The Pact by Sharon Bolton

Author: Sharon Bolton

Title: The Pact

Publisher: Trapeze

Published: 2021

Pages: 384

Genre: Thriller

     A golden summer and six talented friends are looking forward to the brightest of futures - until a daredevil game goes horribly wrong, and a woman and two children are killed. 18-year-old Megan takes the blame, leaving the others free to get on with their lives. In return, they each agree to a 'favor', payable on her release from prison. Twenty years later Megan is free. Let the games begin . . .

     It was a long time ago I first came across this author's work with her phenomenal book Now You See Me. It was a book that kept me glued to every page trying to beat the author to the big reveal, a feat I would point out I failed to do. But never the less when I was done with it I made sure to recommend that book and her work to everyone I knew who reads. But somehow with a ginormous to be read pile at my feet, she seems to have slipped through the cracks for the longest time. But, while on the hunt for my next read I came across The Pact and thought it was time to delve back into those elusive pages. I'm always pulled into books that seem to contain the subject of keeping secrets and the tricky nature of how they always seem to want to free themselves from the chains that bind them. It was also intriguing to me that here it would seem we were given this secret fairly upfront and then had to bear witness to how these things can tear apart people of many years. But I suppose that is the nature of a great thriller, it refelt s our own nature back on us. Those dark little seeds that we pretend don't exist. 

      When we first come to Megan and her friends there is a certain familiarity to them. You know them because they are your friends. In each of them, we can see a little of the people we surround ourselves with. They do the same dumb things we all did as teenagers. The stories they form are the same as the ones we tell each other after having been away from them for a while. It seems so easy to slip into this group of friends unnoticed as we get to know her heroes. This however is the entree for what is to come. Only when we have to bear witness to teenage adventures taken way too far does it all start to fall into place. With the time jump, we get started to see how this one act has twisted its way into each of thems lives. How it has gone on to corrupt and distorted life that would otherwise have been so much more. But that is the key to this whole sordid affair. How quickly the toxicity of Megan's release speeds through this group. None of us really know how our fight or flight will kick in and what it means for those closest to the eye of the storm.  She has created this amazing character study into what people will do to hold onto what they have. I can't lie when I say she managed to make me hate and distrust all of them at some point throughout this book. It is a skill that shines so very brightly within these pages and for me makes for one heck of a thriller. 

     This became one of those books that I just couldn't put down, no matter the late hour I was too desperate to see how all these pieces would come crashing down. She manages to keep tightening the wires with each chapter. It is a very real and tangible feeling that puts you on edge as the pages fall aways. if the entree was horrifying then the main course is sure to dig its nasty little claws into you and not want to let go. I was left astounded by how much I was enveloped by this tale. You search desperately try to work out who our hero is supposed to be, but also if anyone is in fact salvageable from this tale. with each breathtaking revelation, my mind was racing to find a hole for the new puzzle piece. Which in turn led me to start to wonder if I was in the situation which piece would I play. Could I in fact do what Megan did for my friends? As with other such great books of the same ilk, it asks so much more of us than a simple thriller. We are left questioning our own friends and what would they do if we were all in this situation. 

     As you become more and more acquainted with this book you become aware that even though her characters have the whole world to run to, this vast and varied land. She manages to make this whole tale seem so very claustrophobic. There is forever this deep breath on the back of your neck a boogie person just millimeters away from you waiting to strike.  Maybe this is down to never knowing who we can trust at any point. You find a front runner only to be thrown sideways time and again. I kept having this thought that when Megan left prison she really brought it with her. Those closed-in walls and that sense of always having to be on edge to keep yourself safe. It was as if she was bringing a little taster in a short period of time to her friends. A screw you for everything that has been and is yet to come. Ether ways Bolton time and again demonstrated to me just what a brilliant author she is. The hook she came up with is sure to catch anyone who picks it up.

     Once again she has given me a book that I'm going to happily recommend to everyone I can think of. From being thrown into a teenage adrenaline-fueled miss adventure to seeing how this one act will eventually destroy everyone it touched. She managed to take my breath away and made sure I never wanted to put it down. You can not go wrong in the hands of this author.