#BlogTour - Kill a Stranger by Simon Kernick

To save a life, could you take another?

How far would you go for the one you love?

And how well do you really know them?

They took your fiancée.
They framed you for murder.

You’re given one chance to save her. To clear your name.
You must kill someone for them.

They give you the time and place.
The weapon. The target.

You have less than 24 hours.

You must make an impossible choice.

        

KILL A STRANGER moves at a relentless pace from the start with DCI Cameron Doyle's revelation that he is interrogating three suspects all of whom he believes are lying. What follows is presented in the statements of these three suspects. We meet Matt, who returns home after a night on the town to discover his fiancé dead in their bed. Except the body is not his fiancé, Kate, but a stranger. Kate has been kidnapped and, to secure her release, Matt is told he must dispose of the body, and he must kill another person.

Kate is another of the suspects and she relates the story of her kidnapping and captivity. The third suspect is Sir Hugh Roper, a successful but somewhat shady businessman.

Through the statements of these three, occasionally interrupted by the DCI's commentary, the plot crashes forward at breakneck speed. Simon Kernick writes in short chapters, switching viewpoints as the characters tell their versions of the story, often contradicting each other, and ending each with a cliffhanger. Each of his unreliable narrators has something to hide, is not telling the whole truth, and Doyle is struggling to decide which, if any of them, is closest to revealing what really happened. That Doyle too has something of an agenda, having had previous run-ins with Sir Hugh, makes the reader wonder if he is trying to push the case in his own preferred direction.

It would be unfair to reveal anything else but KILL A STRANGER is a fast-moving thriller, full of misdirection and red herrings which Kernick brings to a satisfying, if surprising, conclusion. 
        
About the Author
Simon Kernick is a number one bestseller and one of the UK's most popular thriller writers with huge hits including RELENTLESS, THE LAST 10 SECONDS, SIEGE and THE BONE FIELD series.

Thanks to @hachetteUK @headlinepg and @Tr4cyF3nt0n for the invitation to take part in the BlogTour.