The Promise by Teresa Driscoll
I have read all three books in this series. This was a total wow of a book! Every time I thought I had it figured out, something else happened. The central mystery could have been quite stereotypical, but became much more in the hands of this talented author. I also was not fond of the central character, but grew to care about and appreciate her as the story went on. Even the times that I guessed what might happen still stopped me in my tracks when the full picture was uncovered. I seriously had to stop and catch my breath and put thoughts together. I enjoyed this one and will be reading more from this author.
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Beth, Sally, and Carol met as teenagers and soon became the best of friends at boarding school, until something awful happened and Carol began to sever ties with them. Now, years later, Beth and Sally are on a mission to find Carol before a secret they promised to keep is revealed. Although this book is represented as a psychological thriller I think it would be better categorized as women's fiction. There really is no heart pounding suspense or shocking twists that one would expect from a psychological thriller. It is more an exploration of the relationship between the three girls and how the past shaped their future relationships with each other and their husbands.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

I received an advance copy for review.
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I’m finding this book hard to review. At times I felt connected to the characters, but then there were moments I felt very disconnected. Everyone’s question seems to be “why do you want to find this woman so much?” Really? To me, that seems a bit irrelevant.
I guess I feel a bit let down at the big secret reveal. Don’t get me wrong it’s a horrible situation, but I felt the reader was led to believe it much more horrible.
And then the ending... there seems to be so much running around that I’m not really quite sure what happened and who knew what, much less who all was involved. ( )

Beth, Sally, and Carol are best friends, and have been since they met in boarding school when they were teens. Life changed for the girls one year when they were about 16 years old. They buried a terrible secret and went on with their lives, and now all these years later, Beth learns that the recent sale and proposed demolition and renovation of their old school threatens to expose the secret they have been trying to hide all these years. While Beth and Sally have remained relatively close through the years, Carol has become somewhat of a ghost, and they cannot readily find her, so Beth enlists the help of a PI to track Carol. The PI has his own secrets and demons. Together, the PI, Sally, and Beth vow to do all they can to keep the secret hidden. Things become more complicated when Beth starts receiving veiled threats urging her to give up on looking for Carol and to desist in her efforts to find out who else may know about the secret they thought was long buried.

The story unfolds slowly, and then all at once, as all the secrets both new and old come into the light. The girls discover the power of the bond that has held them together through the years and as the secrets pour forward the friends can finally start to heal the old wounds that have haunted them through the years. The Promise is a solid novel, that digs deeply into the effects of psychological trauma and abuse. Like In real life, the characters here find dealing with these unpleasant truths uncomfortable and difficult, but they are finally able to pick up their lives and move forward in healthy ways. I would recommend for fans of psychological fiction. Novel supplied by Netgalley. ( )

Not for me. I just couldn’t get into this book. The characters were not really likeable. Their lives were not interesting and I just didn’t care about them. The tease of something awful that happened years ago was not enough to make me like the characters. The story was just boring and I couldn’t make myself care about what would happen next. Sorry, I didn’t like this at all. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. ( )