Relive it, Judith. Lift that hammer high. Feel the swish of the air moving as it swings down, the sense of climax as you are released from Ian’s control. The elation you feel as you wipe him out.
I stare at the knife block in front of me. Ian was warned not to come back here, to keep away from me. The police have seen his abusive emails, the threats. And yet here he is. He isn’t going to go away. I will never be rid of him.
Do it, Judith. Do it again. Relive it.
I lift the meat cleaver out of the block. I walk back into the living room and stand behind Ian’s chair. He hasn’t heard me return. He is still shouting about what I am going to have to do, and his words wash over me like angry clouds, blackening the sky and everything beneath. I raise the cleaver in both hands, high above my head.
Then I repeat the words that the doctor made me say over and over again: ‘My name is Judith. And I killed a man.’
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A LETTER TO MY READERS
Dear Reader
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Come a Little Closer. This story has been in my head for several years, and I loved writing it. I do hope you enjoyed reading it too.
The idea came to me on a trip to Myanmar, a wonderful country, although I’m pleased to say I didn’t meet anyone like Thea or the doctor on my travels! My father was stationed there during the war. He went when he was just seventeen years old, and I often wonder how it must have felt to be in such an alien place before television had made everywhere seem so familiar. He was the inspiration for Pops.
I was pleased to be able to get my readers closer to Tom in this novel. I love his character more with every book, and I do hope that comes across in my words. His life isn’t particularly extraordinary, but there is always something cropping up that lets us see his human side – either through his relationships or through his slightly dodgy but hopefully intriguing brother Jack. I love him too.
Of course the very best thing about publishing a book is getting a response from you – the reader – and I have been delighted by the amazing feedback I’ve received over the last seven years. I keep in touch with many of you through Facebook, Twitter and a newsletter that I send out regularly, in which I share some of the books I have enjoyed and host other writers talking about their novels. There is occasionally a competition (with, of course, a prize) and I love it when someone offers to be a featured reader and tells me all about where and when they like to immerse themselves in a book.
If you’d like to subscribe or be a featured reader, we’d be pleased to welcome you and keep you up to date with new releases, special offers and other goodies. Just go to www.rachel-abbott.com/contact and submit your details.
If you belong to a book club, I have included some reading group discussion notes on the following pages, or you can print them off online here if you would like to share them with your book-lover friends. I hope they get the conversation moving!
I’m going to be out and about at festivals and other events throughout the year – details on the blog and website and in the newsletter – and if you get a chance to get along to any of them, please come and say hello.
Of course, I’d love to know what you think about Come a Little Closer, so feel free to tweet me, leave me a message on Facebook or a review on Amazon. Every author loves getting reviews, and I’m no exception.
Thanks again for taking the time to read Come a Little Closer.
Best wishes
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rachel Abbott was born and raised in Manchester. She trained as a systems analyst before launching her own interactive media company in the early 1980s. After selling her company in 2000, she moved to the Le Marche region of Italy.
When six-foot snowdrifts prevented her from leaving the house for a couple of weeks, she started writing and found she couldn’t stop. Since then her debut thriller, Only the Innocent, has become an international bestseller, reaching number one in the Amazon charts both in the UK and US. This was followed by the number-one bestselling novels The Back Road, Sleep Tight, Stranger Child, Kill Me Again and The Sixth Window, plus a novella, Nowhere Child, which was top of the Kindle Singles chart in the UK for over two years.
In 2015 Amazon celebrated the first five years of the Kindle in the UK and announced that Rachel was its number-one bestselling independent author over this period. She was also placed fourteenth in the chart of all authors.
Rachel Abbott now lives in Alderney and writes full time.
Connect with Rachel Abbott online
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ALSO BY RACHEL ABBOTT
Have you read them all?
THE SIXTH WINDOW
Every instinct told her to run…
Natalie Gray is living a nightmare. She has discovered a disturbing website link on her new partner’s computer and fears he has a dark side and even darker intentions. When her husband died in a hit-and-run accident, Ed had seemed like a safe harbour. Now where can she turn?
Concerned for the safety of her fifteen-year-old daughter Scarlett, she moves them both to a new home beyond his reach, unaware that this apartment holds secrets of its own. Left alone during the long days of the school holiday, Scarlett investigates strange sounds coming from the other side of the wall, never anticipating the danger that awaits her there.
DCI Tom Douglas’s investigation into the apparent suicide of a teenage girl draws him ever closer to Natalie and Scarlett. But will he be too late to protect them from the danger they face, or from the truths that will tear their lives apart?
Will they ever feel safe again?
Praise for The Sixth Window:
I am in awe of Rachel Abbott’s plotting! The Sixth Window is Abbott at her best.’
Elizabeth Haynes, author of Into the Darkest Corner
‘The tension that built throughout this book simply blew me away.’
Angela Marsons, author of Silent Scream
‘Masterly and compelling. I couldn't put it down until its heart-stopping conclusion.’
Robert Bryndza, author of The Girl in the Ice
OTHER NOVELS BY RACHEL ABBOTT
ONLY THE INNOCENT
A man is dead. The killer is a woman. But what secrets lie beneath the surface – so dark that a man has to die?
THE BACK ROAD
A girl lies close to death in a dark, deserted lane. A driver drags her body to the side of the road. A shadowy figure hides in the trees, watching and waiting.
SLEEP TIGHT
Sleep while you can - you never know who’s watching.
STRANGER CHILD
One dark secret. One act of revenge. They say you should never trust a stranger. Maybe they’re right.
NOWHERE CHILD
Someone is looking for Tasha. But does she want to be found? A standalone novella featuring the same characters as Stranger Child.
KILL ME AGAIN
When your life is a lie, who can you trust? Another woman will die soon, and it might be her.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My books would never make it into print without the help of so many people, and top of that list has to be my police adviser, Mark Grey. This last year has been particularly tough as I have had two books in development, both of which feature complex police issues, and he has never failed to respond to my questions with so much detail that he inspires me with new ideas. I love to get things right, but occasionally I do stray from reality to improve the story. No mistakes are the fault of Mark – they are all mine!
I also had a stellar team of researchers, who wandered around Pennington
Flash taking photographs, drawing on maps and describing the sights, sounds and smells of the location. Judith, Dave, Josh and Alicia provided me with exceptional detail, although once again I may have deviated a little from the truth. So apologies to them and to the management of this beautiful country park for any inaccuracies.
Thanks must also go to Liam Feasey of Lextox in Cardiff for his help in explaining the drug analysis of hair samples. I had no idea it could be so detailed.
My early readers are the best. Not only do they let me know when things aren’t as clear as I thought they were, but they make lots of very encouraging noises – just what every writer needs. In particular I would like to thank Maddalena, Harriet, Barbara, Emily, Ann, Kath and Judith.
‘Team Abbott’, as I call the highly prized group of people who help me to keep my head above water when I’m drowning in all the day-to-day tasks, have been as brilliant as ever. Tish McPhilemy continues to take on so many of the essential aspects of running a business, but perhaps more importantly she brightens my day with her wit and good humour. Molly Maine has joined the team this year, albeit mainly working from Thailand, and her work in marketing has been exceptional. Another year of being guided by publicist Maura Wilding has been as amazing as I knew it would be. The three of you are a joy to work with.
It is interesting to look back over the last seven years and consider the publishing decisions I have made. Without a doubt one of the best has been to sign with my incredible agent, Lizzy Kremer. I am so lucky to have her support and guidance and to be able to draw on the expertise of the whole team at David Higham Associates. Harriet Moore deserves a medal for her patience with this very demanding author, and thanks to the foreign rights team my novels are now available in over twenty languages.
I am blessed with great editors too. Clare Bowron gives superb editorial feedback and makes me realise when I have quite literally lost the plot. Hugh Davis – my copy editor – seems to find so many ways to improve my manuscript, and I always know my books are in good hands with him.
Finally, my thanks to John and the rest of my wonderful family for coping with someone who is only ever half with them, the rest of my mind almost always somewhere else. Your support means everything, and I couldn’t do any of it without you all.
READING GROUP QUESTIONS
WARNING: These questions and discussion points contain spoilers. Please do not read on if you haven’t already read Come a Little Closer
Summary
Come a Little Closer tells the story of a young woman who turns to a person she trusts in a moment of need, and finds herself lost in a life she doesn’t recognise but from which she can see no escape. But how did she get there?
Believing that she is never going to be able to rid herself of her boyfriend Ian, a man who has become increasingly manipulative in the time they have been together, she seeks refuge with an elderly couple she met on holiday until she can get her life back together again. But when she wakes up in the bath to find blood being washed from her body, she begins to think she is losing her mind. Is it true what they are telling her? Could she really have killed Ian?
As the story unfolds, the reader begins to understand that not only is our protagonist trapped, but there are two other women living down in the cellar where she is sent to hide. And they are both called Judith.
Come a Little Closer is a story about making poor judgements and not knowing who to trust – yourself, or those who are telling you what to do and who you are.
Discussion points
1.At the start of the book, Callie (at that point unnamed) meets Thea and the doctor. Are there any warning signs that they are not the mild-mannered elderly couple they seem to be?
2.When Callie returns from her holiday and finds that Ian is refusing to move out, what options might she consider at that point, given that he is declaring a beneficial interest in her home? How might you have reacted?
3.When Tom Douglas discovers the body at Pennington Flash, what did you believe had happened to the girl? When you learned how she died, how did you feel about it?
4.When did you first start to be alarmed about Callie living in the house with Thea and Garrick?
5.After Callie returns to see Ian and throws his clothes out of the window, we realise that she has been given a drug designed to make her aggressive. What did you think about her reaction to Ian during that visit?
6.When Callie wakes up in the bath with Thea washing blood from her body, what did you think had happened?
7.Callie finds herself in the cellar with two other women who are both called Judith. What did you think was happening at that point? Why did you think they were they there?
8.Garrick says that trust is important in any relationship, and this is a theme throughout the book. Discuss the trust issues that arise between the various characters and how they might have been resolved.
9.How convinced were you that Callie killed Ian? If you thought that maybe she didn’t, what did you think when she saw the crime scene tape?
10.Tom’s brother, Jack, makes another appearance in this book. Discuss the dilemma that Tom always seems to find himself in when his brother turns up.
11.When Thea and Garrick stop visiting the women in the cellar what did you think might have happened? Were you surprised at the outcome?
12.Callie returns home, believing that Ian will be safely behind bars until she can get the locks changed, but Garrick gets inside her head, and she raises a cleaver above Ian’s head. Until this point how were you expecting the book to end?
13.What feelings did the book leave you with?
14.If you had the opportunity to ask the author a question about the book, what would it be?
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