The One That Got Away by Egan Hughes – Review

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By Helen Johnston

I love a good psychological thriller which draws me in so much that I can’t turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens next. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one.

It started promisingly enough, and it did have me turning the pages quite quickly, but only because I was convinced there had to be something more to it than there was. Part one had a plot twist I saw coming a mile off and while the final plot twist was a good one, it seemed rushed so didn’t have the impact it could have had.

The One That Got Away by Egan Hughes Review coverI’m writing this a couple of days after finishing the book and I couldn’t tell you much about any of the characters. The story centres on Mia who works in something like marketing and whose ex-husband Rob has been found murdered on his boat.

The police are keen to question Mia, along with his new wife Rachel and his sister Sky. All three are suspicious of each other.

“Tension never really builds”

In flashback chapters we discover how Mia met Rob, a shady character obsessed with sailing. Somehow he managed to persuade her to sell her house, give up her job, marry him and set sail for a new life in the Greek islands in a short space of time. Quite how he exerts so much influence over her so quickly isn’t really explained and inevitably life on board turns sour quite quickly.

Mia tells her own story and realises she has made a big mistake, but somehow the tension never really builds. I couldn’t sympathise with her plight because I didn’t know enough about her.

There is a lot about her feeling panicky and stressed, but her encounters with other people, such as her friend Becca, don’t seem to add much to the plot.

The writing flows well enough but the story lacks the depth needed in a thriller. The One That Got Away is probably best enjoyed as a holiday read.

‘The One That Got Away’ by Egan Hughes is published by Little, Brown, £8.99 paperback

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