I heard you. I know what you did.
For three years, criminal psychiatrist Tamsin Shaw has been lying unresponsive in hospital.
But while she may not be able to open her eyes, she is awake, and listening to her visitors:
The husband
The best friend
The ex-boyfriend
The former patient
The nurse
All of them have secrets.
One of them will kill to keep theirs hidden.
Can Tamsin wake up before it’s too late?
Book Info: Print Length: 301 pages. Published 13 Feb 2025. Publisher: HarperNorth.
My Thoughts:
The Voices by Natalie Chandler is the story of Tamsin Shaw. A criminal psychiatrist who lies unresponsive in a hospital bed following a traumatic accident. Though she cannot move or speak, she is fully conscious—listening to the confessions, secrets, and lies of those who visit her: her husband, best friend, ex-boyfriend, a former patient, and a nurse.
Three years have past since Tamsin was in a car accident whilst heavily pregnant. Her daughter has been born, but Tamsin hasn’t woken up and now her husband is planning to withdraw her care on her 40th birthday.
Told through a dual timeline and an unreliable narrator, the reader is taken on an emotional journey with Tamsin as she struggles to make sense of what has happened to her.
Whilst this particularly storyline may not be original, I really enjoyed it and felt Tamsin’s voice was powerful, emotive and at times heart-breaking.
The horrifying idea of being stuck in an unresponsive body for almost 3 years, but able to hear everything around you was chilling and claustrophobic. The author has managed to make the reader feel all of Tamsin’s emotions, from rage to panic and confusion to desperation.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to fans of character-driven psychological thrillers.
