With thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.
The Surrogate starts with reporters, police and a ambulance surrounding a house in a quiet cul-de-sac. The paramedics leave the house pushing two stretchers into a waiting ambulance. A policeman is heard saying it is a murder enquiry.
Kat is happily married to Nick for 8 years and works for a stroke charity. Her happiness would be complete if she had children but she is unable to concieve. Kat and Nick tried to adopt a baby boy from abroad called Dewei but the adoption failed at the last minute. Devastated Kat and Nick are trying to adopt baby Mai and to bring her to the UK shortly.
One day Kat pops into ther local coffee shop and is shocked to see her ex best friend Lisa. Kat and Lisa were inseperable until a devastating incident occurred 10 years earlier. Lisa and her family refused to speak to Kat, so Kat moved to a town 8 miles away to rebuild her life.
It turns out Lisa still still lives in their home town. Kat is surprised that Lisa is still talking to her after what happened. Kat is mistrustful of Lisa, what is she planning? When Kat tells Lisa about adopting Mai, Lisa explains she acted as a surrogate. When the adoption of Mai falls through Kat asks Lisa to become her surrogate.
Once Lisa falls pregnant everything goes wrong. Nick's business is in financial trouble and he is acting distantly. She overhears him telling his best friend Tim that it is too late to tell Kat. Kat starts to receive silent phone calls. She sees a stranger watching the house, he frightens her by leaving a wreath outside and a book on how to cope with death.
The chapters were headed then and now. The then chapters were split into the POVs of Kat and Nick 10 years earlier. The storyline grabbed me from the first page. It was slow and suspenseful with lots of different storylines, red herrings and a dose of paranoia. The people who I thought were baddies were not actually what they seemed. I could tell from the beginning of the book it would not end well for Kat and Nick When the strands of the story came together in the finale, I was transfixed, it was not what I was expecting.
I thorough recommend this author to anyone who likes dark, psychological thrillers.
