This is a very clever piece of writing, skilfully woven between two separate storylines, featuring Joanna and her friend Laura. They are on a night out when Joanna makes a very impulsive decision which has devastating consequences. I really liked the way the book was laid out with the "Reveal" and "Conceal" and Joanna's thought process revealed throughout. An engrossing and interesting read. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Good pacing, interesting characters, twists and turns at every corner. I enjoyed this book and would recommend.

This book did not grab me in the same way the Authors previous books had. Rather too predictable and long-winded in my opinion with a poor ending.

Oops, forgot to write my review on this one. I’ve been reading or listening to books back to back the last few months.

This was good.
They say ‘there is nothing new under the sun’ that is true with plots, etc in books, so be aware this has been written over and over again but……it was slightly different which took my attention. I was on the verge of raising my eyes to the ceiling and putting it down. I’m glad I didn’t. I did enjoy it.

Gillian McAllister has a good flow of words.

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

Utterly brilliant.
From start to finish, as always, i was totally gripped and read in one sitting.
I will never get bored with McAllister's books. She's a fabulous writer..
Loved it and will be recommending it to the whole world!

This book really had me hooked. It was such a unique idea to write both sides of the story which I thought might be confusing but it was easy to follow. I really enjoyed reading this

Really enjoyed this booked had never read this author before and will not be the last time. now looking for more by this author

We are thrown right into this book, when in the first few chapters we learn that Joanna commits a crime and it is one which changes both her life and husband Reuben, whilst not forgetting the life of victim.

As we move through the chapters they interchange between the consequences of the crime. We get to take a look into Joanna’s life and her struggle with dealing with the crime she has committed, the damage it has caused and the impact on relationships around her.

I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t put it down. I loved being part of the dilemma Joanna faced and where that decision took her.

Gillian McAllister’s ANYTHING YOU DO SAY has been described in the publisher’s PR material as ‘SLIDING DOORS meets GONE GIRL.’ This linking of a new book with runaway bestsellers is very popular, but it is often misleading. Anyone looking for a light romantic comedy, or, for that matter, a tricky psychological thriller with multiple unreliable narrators will be disappointed. But ANYTHING YOU DO SAY is much more than this.
It is set in London and is an exploration of the nature of guilt and responsibility. The narrative begins in a way that will be all too familiar to many women: Joanna (Jo) goes clubbing with her friend Laura. In a scenario familiar to most women, a male stranger becomes an intrusive nuisance. But Jo has trouble handling this. She is a woman who devotes much of her life to avoiding unpleasantness and difficulty – she puts off paying bills, puts off making decisions about her future, avoids responsibility for her life and has been drifting indecisively for several years to the exasperation of her friends and her lovers. Her response to this man is typical. She takes the line of least resistance until Laura steps in and gives the man short shrift.
As she walks alone towards the Tube, Jo realises she is being followed and as she crosses a bridge over the canal, the man is close behind her A glance reveals the distinctive red trainers of the man in the club. He tries to pass her just as they reach a flight of steps. She hits him then pushes him as hard as she can. He falls down the concrete steps and lies at the bottom, badly hurt. For a fatal number of minutes, she freezes, as she tries to decide what to do.
At this point, the narrative splits into two strands: Conceal and Reveal. McAllister tells us the story of what happens if Jo runs away, or what happens if she calls and ambulance and gets help. Each narrative thread follows the consequences of the decision she makes.
What seems like a simple case of self-defence becomes complex. The man following Jo was not the man from the nightclub, but a teenager out jogging. Jo believes at first that her actions were justified, but as she faces, in one narrative thread, the possibility of a charge of murder, and in the other, a charge of serious assault, she begins to understand that the concepts of guilt, innocence and responsibility are not so simple.
McAllister has created a compelling world in which she moves the reader between the outcomes of the two choices Jo faces. Neither choice is comfortable – is it better to live free with guilt and fear, or is it better to face consequences that may be more severe that the worst you anticipated? In the Reveal thread, Jo comes to understand the flaw in her that underlies the moments of indecision that made such a difference to the outcome for the young man she attacked. In the Conceal thread, she is forced to live with the fact that her inability to face up to what she did led to the death of another human being.
Jo and her world are convincing and well-created. In Jo, McAllister gives us a flawed individual who is only just starting to learn about her own strengths and weaknesses as she begins to understand that the foundations upon which she has based her life are not so steady or so permanent as she believed. The characters that people this world – Jo’s partner, Reuben, her best friend, Laura, her colleagues, all have their own flaws and weaknesses and she cannot, ultimately rely on them to support her, nor should she.
In the end, each choice has consequences, and each choice demands a payment from Jo that she finally realises not only that she must make, but that it is right she makes it.
ANYTHING YOU DO SAY is more than a crime novel. It is a book about people’s lives under the worst kind of stress, and about the responsibility we carry for our choices and our actions. Crime fiction too often depicts killings that are elaborate and gruesome, but books like this are a timely reminder that there are few easy ways to die, that the consequences of violence affect lives far beyond those of the victim and the perpetrator, and the guilt and grief are the true horrors of violent death.
Unmissable.

This was an interesting an engaging read to start with but it soon started to feel predictable and the ending was really disappointing. A good start, but sadly the author seemed to lose it along the way.

I absolutely adore Gillian McAllister's books! They have just the right mix of thrilling storyline and well de eloped characters.

The story really pulled me in and I found the twist compelling. I’m looking forward to reading the other books I have t yet read.

I loved it. Gillian writes in such a way that pulls you in and doesn’t let you go until the very last page. Brilliant plotting, excellent characters and some tense moments.

Quite an interesting story, cleverly written, but I was disappointed with the ending which I felt was a lost opportunity, and somewhat of a let down. Until near the end, it had been quite a fascinating read.

Really enjoyable read. Good characters and a Good story. Well worth a read. Think others will enjoy.

Have read publication by Gillian McAllister in the past.
I am a big fan of this type of crime story but felt a little bit let down by this particular publication. Not sure exactly why, as the idea behind it was good to follow to different outcomes to the "crime", but for smoe reason this didn't exactly grab me in the way I would have hoped.

With a Sliding Doors style to it, this book cleverly takes you down two different outcomes from a very serious scenario. Bringing every woman's worst nightmare to life it proposes that good old question, what would I do? The clever writing style pulled me in from the first page and captured me until the last word was read. Gillian McAllister has definitely made it to me authors to watch list.

As I’m on a bit of a psychological thriller kick at the moment, I wasn’t sure that Anything You Do Say could provide me with anything different. A thirty-something woman probably with more than a few problems gets into a spot of trouble on her way home from a night out, which will change her life forever. It seemed like a run-of-the-mill story where our heroine would certainly come good and kick back at all those who had wronged her amidst some questionable actions. In some ways I was right but in others, I was wrong.

Joanna isn’t sure what her purpose in life is. She likes avoiding responsibilities, watching the top 100 films of all time with her sensible, ‘Proper Person’ husband Reuben and her weekly meet-ups with her free-spirited, artsy best friend Laura. It’s on her way home from one of these nights out when Joanna hears footsteps behind her. She is certain that it’s the guy from the bar who was weirdly creepy and over-friendly. Without looking or thinking, she whirls round and punches her pursuer in the face. He falls backwards down the stairs of the tube station and lies unconscious face down. What should Joanna do? Call the police and confess everything or go home and forget about it?

Through two different story strands, we see the outcomes of both of these choices. In one strand, Joanna stays with the man and calls the police, confessing to everything. In the other, she runs home and doesn’t mention anything to anyone. Which is the right decision?

I could see so much of me in Joanna’s bookish, anxious self that I became fully invested in her character right away. It actually became more a ‘what would I do?’ experience for me, which I thoroughly enjoyed. In both versions of the story, it was difficult for me to see her as a real criminal because of course, she didn’t mean to do it. However, it was clear from the start that confessing to the crime was probably the better thing to do for Joanna’s sake. In the Conceal story, she became increasingly paranoid, nervous and guilty and I became really worried for her mental state and her relationship with Reuben. For the majority of the Reveal story, she appeared calm and accepting of what she’d done. Of course, she was afraid of the punishment she’d get but her mind appeared to be a lot clearer and less troubled.

In the Conceal story, she is very much the same Joanna who has always run away from her problems. She tries to deny that it happened but as this version of events progresses, the police launch investigations into the crime and she engages in some pretty risky behaviour, in order to cover up any evidence that she was there that night. I started to feel my connection to her loosening while I was reading this version because the shy, nervous girl began warping into a dishonest, calculating criminal before my eyes.

In the Reveal story, she is still able to recognise that she is the same Joanna. Although actually, by confessing to her crime, she has finally taken responsibility and done what she believes to be the right thing. She has been brave in the name of doing what’s right for her victim and his family. I had so much respect for the Reveal version of Joanna. I spent the entire narrative thread hoping that honesty would pay off and that she would be given a lenient sentence. An interesting line of defence that was explored is the notion that Joanna felt threatened when she attacked. The whole notion that women are hyper-sensitive and afraid when walking alone at night is a very true, strong argument and I was willing it to be enough to help her out.

Joanna and Reuben’s relationship is beautiful. With Reuben being a proactive, level-headed, quite serious guy, they’re so different but so perfect for each other. In both versions of the story, I was worried for them at some points. In Conceal, I could sense Reuben becoming increasingly frustrated with Joanna’s strange behaviour and I could feel Joanna’s growing pile of secrets coming between them. For the majority of Reveal, I was certain that they would get through the separation but towards the end, I got worried again. Their romance was such a rollercoaster to read but my heart couldn’t help being dragged along with it.

The way that intense emotions are described by McAllister is so intricate and lyrical. Across both versions of her story, Joanna experiences pretty much every human emotion that we know and perhaps some that we don’t too. There is something really beautiful about the way they’re written. Almost like they’re put into words that you’d never thought to put them before but in a way that they still make perfect sense.

It was incredibly interesting to see how many similarities there were between the two versions of the story. Some events seemed to unravel regardless of the decision that Joanna made that night and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense that those particular things probably were for the best. There were a lot of differences, of course. Mostly within Joanna and in the way that she saw herself but in turn, in the way that I saw her.

The ending is left wide open and we never find out which version of events is the truth. It is left up to us to decide what we think Joanna did and what we think she should do, based on what we’ve just read. It’s an incredibly unique style of thriller-telling that fully involves the reader and straps us firmly into Joanna’s shoes. I’d definitely be intrigued to read some more of Gillian McAllister’s books to see if they do the same thing.

I really loved this book as it is so different from the norm.
The book follows a woman called Joanne as she walks home from the pub late one night. She is being followed and scared she is about to be attacked. Due to this she turns and pushes him, he falls down some stairs and looks dead.

What follows is a split chapter book where we find out what would have happened if she had phoned for an ambulance or turned tail and ran.

Overall it kept me hooked and I really enjoyed the premise

It's the end of the night. You're walking home on your own. Then you hear the sound every woman dreads. Footsteps. Behind you. Getting faster.

You're sure it's him - the man from the bar who wouldn't leave you alone. You make a snap decision. You turn. You push. Your pursuer tumbles down the steps. He lies motionless, face-down on the floor.

Now what?

Call 999
Wait for the police to arrive. For judgement, for justice, whatever that may be. You just hope your husband, family and friends, everyone you love, will stand by you.

OR:

Run
Stay silent. You didn't mean to do it. You were scared, you panicked. And no one saw. No one will ever know. If you leave now. If you keep quiet. For ever.

Which will it be?

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

A real 'sliding doors' novel telling the tale should Jo make either choice above: Reveal or Conceal. Cleverly written and moves to a surprising conclusion. McAllister has rapidly established herself as an accomplished thriller writer, well worthy of the praise she receives. Fast becoming one of my faves. Thoroughly good read.