The debut novel from Katie Bishop is split over two time lines. In the past, 17-year-old Rachel spends her time travelling with a friend. They land on an idyllic Greek island and decide to stay, mainly because an older man, Alistair, starts to show an interest in Rachel. She falls in love with him, but glosses over the fact that he works for a dodgy businessman who likes to invite young women to parties at his villa. In the present, meanwhile, Katie is married to boring but dependable Tom, but she still has the hots for Alistair – who she hasn’t seen for seventeen years. When she manages to get in touch with him, she is forced to re-evaluate her halcyon past. It’s an interesting premise, but the revelations here are of the non-revelatory kind. In fact, any reader familiar with figures such as Jeffrey Epstein will know how this one is going to pan out after the first couple of chapters. RM

Published by Bantam Press