved how the book worked backwards in time, there was a few times I thought ‘why doesn’t this person remember this thing’, then remembered that it hadn’t happened for them yet! So even though it was a little confusing, it was only rarely and didn’t take anything away from the story at all. I’d definitely read more of Gillian’s books, and would recommend this one! Thanks again to Penguin Michael Joseph for my e-arc.

Wowza, this is an absolute mindblower. I’ve been a fan of Gilly McAllister for several years but in my opinion this is the best yet. My advice, don’t read the blurb, go in blind for greater enjoyment. All I’m going to say is that on day zero just after midnight Jen is anxiously waiting for her son Todd to come home. She spots him and shortly after her world stops turning. What follows on takes Jen on a journey of discovery after discovery. Right from the start the author pulls you into the storytelling with shock, horror, disbelief and tension being the tone set and maintained throughout. The concept of the novel is fantastic and very different from her previous novels, yet it’s also full of many clever twists and turns you don’t see coming which is one of her trademarks. It’s very well written, cleverly plotted, pitched perfectly so it just flows and in some ways it shouldn’t but it does, demonstrating real writing skill. Flow is an apt word as it is a go with the flow read and it does feel a bit weird to start with and you’re full of questions but somehow you just accept it conceptually and it comes to feel ‘natural’. I like the fact there are genre crossovers here and it works really well, deepening the mystery and sharpening the thrill element so much so you can’t put the book down. The central characters of Jen, son Todd and husband Kelly are very good and because you grow to like them so much (especially Todd) you go on an emotional journey with Jen as she beats herself up with maternal guilt but so much love for her son. The game at play is a dangerous one and it’s a rollercoaster ride as she makes some shocking discoveries in this voyage of second chances. Well played Gilly McAllister, what a book and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if movie rights or a Netflix miniseries offers wing their way with this one. The best yet and an easy five stars.