Twenty-five years after a mass shooting in a small British town, memories of the crime are brought back to the front on its anniversary. I thought this has a promising premise and I usually enjoy stories where the past events are actually not the way they happened. I liked the flashbacks of each victim's last moments before they died and how they were just ordinary people caught up in the crossfire of a vengeful perpetrator.

However, I found the main character insufferable. A large part of this book involves Cassie's struggles about motherhood and her incessant complaining was tiresome to read. For someone who supposedly has such a busy time caring for a baby, she sure spends a lot of time at the pub, drooling after the bartender. She was initially against dredging up memories of the crimes but changes her mind instantly after seeing a photograph. Her motivation is shaky and the way she goes about investigating is hypocritical because she tramples on other people's memories while fiercely defending her own. The reason for the mass shooting is a letdown and doesn't really change anything in the aftermath of her discovery. Sometimes things are better left alone.

The Anniversary was an enjoyable read due to the effortless flow of the prose and the pacing which was well-maintained throughout. I found some of the political aspects of the book unnecessary and also found some of the plot predictable. I was frustrated at times waiting for the investigating characters to catch on to clues which appeared abundantly obvious to the reader. The very last twist, however, I didn't see coming. This, along with the depth of the antagonist's character, increased my rating of the book to 4*.

I'll look out for future works by this author.

Review posted to goodreads and amazon.co.uk, awaiting approval.

June 15th, 1994 marked the day the town of Hartshead became infamous after Travis Green went on a killing spree, murdering ten people and then taking his own life. Now, 25 years later, Cassie, the daughter of one of the victims returns home to care for her mum who suffers from early onset Alzheimer’s and her newborn, when she is approach by Alison, a journalist asking for her help in finding some answers to what happened that fateful day.

I gotta confess that it took me a while to connect with the story and it was all because of Cassie’s character. I understand she was going trough a really distressing time with her mum’s illness and had no problem with that. My issue was with her relationship with her child. I know it can be hard dealing with a difficult newborn, but I don’t think it was needed to repeat several times how she would prefer to not have her so she could have an easier life. Although I had some problems with her attitude, I think both the dementia and the struggles of motherhood were well portrayed.

As the story progressed and her relationship with Alison was developed, I found myself warming to her and got really invested in her search for the truth.

The little chapters about the victims of the shooting were interesting and a nice way for the reader to try and connect all the puzzle pieces.

The middle part felt a bit repetitive at times with many pub scenes that didn’t bring much to the plot.

Although the ending was not that surprising to me cause I called the “villain” early on, it still managed to deliver a final surprise I didn’t see coming (although to be honest, the reader didn’t have any info to suspect it either).

Interesting story about how a tragedy can impact not only those who went through it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book UK/Sphere for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Twenty five years ago Travis Green went on a killing rampage in the small town of Hartstead shooting eleven random people before turning the gun on himself. Cassie Coleman was five years old at the time & the daughter of his last victim. She has now returned to the town with her baby daughter to help her mother who is suffering from early onset dementia, although Cassie could do with help herself as baby Amy is difficult. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the shooting approaches the story is raked over again & she is approached by a journalist, who is allegedly writing about how such things leave a mark on the town, not this shooting specifically. Although she is reluctant to rake over old wounds she is desperate for some adult company she agrees. She finds something amongst her mother's papers that raises the question- just how random were the shooting.

This is a really cleverly written story Seeing short scenes of the victims before their deaths made them 'real' not a statistic. The author neatly throws out clues throughout but I was still unprepared for the ending. This was a great read. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

I have bought this book in actual book format on my kindle, I loved friend request and I have very high hopes for this. I cannot wait to read this in my own time!

Nothing is as it seems with this book. As as soon as you think you have it figured out, you get surprised again. It was a thrilling read, and recommended for anyone who enjoys a thriller.

This novel follows late 20-something Cassie, who had an affair with her boss and got pregnant. He refused to accept her and her baby, so dejected Cassie moved back home, coincidentally to look after her Mum as well, who has dementia. Matters are complicated by the fact it’s the 25th anniversary of the horrific situation when a local man took his gunfire and killed 11 people including Cassie’s dad. When Cassie is approached by a local journalist, she is reluctant to participate but finds herself drawn back to the past when she realises things aren’t what they seem...

This was a decent read. It was compelling, however I did find the events got repetitive with Cassie going to the pub all the time while complaining about her lack of income, and I found at the end the motivations of the characters rather far-fetched. It just wasn’t executed well. Nonetheless an average time pass book.

"Travis sit in the front room, running his hands back and forth over his semi-automatic rifle, cool and smooth beneath his calluses fingers. He is calm, his heartbeat slow and even. In a few hours, eleven people will be dead"

Bam!! what a way to start a book!

Another brilliant read by Laura Marshall. This is one of those fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat books that keep you guessing till the end. Although I had an inkling of what was going on and formed a link in my head between the victims I definitely did not see the conclusion to this story and not only one but two great twists in the end!

What really happened on 15th June 1994 in Hartstead? What made Travis go out and shoot 11 people and commit suicide?
It is now 25 years later and we get to meet some of the survivors; the people who lost loved ones and also the son of the killer. How did the 25 years after the killing treat them? Did they manage to come to grips with those traumatic events and why is someone not keen on people asking questions about what really happened?

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

A man terrorised a village nearly 20 years ago, shooting 11 people before turning the gun on himself. The survivors, the children and family of those he shot, are still suffering from this event. One of them is Cassie Colman, who was only four when her father was shot, the last of Travis Green's victims. She has returned to the village to look after her mother, who has early onset dementia, as well as her small baby, as her married boyfriend has declined to be involved with his responsibilities.

Cassie is befriended by Alison, a reporter, who starts to dig to find more 'truths' about the killings as the anniversary approaches. Cassie finds she too has gaps in her memories - she can't ask her mother now, so wants to try to find out just why the eleven were killed. However, not everyone wants the truth to surface.

The result is an interesting, twisty tale. Its a bit ponderous in parts, and I did guess the final twist quite early on, but over all its an entertaining read, looking at murder from a different perspective.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Brilliant book
Had me hooked from the start
A definite page turner
Can’t wait for Laura’s next book
Thanks NetGalley

I reqlly loved this book from start to end. It has you gripped and is hard to put down. I felt invested in the main character from the start and enjoyed the humour of the language. The story cleverly keeps you guessing and the end was brilliant! A great read that I’d highly recommend.

Having read and enjoyed Laura Marshall’s previous books I was delighted to discover The Anniversary was up for request. Like the others, this was a great read, a truly gripping, edge of your seat thriller. A great author and a thrilling read.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great storyline with excellent characters. I would highly recommend this book as it was a great read.

The Anniversary is Laura Marshall’s third novel and just as I have come to expect by this author, it was a cleverly written, compelling read with a chilling premise and suspenseful execution. This was possibly more of a slowburner than Laura’s previous books as the drama takes a bit longer to unfold, but every chapter kept me reading on and had me intrigued and enthralled, eager to learn the truth.

On the 15th of June 1994, Travis Banks went on a killing spree in Hartstead, shooting dead eleven people before turning the gun on himself. There’s been a lot of rumours about the reasons why Banks did this, and lots of unanswered questions. Did he have an accomplice? Were the victims as random as they seemed? 25 years later, the anniversary of this horrific event is approaching, and when a journalist is writing an article on the impact tragedies like this have on a town, new things come to light that put Cassie Colman, daughter to Banks’ final victim, on edge. Everything she thought she knew about that day is unravelling in front of her, and as Cassie strives to learn the truth, is she putting lives at risk by doing so?

The concept of The Anniversary is fascinating and the author’s storytelling made it so engrossing. Whilst the main story is set in present day, there are chapters that go back to the day each of the killer’s victims die, and, as unsettling as it was seeing their final moments, I loved hearing their stories, learning briefly about their lives and what had led them to the day that they would be tragically taken from the world.

In the present day, Cassie becomes embroiled in the journalist’s research into the shooting, which presents more questions than answers. Cassie was four on the day it all happened and has never really questioned the small bits she does know about the shooting. However, her curiosities get the better of her and soon she is obsessed with learning more, finding that each new discovery makes her addiction to learning the truth grow. It was easy to see how Cassie could get so wrapped up in the case as, as the reader, I felt exactly the same way. It was such a gripping concept and I had no clue how to piece any of it together so therefore found myself hanging on the author’s every word.

This book was full of well-drawn characters, but what I particular loved was how this was a thriller with real heart – the characters here weren’t made simply to be hated but instead each one had a story and their own struggles and whilst there was a fixation with working out which ones could be trusted, there was also the side of me that wanted to learn more about all of their lives to help me understand each one better.

Cassie had enough going on in her own life before the journalist got in touch. Between her struggles of being a single mother to Amy to morally battling with how to best care for her mum who has dementia, Laura Marshall writes in such a refreshingly honest way about motherhood and all its challenges. Cassie is finding it hard to cope with both a demanding baby and a mother who has days where she does not even recognise her daughter, and each strand of motherhood is written with a gritty honesty that I’m sure many people could relate to even if some of the thoughts Cassie has are not that easy to admit to.

It didn’t take me long to become really invested in every aspect of The Anniversary with chapters that insisted I had to keep on reading and I begrudged every time I had to put the book down. Throughout the course of the novel I was suspicious of everyone except maybe who I should have suspected the most, and I loved that I was always kept guessing and left wondering what if?. I would highly recommend this book.

This is the second book I have read from this author and I just love the way she writes. The Anniversary by
Laura Marshall is a psychological thriller and I was another excellent read and I was hooked within the first few pages. On 15th June 1994, Travis Green walked through the streets of Hartstead and killed 11 of his neighbours. The final victim was 4 year-old Cassie Colman's father. WoW..........what a start of a book!!! Twenty five years pass and the anniversary is nearly here. Cassie is now grown up and is a struggling new mum and a mother with dementia..
Cassie's new friend and who is also a reporter is writing an aftermath article. This will take her on a journey of discovery about what actually happened all those years ago..........WoW what a roller coaster of a book with so many twists and turns throughout! This was an excellent read! I loved it and had me in the edge of my seat!

I highly recommend this latest book By Laura.

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group, Sphere for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

This book looks at tragedies which affect not just one person in a town but the whole community. Just about everyone knows someone touched by the actions of Travis Green that day 25 years ago, when he took his gun and seemingly randomly shot and killed 11 locals including himself. The quarter century anniversary is coming up and the echoes from the past are getting louder - but someone wants them quitened. Who would that be and why?
Cassie has returned from her life in London with a young baby and no partner, home to her mum whose dementia is going downhill fast. Cassie had hoped to be able to manage for sometime yet but it is quickly apparent that she's going to need more support than she'd thought. Struggling with the demands of a new baby and with no other family or friends to call on, life is taking its toll on her. Then when journalist Alison Patchett approaches her for her slant on the anniversary of the shootings, Cassie wonders whether coming back to her home town was a good idea.
But help comes in strange guises and Cassie is soon re-evaluating the relationships she has begun to form.
Although the main subject of this book is unpleasant the story is well written and sympathetic to some really quite sensitive issues. There's a lot more to it than the story of a small town shooting.
Overall I enjoyed the book and was keen to get back to the story whenever I had to put it down. I wasn't sure who was to be trusted and there are some nice subtle little twists which I wasn't expecting all throughout the story. People aren't always who you expect them to be - and that can lead to good things as well as bad. It's just a case of working out who's worth investing in.

My thanks to the publisher for the review copy of the book via NetGalley.

The Anniversary – Laura Marshall
Publication Date – 5th August 2021
This book captured me straight away, I have read another book by Laura Marshall so I knew I was in for a treat. The Anniversary is a story about a man called Travis Green walked through the streets of Hartstead and killed eleven of his neighbours back in 1994, but with the 25-year anniversary approaching we get into look into the lives of those affected. I was hooked and couldn’t wait to find out more. It was a brilliant and twisty thriller.
#TheAnniversary #NetGalley

It’s 25 years on from a fatal village shooting and there are people who don’t remember and people who don’t want to remember. Cassie was 4 when her father was the last person killed by the murderer. She doesn’t remember what happened, all she remembers is what she has read and what she has been told about what happened. Now she is back living in the village looking after her ailing mother, she makes friends with a journalist and a young woman from the next town. Read the book to find out what happens……
This book is fast paced and keeps you guessing at every point. It wasn’t the ending I imagined and I was very wrong until the end. Only a couple of things guessed right. I highly recommend this book. It’s one of the best reads I have had in a while. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Books for a copy of “The Anniversary “ for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Laura Marshall’s previous books , and this new book didn’t disappoint .
It kept me guessing right to the end , with many twists and turns along the way..It took me a while to warm to the character of Cassie, but I think her character developed well.
It was a particularly poignant read as news of the Plymouth shooting broke just after I started reading this.
A compelling and well written book.

Cassie Coleman was a survivor of the biggest tragedy to hit Harstead. 25 years later as the anniversary of the event approaches, Cassie finds herself back in the town and drawn into that dark past. A reporter writing a story asks for her help and she finds herself curious to know more especially after the discovery of a photo in her mum's belongings.

This was a fascinating read and a very dark story. It leads you along the way to finally learning the truth of what happened that day. There are a few twists to the story. Some I worked out, some I didnt. The plot jumps in time a little bit as we see the account of each person who was killed. I liked the connection of them all but some were a little flimsy. The ending was very well done and allowed me to finally warm to Cassie. She's not instanly likeable but as the story develops, you begin to understand her more. A dark thriller with a creepy feel.