Three young girls, close friends at boarding school make a promise to each other that hasn’t been broken. All have gone on with their lives. Beth is married with two sons. Sally is divorced and Carol has moved to France. While Beth and Sally have remained very close, Carol is not around as much. The girls get a letter that their former boarding school is closing and the land has been sold. The girls are very frightened that their secret will come out. Beth and Sally are having difficulty finding Carol. They do the normal internet searches without success and decide to hire a private detective to find her. Meanwhile a few mysterious things happen that make Beth think that someone else knows their secret. Afraid for her family, Beth wants to come clean about the promise. Hopefully they will find Carol and get this resolved before they are found out.

A good ,story that is about 3 school friends
Beth and Sally are still in touch and they hire a priavte detective to find Carol the 3rd friend when it looks like a secret they left at boarding school is about to be revealed ........... will Carol agree to keep the secret especially now her family could be in danger
Well written and at times tense psychological drama

I really wanted to love this book. I liked beth as a character a lot. I was leery of carol but she grew on me at the end. I could take or leave Sally. I think the story was good but there was so much going on at once that I found it very hard to follow And had to put it down several times. I will try another book by this author because I did enjoy the plot.

You can call it a psychological thriller or women’s fiction, but whatever you call it, be sure you read it! “The Promise” is a secret and solemn oath taken by three forteen year old friends at boarding school who are still carrying the burden of that secret when they’re forty.
The story is beautifully written and tightly woven around Beth, Carol and Sally from when they were roommates, up to 2016 as they approach middle age. Three voices narrate the storyline; those of our protagonist Beth, the elusive Carol, and Matthew the private investigator Beth hires to locate Carol. The promise and the psychological damage it causes make this a dark, brooding tale, made even more so by the toll it exacts from the trio of once young and carefree school chums.
The subtle use of simile and metaphor elevates Teresa Driscoll’s writing to the sublime. There’s nothing “in your face” about these lovely passages, yet they’re all the more effective in their subtlety:
“Her voice trails away but the word lingers. Gone - the vowel extended like a hand stretching out but unable to hold on.”
“Every spring when I watch the petals lost to the wind, I think of the fragility of our dreams.”
And this little gem had me grinning. “...my mother was a spin doctor before they were invented.”
Such masterful prose should be appreciated and celebrated. Five stars.
My thanks to Net Galley for furnishing an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review.

What a dark and twisted tale. It did not end at all like I expected. One event that touched the lives of 3 teenage girls carries into their adult lives. It colors their adult lives and relationships. A bit darker than I normally read but I just had to know how it all worked out. I was not disappointed. Well worth the read.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the eARC.
Sally, Beth and Carol became the best of friends while attending a boarding school run by nuns. The story is mostly told from Beth's point of view in the past and present. She and Sally are still traumatized from something that occurred while at school, something that drove Carol away. When news comes that their former school and grounds are sold and new student housing is being built, they panic and try to find Carol to discuss their dilemma. There's going to be a farewell party and they want all three of them to attend so they can find out if their secret will be discovered. As they can't find Carol, they hire a professional investigator.
I found the book quite enjoyable right from the beginning, although their fear of the truth coming out seemed a bit excessive as I didn't consider it to be a criminal act.
The final chapters of the book were quite intense and ultimately satisfying. The friendship between the three women was heartwarming - all in all a good book I would recommend.

This was a great read. Dark and intriguing. With captivating twists and turns! I couldn’t put it down.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the way it was written, going back and forth in time with the different characters. I found it very real. It showed the devastating effects of something that happened many years ago. The ending was perfect! Thank you for the review copy.

I read a lot of psychological thrillers, it's my favorite genre, but after reading so many it really becomes harder to impress me. That is the case with The Promise.

Initially I was intrigued at the beginning:

"They sit very still in this room full of blood and sorrow - girls whose pulses burst in their veins and boom inside their ears. Their heads. Somewhere a clock ticks. A bird calls....

Three girls. One dead."

An intro like that will pique my interest every single time and I had all sorts of ideas of where this story was going to take me. And I was wrong on all accounts. Truly, if I'm being honest, I wanted a much darker and twisted story than what I got.

Beth, Sally, and Carol were best friends in boarding school. We are made aware that something happened during this time that they have all agreed to keep secret, hence, The Promise.

In present time Beth and Sally remain best friends, however, Carol has become estranged. Last they knew she was living in France with her husband, Ned.

When Beth and Sally are notified by their former boarding school that they are closing and the building to be demolished Beth and Sally fear that the secret they kept all these years is finally going to be brought to light.

Again, I was hoping for something really dark and I didn't get that here. At 65%, the BIG secret is finally revealed and it just fell flat for me. It wasn't anything all that sinister which is why I think Ms. Driscoll threw in a couple of other twists to try and make it darker, mostly just revealing that sometimes the men we love aren't who they appear to be, but at this point I just lost all interest and didn't care anymore. For people just taking an interest in this genre then this is likely to give you a thrill but any seasoned reader of this genre can safely skip this one with feeling that your missing out on anything. 2 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

My thanks to Thomas & Mercer for an eARC via NetGalley of Teresa Driscott’s latest, ‘The Promise’ in exchange for an honest review.

Beth, Sally and Carol became friends while at a Catholic boarding school. While there something occurred that led them to make a promise to keep this a secret. Now years later Beth and Sally have remained close while Carol lives in Europe and is estranged from them.

They learn that the school is closing and being demolished for development leading to fears that their secret will be revealed. Beth hires Matthew Hill, a private investigator, to help she and Sally track down Carol so they can decide what to do.

I don’t like saying too much about plots in this kind of novel as it can spoil the pleasure of discovery. The narrative was split over quite a few viewpoints in the present and past.

While I don’t want to nitpick there were some aspects of this book that just didn’t work for me. I didn’t particularly connect with any of the characters. Also, it was quite slow going for much of the book and then went into high gear. Yes, there were secrets but for some revelations there just felt too little foreshadowing. With its focus on families and friendships this felt more of a domestic suspense, though certainly there were times when characters were under threat.

I am sure that it will appeal to many yet for me it just hit middle ground of an okay read. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Oh this book took me back to my years in boarding school. Yes things happened, yes there were secrets and promises, thankfully none like the promise made in this one, but promises nonetheless and it got me thinking and wondering how some of those girls lives have since turned out. Coincidentally I organised a 25 year school reunion and to be horror I was so upset at hearing how some girls lives have evolved. I have often wondered if time in a boarding school bubble is protecting girls from the natural stages of teenage years and thereby delaying maturity. I'm lucky to say my time at school was very happy

So this book, yes it did make me think and reminisce but in reality this is because it is such a good read

I look forward to reading more from this author

With thanks to Netgalley for ARC in return for an honest review

A real page turned, would highly recommend. Teresa Driscoll seems to know exactly how to keep her readers captivated from the beginning.

A story of three friends and a very dark secret from their school days. Two of the girls are still best friends but the third has disappeared and seems untraceable. When an event is announced that could destroy them Beth and Sally need to find Carol.. I loved the characters particularly Beth and her family along with Matthew the Investigator with his own secrets. A good twisty tale with a great ending.

I enjoyed this book, but found it a little bit uneventful. Although some big events happened, they were mentioned but not talked about fully. I would have liked more focus on the main events. I also found that the characters didn’t really react to much. There wasn’t a lot of emotion from the characters, making it hard to think of them as people. I don’t feel like this was much of a thriller because there was no suspense and no big twists. There were a couple of surprises in the last few chapters, which is what made me rate this one 3 stars. I also liked the characters and the fact that the chapters are set in the past and present. This gives you a better insight and you can properly understand the relationships between all of the characters. I liked it enough that I would read more from Teresa Driscoll, and I would recommend this book to people if they aren’t looking for an intense thriller.

Intriguing story with lots of twists that will keep you wondering. What's the big secret and how the promise is eating away at their lives. Will they resolve all their problems. You'll find the answers at the very end.

Wow! What an exciting story. I was hooked from the very first page. I always look forward to read anything written by this author. This is a story of three girls who go to boarding school together and become best friends. Something bad happens when they are fourteen and they make a promise to never speak of it. As time goes on their old school is going to be torn down and they are afraid their secret will be exposed. There are lots of surprises ahead with an unexpected ending.
Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read this book for my honest review.

Beth, Sally and Carol not only shared rooms at boarding school they share a dark secret that they have promised to never tell even though they were 14 at the time. However in there late thirties there is news that their old convent where they boarded is being knocked down and builders are moving in to develops the site. The pain and fear grips and sickens Beth and Sally so badly they hire PI to track down their friend Carol which opens a tale full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing all the way through.
There is some romance but it's ok it didn't get in the way of the story speaking as a sensitive man, but as life moves on for those around them this story brings everyone in to a believable and very creditable place for all to be there if that makes sense. I mean basically everyone you meet provides a creditable part and key of the story and you see the pain they all endure because of events but you better read that for yourself.
I was really hooked by this thriller the writing is brilliant a great gift that Theresa has to bring so much into the plot and not lose you or over play any of the characters, I loved it. The plots within plots are so credible and easy to hold on to that you want to know the reason for them and will not be disappointed but i can't say you won't be shocked and surprised the ending is so well done that this may well not be the last of Teresa's books you buy a treasure that you will enjoy discovering more of. In a word excellent!!!!

Beth, Carol, and Sally me at boarding school. They made a promise to each other to keep a secret, and even though it has been 30 years, they haven't broken their vow(or have they). So what could possibly go wrong now? Well, their old school is being torn down and suddenly the promise that they kept may be exposed. While Beth and Sally have remained good friends where Carol has gone is a mystery and one that they are determined to solve.
POV alternates between Beth, Sally, Carol, and the private investigator they hire, Matt, to track Carol down. This started out as a slow burn, then it picked up the pace to race to the conclusion. I have to admit, I did see the secret these girls made, but the author throws in a couple of twists that hit me out of left field. It is surprisingly suspenseful and made a cold winter day pass by in the blink of an eye.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. This was a great book.

I was a little underwhelmed by The Promise. I was excited to pick up another Driscoll book since I enjoyed I am Watching You, but maybe I wasn't in the right mood, but I felt the first half of the book was a bit slow, and I felt a bit impatient, information being doled out at a seemingly slow pace. Even though when we got to the reveals it all (somewhat) fell into place, I found that I had already lost interest. There were also some inconsistencies that I imagine will be updated for the publishing date.

I think Driscoll tried to shake up some psychological thrillers and turn them on their head, which she manages to do (again, somewhat), but by the time I had realized what she was doing, again, I had lost interest and invested more into the trope I thought was coming. Perhaps a failing of other authors falling into the same patterns, but nonetheless I didn't feel like Driscoll succeeded here either. The reveals themselves were very plausible, which I think was something in the favor of the book, but I felt the perspectives we saw maybe didn't do the story justice. I would have liked to learn more about Sally, even the Matthew story line seemed contrived. 2.5 stars.