Giles Blunt is the Author of the very successful brilliant Cardinal and Delorme police procedural mystery series. This is one off story beautifully written with superb characterisation throughout. A quirky clever story of unexpected love and loss with surprising twists along the way.
Recommended. ( )

Lauren Wolfe is a troubled young writer who comes to the monastery in search of books on Heloise and Abelard. A hesitant Brother William, a Benedictine Monk, is the one assigned the task of helping her in the library. When Brother William notices scars on her wrists from a failed suicide attempt he leaves the monastery behind and tracks Lauren down in New York City. There he is known as Peter and he is on a mission to save Lauren and to show her the love and devotion he has for her.

A suspenseful, easy to read book.

I won this book through Goodreads First Reads. ( )

The company I work for put this book in the mystery section, I guess because the author has a best-selling detective series. This book is not a mystery... maybe a weak thriller but that's stretching things.

A novelist comes to a monastery to do research for a book and catches the eye of one of the order. He follows her into New York City and tries to build a romance with her while also negotiating the responsibilities of life on the outside. ( )

I am a big fan of Giles Blunt's John Cardinal mystery series. But I've also enjoyed his stand alone novels that cover a broader range of style and themes.

Blunt's latest novel, The Hesitation Cut, is another stand alone novel that is dark, unsettling and so very hard to put down.

Brother William has lived in the Our Lady of Peace Monastery for the last ten years. He's outwardly happy with his life and his work in the library. But when Lauren, a young female poet comes to the monastery's library to do some research, life changes - for both Brother William and Lauren.

Brother William can't stop thinking about her - her looks, her voice, and that scar on her wrist. She just seems so sad......Brother William makes Lauren his next calling - he can help her, save her and look out for her. And so, he leaves the monastery and heads to New York City as Peter to find her.

And he does. But Peter's desire to help evolves into desire alone. Obsessive desire.

Neither Peter or Lauren is a likeable character. (The character I liked the most was Lauren's on again off again boyfriend Mick - and he has serious flaws as well.) As the story progresses, both characters alternate between victim and perpetrator. Obviously both characters have mental health issues and their meeting is simply the fuse for an implosion in both their lives.

That fuse is slow burning. The reader is helpless, along for the ride, as Blunt builds the tension and the suspense with another layer, another incident and another nuance until it seems there can be no turning back. Sharp eyed readers will take note of a few off the cuff remarks that hint at something more in Peter's past.

As he did in Breaking Lorca, Blunt has crafted an intense psychological study in the pages of The Hesitation Cut, exploring love, hope, devotion, faith and obsession. But it's also an excellent thriller that keeps the reader wondering what is going to happen next - and to whom. ( )