I wasn't entirely sure if I wanted to read Day One - the opening, where a gunman opens fire on young children in a school, had echoes of the Dunblane shootings. But although this subject can't not be distressing, the story is less about that and more about what happens after, and like Abigail Dean's previous novel, Girl A, it's a fascinating read.

Teacher Ava Ward is killed trying to protect her pupils; her teenage daughter Martha, interviewed by a reporter in the immediate aftermath, is distraught, but perhaps knows more than she's letting on. The Lake District village of Stonesmere and the country as a whole reels from the horror of what's occurred.

Aspiring journalist Trent, an intelligent and vulnerable young man who once knew and liked the alleged shooter, is only too ready to believe, along with others, that there's more to the story than the official version - that there's a conspiracy, a coverup at the highest level.

The depth of Trent's deludedness is starkly illustrated when he thinks at one point that "they were not cruel, had never been cruel". Because they are nothing but cruel - it's hard to imagine anything much crueller than attacking and mocking the families of murdered children, calling them liars and telling them their children never existed.

But Trent, caught up in a toxic ideology peddled by an amoral demagogue, egged on by others he meets online and in person, truly believes he is speaking truth to power, and it leads him down some dark paths.

There's never really a convincing reason why this false flag would have been perpetrated (to distract from other issues unfavourable to the government is hardly compelling) but that doesn't bother the "truthers". And that's sadly highly believable in a world where crackpot Q-Anon theories gained huge traction among lots of people, many only too willing to commit violence for their "cause", believing they're the only ones perceptive enough to see through the lies. It's a twisted way of looking at the world, rejecting anything you're officially told but ready to believe the most implausible alternatives.

We follow the perspectives of Martha, Trent, with short sections from the day of the shooting and the people caught up in it. A brilliant if at times heartbreaking read, raising various questions - what is the meaning of heroism? Where does the truth lie?

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

I was very keen to read this book having looked at the blurb. A mass shooting in a primary school, or was it? Well used to bonkers conspiracy theorists from across the pond this book was an interesting take on the situation. Just how everything spirals out of control. Who can triumph over adversity. The effect all of this has on a community.
I did find it somewhat confusing though especially the ending. Whilst I don't need everything neatly wound up and spelt out for me I do like to understand what's happened and in this case I feel a bit muddled.
Some formatting issues and US spellings creeping in

Conspiracy theories float around after school shootings in the USA most notably after the mass killing of 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School. 'Truthers' alleged that it never happened and that it was a conspiracy to enable more gun control. In Day One, Abigail Dean has imagined something similar happening in the UK, in a small school in the Lake District, an idyllic background for a horrific crime.

The story centres not so much around the actual shooting but its aftermath, It mainly follows two characters, Marty, whose mother Ava is killed in the tragedy and Trent, a loner who once knew the killer and is unable to believe that then person he knew committed such an atrocity and therefore starts to believe that it didn't actually happen. Meanwhile Marty struggles with the death of her mother and with the fact that she has not been entirely honest about what happened that day.

This is a gripping read. I had wondered when i read the blurb whether the idea of 'truthers' who believe in such conspiracies, would travel across the ocean. However you just have to spend a few minutes on Twitter and other social media to see that batshit crazy theories like this are alive and well here in the UK too and Dean has done a convincing job of characterising one of these theorists without resorting to stereotyping and showing compassion for everyone involved. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. Recommended.

Stonesmere is a beautiful, tranquil place in the north of England - a small lakeside town where many of the troubles that plague modern Britain have been kept at bay.

Ava Ward is one of the pillars of this community. She lives a good life with her jovial husband and her daughter, Marty, who is a a high achiever and a prize-winning athlete.

But perhaps Ava's greatest joy in life comes from teaching the young children in her classes. It is certainly one of her greatest achievements.

She takes the time needed to understand the worries and requirements of her young students, like young Kit Larkin, and meets those needs in a way that goes above and beyond the call of duty.

Year after year, children graduating from Ava's school will remember her in times to come as one of the stand outs of their school life. But sadly, now Ava will also be remembered for a very different reason.

After a lone gunman carries out a brutal attack at the Day One ceremony organised by Ava to showcase the talent of the youngsters in her class, life in Stonesmere will never be the same again.

Despite that, Ava's death bears a certain resemblance to her life - she tried, to the very end, to protect her students. And yet, piling tragedy upon tragedy, there are those who seek not only to sully the memory of her efforts, but even share conspiracy theories to claim that the massacre never took place.

Yet there are questions here that need to be answered, if not necessarily the same ones raised by the rabblerousers. Why did the gunman attack the school on Day One? And what is the secret that Ava's own daughter Marty has been keeping?

For me, the story would have benefited from greater clarity in the telling, but it is a gripping story nevertheless. Dean delivers a chilling portrait of those who have colonized the internet with their lies and wild theories, as well as those who are taken in by them. And she shows us how quick apparently kind and normal people have become to pass judgement on the neighbours. Well worth a read.

Day One will change you as a person. It will stay with for weeks after you’ve read it. A cleverly nuanced and intricate plot with characters who are not who the seem nor do they make reliable narrators which adds to the suspense and intrigue of the book. An absolutely triumph from Abigail Dean, Day One is a book that makes you think and question everything we see, think and feel.