This book has plenty of twists,deception and lies if you love your thrillers. Unfortunately for me it took a while to really start up. Having said that I still loved the book, and her writing style. I was emotionally involved with the characters. I loved the storyline which is what grabbed me in the first place.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer, NetGalley and Teresa Driscoll for the chance to read and review this book.

“Three girls. One dead.”

Three young girls make a terrible promise to never speak of that awful night and what they did. But what did they do? What awful thing could these girls have done that lead to someone dying in a blood-filled room? Secrets aren’t given up easily or quickly in this intriguing story that is told in two timelines by multiple narrators.

“Who will clear up our mess? That thing we did all those years ago.”

The Convent of St Colman is closing and Beth and Sally receive a letter inviting them to the party to say their goodbyes to their old boarding school. Both women are horrified by the news as it threatens to expose their long held secret. The trio were friends ever since that first day at their new boarding school when three nervous, new outsiders were drawn together in their dormitory by a common situation. Despite Carol’s estrangement Beth and Sally remain loyal to their friendship. Sally is insistent that nothing has changed and they should keep their promise. But Beth disagrees, she wants to find Carol and see what she wants to do. But Carol doesn’t want to be found.

“There’s something not right here…”

Beth hires Private Investigator Matthew Hill to find Carol. She can’t give him the whole story and he’s suspicious of her claim that she is merely trying to find an old friend because their school is being demolished. However he soon tracks down Carol’s Mum, Deborah, who is shocked when approached by Beth and Sally. She seems nervous to talk and is being evasive. Around this time an anonymous Facebook account sends a warning to leave things alone and other threats are made towards Beth’s family. It is clear someone who knows what happened that day doesn’t want the secret told. Could Carol be behind it? While almost certain their friend would do no such thing, despite their estrangement, Beth and Sally can’t think who else could know about the events that night. But they must find out who is sending the messages before their is any more risk of harm.

“Drifting to and fro in time is something I can’t stop these days. Flashes of scenes from the past pushing their way into my day.”

While Matthew hunts for whoever is making threats, Beth spirals into a deep depression. She can’t keep the distressing images from her mind and is haunted by flashbacks and a deep sense of guilt. As the party at The Convent draws closer with no leads on who is behind the malicious attacks on her family or where Carol is now, she and Sally argue. Losing the one person she could truly confide in makes it worse but when Adam is hurt, Sally is the first person she calls and the one to rush to be by her side. Meanwhile it seems Carol is also struggling with severe anxiety and is unable to come to terms with what happened, seeking solace in consulting psychics. However instead of leaning on her friends and family like Beth, Carol runs from them.

“The candles. The girl with the blue lips…”

When their secret was finally revealed I was shocked. I thought I’d figured it out but I was blindsided by the author. The Promise is a captivating psychological thriller. The latter part of the book in particular is full of twists, turns, bombshells and discoveries. I was on the edge of my seat and couldn’t stop reading until the end. I liked that the story addressed how what the girls went through would affect their mental health, even so many years later. I thought these parts of the story were well written and realistic. I think the three main characters were well written, especially how they each dealt with things so differently as their secret seeps insidiously into every facet of their lives. Another great read from Ms Driscoll.

I love these types of books!! Such a great read from the start. Another amazing thriller with fantastic characters. The writing was top notch and an easy read which is always a positive trait! Go ahead and read this one!

I liked the story, but I didn't connect with any of the characters. It was intriguing though, and one that you can't help but keep reading. Atmospheric and interesting.

The Promise is the story of Beth, Carol and Sally, firm friends in boarding school as teenagers. An incident between them as teenagers in the boarding school haunts them into their adult lives and has them looking over their shoulders all the time. Carol, in particular has cut her ties with Beth and Sally and moved to France with her husband, Ned. When the girls get word that the boarding school is to be demolished, they fear the past is going to catch up with them and they hire a P.I. to track Carol down so they can make a decision about what they should do going forward. Carol unfortunately for Beth and Sally just isn't interested.

I really tried to like this book but unfortunately it wasn't for me. It started off strong enough with the story of the girls in boarding school. As details slowly emerge we find out what happened when they were 14 and what they are so afraid of. However, it was a far fetched and very thin storyline that was dragged out for too long. It seemed to me, at least, that random things were thrown in like the running over of Beth's husband and this was very unbelievable. The very convenient wrap up at the end over the course of a few pages left me very unsatisfied and there were elements of the wrap up that I felt should have formed a stronger part of the storyline. All in all, I felt frustrated by the ending(s) and the neat and tidy way in which everything was tied together, elements of which weren't found or hinted to during the book.

I loved I am Watching You so was delighted to receive an advance copy of The Promise. The story is mainly told from Beth's perspective and goes back in time to when Beth and two of her friends were in boarding school. Something happened which was a secret and they made an agreement never to disclose it until they got a note about it.. They now need to track down Carol, the third friend.

This is certainly a page turner. Teresa Driscoll's writing style is excellent with twists and turns to keep you guessing til the end.

Thank you to Teresa Driscoll, Thomas & Mercer Publishers, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Four stars!

2.5 stars


I really enjoyed the first two thirds of this book,it was a proper page turner and almost a read in one sitting.
There was good pace on the reveal of what had happened,what had been promised,whose blood,why Carol was so elusive now...

Then most of the reveal happened,and suddenly it felt like everything was being thrown at the story.... it felt slightly ott to me.

I really enjoy writings by Teresa Driscoll, she really has a way of drawing you in, another fantastic psychological thriller which plays on friendship, loyalty, secrets, love etc.

Three young girls meet at boarding school and soon form a bond that will be unbroken right throughout their adult lives, the story is told from 4 perspectives, Beth, Sally and Carol from both present day and their time in the boarding school and the fourth from Matt, the PI, Sally & Beth hire to try to locate Carol.

Something happened during fifth term, the girls were only 14 but that day changed their lives forever, from that day forth they made a promise to keep a secret and never to tell anyone outside of their trio.

When the boarding school goes up for sale, Beth and Sally are keen to track down Carol who has withdrawn herself, there is something about the boarding school that must be dealt with before the sale, what could it be? Someone is sending threatening messages through Facebook telling them to keep away, who wants to keep them from digging in the past and what lengths will they go to to protect the secret?

A slow build up to an explosive ending plenty of twists and turns, I thoroughly enjoyed it, I loved when it all came together, I can honestly say I didn’t know what it was, I guessed the secret well kind of but not the rest…. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Bluebells. Beth, Sally, and Carol met at a Catholic boarding school. They formed a bond that has, mostly, endured the years. The bond is secured by a deep secret that has haunted them for years. This story alternates between four points of view: Beth, Sally, Carol, and Matthew, a hired PI. The writing is fantastic, each character has a distinct personality that you can relate to.

I was intrigued and anxious to see what this big secret was. At around 70% all the truths begin to unravel. I was so into this book- until then. Like this huge secret we've been chasing for 70% of the book resolves in a chapter and then we begin this bizarre drama-filled mess that just leaves me feeling disappointed.

This author has talent, loads of it, but I feel like the plot was so rushed toward the end and then it became so convoluted that it just made me lose interest.

3 stars, because the writing is a thing of beauty.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

THE PROMISE could easily have been titled THE SECRET. Three boarding school roommates become best friends, each coming from a different backgrounds. Beth came from an impoverished background, and her parents considered it a source of pride that their daughter, Beth, was attending the boarding school on an armed forces grant at the ripe young age of eleven,. Sally, too, was going to school on a grant, and Carol was only at the school because her mom had won the lottery and wanted her to get an education that could lead to opportunity..

At the young age of fourteen, one of the roommates experiences a life changing event that affected not just herself, but the other two girls as well. Like many teenagers, with the exception of one of the girls, they didn't feel like they had anyone in which to confide to give them good advice when they truly needed it. As a result, the girls dealt with the situation on their own, promising keep it a secret among themselves forevermore. Unbeknownst to them, this incident was the impetus for troubling psychological issues for years to come.

The beginning of the book begins in 2009, years after the three girls have left boarding school. Two of the three girls remain close. Beth is married to Adam and has two sons. Sally is married to Richard and has just miscarried a baby that he did not want, and because of his infidelity, this is the end of their marriage.

The story then jumps to 2016 when Beth and Sally receive news that the convent is closing, and alumni are invited to attend the farewell bash. This leads them on a quest to find and reconnect with Carol, who is now married to Ned. But in doing so, Beth is concerned that it will open a Pandora's box and wishes that the promise had never been made. In addition, it appears that someone has discovered their secret and is making threats. Beth feels that if the secret is revealed, that it will implode her marriage.

This story touches on some very deep and delicate themes, such as child-raising and spousal relationships, that will resonate with the reader for days to come. Even the nuns who ran the boarding school which was in a perpetual financial crisis were in a situation which prevented them from lending sincere support and direction to their young wards because they were so concerned that if their school received a black eye, that it could jeopardize their fundraising efforts to keep the school open.

Even though it takes a while for the promise to be revealed and it may even seem to be anticlimactic, be patient, it is essential to the underlying story and the shocking ending is so worth it. I highly recommend this read!

A well written psychological thriller which kept me in suspense until the end. I thought I’d worked it out early on but although I had correctly guessed a small part of the story, the plot was far more intricate. Good characterisation and a strong story which made me keen to get back to it each time.

I’d like to thank Teresa Driscoll, #NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced reader's copy of #ThePromise in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I’m certainly glad I read this book, as it turned out to be a true ‘hold your breath’ for the answers kind of book.
However, it was a bit of a slow burner to begin with, I expected this book to really grip me, but it actually took a while to take a hold. It was only after Chapter 11 when there are small hooks at the end of the chapters that make you want to read ‘just one more chapter’ that I finally couldn’t put the book down!
The timeline is quite hard to keep track of as even during the ‘now’ 2016 sections there is reminiscing about past events.
However, once the book got going, and you were truly invested it was a fantastic read as you really didn’t know what had happened and what the girls had ‘promised’.
I liked the fact that once you did know, this didn’t mean the end of the book, and that there were lots of shocks and turns still to come. It was only as I finished the book I really thought about the book being called ‘The Promise’ it wasn’t called ‘What They Did’, but it was all about them keeping the promise and the ramifications if they didn’t!

I did not finish this book at 30%. Too much back and forth and I couldn't keep the characters straight with going in the past and present. Thank you for the chance to read. Will perhaps try again at another time.

Really enjoyable fast paced read with lots of excellent twists and turns! A must read for any fan of psychological thrillers!

Loved this book.
Three schoolgirls made a promise of what happened to them at boarding school – to take the horrible truth of what they did to the grave.

Thirty years later, Beth and Sally have tried to put the trauma behind them. Though Carol has distanced herself from her former friends, the three are adamant that the truth must never come to light, even if the memory still haunts them.

I loved the way this story was told by each individual in both the past and present. It was clever style of writing and easy to follow. I literally couldn’t put this book down and the further towards the end it got the more gripping it became. If you like twists and turns in a book and something to keep you guessing then this is the book for you!

This book is the perfect thriller! Lies, death, mystery! This book was written quite beautifully and FULL of suspense.

#The Promise# NetGally#
Teresa Driscoll

I love the writing of Teresa Driscoll and without fail, this book did not disappoint. The Promise is about love, loyalty, friendships, memories and the faithfulness of a promise. Beth, Sally and Carol meet in boarding school at a young age and form an indivisible friendship. A shocking event causes them to make a promise that they will never reveal to anyone. As they grow up and have their own lives, they are made to remember their schooldays as they receive an invitation to attend a party commemorating the sale of the school. It brings many feelings to the forefront of each of the three friends, some happy, some sad and one horrid secret. Someone does not want these events brought up and goes to great lengths to make it not happen. The mystery of how it will all unfold, keeps the reader guessing at what these events were that caused the mystery. I thoroughly recommend this book to all who love a well put together novel. I rate it a solid five stars. Thank you to the publisher Thomas and Mercer and to NetGally for an advanced reading copy and a fair and honest review.

Amazing book. Loved it from beginning to end.
Well written which kept me captivated throughout.
I will definitely be reading other books by this author

The story of three young friends at boarding school should have had a greater impact on me right from the start. I'm sorry to say I wasn't anxious to find out what happened next when I set the book aside to attend to other things in my life. There wasn't anything wrong with the writing but I didn't feel a connection to the characters. This was just a so-so read for me.

I received an Advanced Reader's Copy from Amazon Publishing UK via NetGalley
#The Promise #NetGalley

I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am already a fan of Teresa Driscoll, having read her debut I AM WATCHING YOU and then THE FRIEND just recently. So I was excited to read her latest thriller THE PROMISE. Though not my favourite of the three, I still enjoyed it and eagerly await her next book!

THE PROMISE is a slow-build, which does create the problem for some readers possibly losing interest. I did feel the story dragged out a little in parts while waiting for something to happen, but I didn't lose interest. I just got a little frustrated with "the promise" of what was to come and if it was ever going to get there. But once it did, it was unputdownable.

It begins with three young girls in Boarding School and what could only be assumed as a death which they then had to cover up. But the death of who? And why? This becomes the secret they now all share and vow never to tell. As the reader, we don't discover who it is or how she died until about halfway through, but there are a couple of subtle hints which I correctly guessed though that didn't dampen the story or it's impact.

Fast forward some 30 years and we see one of the friends Beth is happily married to Adam with two boys, Sam and Harry, and Sally is divorced from her unfaithful husband after a miscarriage which left her devastated. The third friend, Carol, is estranged from them both having gradually distanced herself over the years until no one knew how to contact her or where she even was. When Beth and Sally receive notice that the boarding school is about to be demolished, they begin to panic about the body they buried when they were 14 in the woods bordering the school would be discovered. They decide that they need to find Carol to discuss whether to break the promise they made all those years ago and reveal their secret. But where to start?

Beth and Sally engage private investigator Matthew Hill to find Carol beginning with her mother Deborah, which seems to take up an inordinate amount of time than really necessary. As the focus is primarily on finding Carol not her mother that search should be detailed a little shorter. When they do make contact with Carol, it is hard to believe that she was once their best friend, her estrangement is so palpable.

Then strange things begin to happen. Someone knows about their secret and is threatening Beth and Sally into silence. A Facebook message. A phone call to Beth's sons' school. And then the ultimate threat - a hit and run resulting in Adam being seriously injured and left for dead. Who knows about their secret? Beth then decides to break their promise and tell Adam everything...even if means losing him and the boys.

Beth also wants to tell Matthew everything but Sally is reluctant. But Matthew can't help them unless they are completely honest with him.

THE PROMISE is told predominantly from Beth's POV - both in the present and the past - with several chapters from Carol as diary entries, that clearly begin to show her instability - as well as a handful of chapters from Matthew's perspective. I feel that his input could have been more involved as Beth seemed to do most of the investigating whilst Matthew instead became a love interest for Sally. I didn't have a problem with Matthew and Sally's relationship but I felt as a PI he should have been doing more otherwise his involvement was a little redundant. Granted, he did find Deborah but it seemed as though Beth did the rest and he merely tagged along.

The story was really slow building and I felt it could have moved faster. By the time it reaches the point the secret is revealed, I feel the less patient reader will have lost interest. The secret itself is a little disappointing as while it is something 14 year old girls would definitely want to keep secret, I couldn't decide whether I WAS disappointed in it or not. Because it did feel a little anti-climatic on that point.

However, the real climax came when they returned to the old boarding school to ascertain whether the remains would be disturbed in the demolishing of the old convent. I didn't see that coming - and I foresee many twists - so that was an interesting touch.

As Carol is a major part of this story, I felt her "story" as such could have been more devled into as some parts of the story she appeared completely fine whilst at others somewhat disturbed. It is clear from her diary entries that she has mental health issues that have manifested over time so a little more focus on her "story" would have helped the story flow together more seamlessly, rather than disjointed. I couldn't connect with Carol's character at all as she felt too "distant" from the entire story despite being a major player. However, when the entire story is revealed at the end it does make sense, but otherwise she felt a disjointed part that we couldn't reconcile with the rest of the story.

Also, the dispute between Beth and Sally over Sally's romantic involvement with Matthew does not reconcile with their relationship. Their 30 year long friendship through every possible thing and yet they stop speaking because Sally is involved with Matthew. Yes, it may seem a little unethical due to him being hired by them, but to stop speaking? And then Beth falls into a deep depression and Sally doesn't bother to call or see her or offer support? Only when Beth calls in tears after Adam's accident does Sally run to her side, and the whole "non-speaking because of the romance with Matthew" is brushed aside as not important and barely visited again. Their unwillingness to discuss it as friends of 30+ years doesn't seem realistic.

One thing I must point out is Matthew's involvement in the story which I found a nice touch. As I was reading his "backstory" I felt it sounded somewhat familiar, and then when a former colleague's name was mentioned a light-bulb went on. The fact he was a former cop and then his backstory with the child rang a bell with me as being somewhat familiar. For those who have read I AM WATCHING YOU, you would have already met Matthew as he is the private investigator Ella hired. Then when I flicked through I AM WATCHING YOU to one of "Matthew's" chapters I discover the mention of his wife Sally and their daughter. So in effect, THE PROMISE is in prequel to I AM WATCHING YOU since he meets Sally in this book and they are already married in the debut. I just felt it was a nice touch to revisit Matthew, and I hope he pops up in other stories from time to time.

Overall, it was disappointing after Driscoll's other unputdownable thrillers, as I would have thought THE PROMISE would hold a little more promise. Although the pace was a bit slow to start with by the end I couldn't put it down. But in all, THE PROMISE is still a decent book (albeit with some flaws) but still a compelling read.

Thanks to Teresa Driscoll, #NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced reader's copy of #ThePromise in exchange for an honest review.