Set between the Blue Mountains and a Sydney hospital, Lisa Kenway’s All You Took from Me is a thriller brimming with great characters and nail-biting tension.
Anaesthetist Clare Carpenter has just lost her husband and her memory in a single-vehicle accident. So why is a stranger following her? After questioning patients about their dreams, she becomes convinced that an anaesthetic drug might help her access missing memories. But there’s no way to be certain without jeopardising her career or her life.
As unexplained threats escalate, Clare realises she must take matters into her own hands to learn the uncomfortable truth about her secretive husband, his connection to a mysterious club and what she did to trigger a stranger’s crusade for vengeance. But how far will she go?
‘Truly exciting. It’s a rare treat to read a book that I am still thinking about long after the last page – the surprising reveals are both earned and satisfying. Readers are destined to fall in love with the ways Kenway brings such expertise and a unique perspective to the psychological thriller genre.’ – Shelley Burr, author of Wake and Ripper
‘A taut psychological thriller with a driving plot, All You Took From Me interrogates the limits of memory, both lost and recovered. From its compelling opening mystery, every page bristles with threat and intrigue.’ – Ashley Kalagian Blunt, bestselling author of Dark Mode
‘Kenway brings an exciting level of insider authenticity to this simmering drama about an anaesthetist struggling to make sense of a life unspooling in the aftermath of a tragic accident. Tense, twisty and unique, this is an unforgettable debut.’ – Anna Downes, author of The Safe Place and Red River Road
‘I found myself first pulled in by the prose – Kenway writes like a dream – but soon I was consumed by the mystery at the heart of the story the question of where we go and what happens to us under the narcotic oblivion of anaesthesia. Charged with menace and paranoia, this is a masterfully plotted psychological thriller.’ – J.P. Pomare, author of In he Clearing and 17 Years Later
All You Took From Me is a gripping psychological thriller that kept me guessing until the very end. Set between Sydney and the beautifully captured Blue Mountains, Kenway weaves a captivating tale of a woman on the run from a past that she can’t remember.
The idea of how memory is affected under anaesthesia and hypnosis is an interesting one and it is explored fully. Each time Clare goes under, she gains a memory that brings her closer to solving the mystery of her husband’s death and why a terrifying bikie has it out for her. It feels as though she slowly gains back her memory of the time before her husband died, revealing the mystery to the reader as Clare discovers the truth for herself.
I’m not sure if I liked the main character, Clare, but she certainly is complex. Her history of growing up with strict Jehovah’s Witness parents helps to explain why she is so prickly and fiercely independent, as well as why she might get caught up in a relationship based on lies. Her husband, Ray, came across as an awful person who wouldn’t last long with a well-adjusted wife.
Lisa Kenway’s “All You Took From Me” is a gripping thriller that plunges readers into a world of intrigue and suspense, where every revelation adds a new layer to the mystery. A well-crafted page turner which will have you hooked from the onset as you uncover unsettling truths in a story brimming with tension, threats, and unease.
I found myself drawn into the story, fully invested in Clare Carpenter’s journey as she searches for her lost memories amongst the grief and trauma she has experienced. The story is beautifully written as it unfolds with a captivating blend of uncertainty and emotional depth. “All You Took From Me” is an impressive debut novel and a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers.
All You Took From Me is a captivating psychological thriller about Clare Carpenter, an anaesthetist struggling to reclaim her memory of events leading up to her car accident—an accident which claimed the life of her husband, Ray.
Within the narrative, and as an anaesthetist herself, Kenway brings insider knowledge to an exploration of how anaesthesia and hypnosis may assist in restoring memories but with considerable risk. However while this aspect was unique and compelling, it was the mystery at the heart of the plot that kept me turning the pages.
With a paranoid main character, a dead husband with too many secrets, a frightening biker, and a string of slowly-revealed unsettling truths, this debut is twisty, tense, and a thoroughly engaging read.
Not many books could keep my attention through an eleven day holiday with friends but this was so easy to pick up whenever I could squeeze in some time.
‘All you took from me’ starts dramatically with FMC Clare waking in an ICU bed after a horrific car crash, with no recall of the months prior. Grieving the death of her husband and returning to work as an Anaesthetist is more than enough to cope with but someone is stalking her and she has no memory of the crash or who they could be.
The secret to working it out is trying to reverse her amnesia. Through hypnotism and then experimenting with her knowledge of anaesthetic. I didn’t love Clare but she is one tough cookie. She certainly helped supply some action. Well paced, plot driven psychological thriller that made for a great holiday read.
The books begins with the reader being introduced to Doctor Clare Carpenter an Anaesthetist, waking in a large hospital ICU ward from a serious head injury!
How, why, where and what?? all will be revealed (or will it). As you, the reader, is submerged into Clare’s confused memories of her accident!
Too many loose ends and too many implausible situations, made this whole read rather frustrating.
Clare’s drama and her ongoing actions only exacerbated the confusing plot that ran through the pages. It left the reader (me) frustrated with its ambiguity – how and why did Clare get herself mixed up with all this craziness??
Not sure whether I liked, or disliked, or actually would recommend – “All you took from me”
I have left it in on my shelf of books – to perhaps revisit or remove.
I feel this book took “all to much of me” as well.
In this psychological thriller from debut author, Lisa Kenway, Dr Clare Carpenter, wakes from a coma to discover a car accident took her husband and memories of the last few months.
As she’s piecing her life back together, threatening messages from a stranger, and flickers of memories she can’t be sure are real, Clare questions not only herself, but if the man she married was who she thought.
When her past and present collide, Clare puts her job as an anaesthetist at risk, as well as her mental health using hypnosis to uncover what’s been blanked out. Clare is a strong woman, but not without her flaws. Her grief for her husband, a lost close friendship, and the years-old shunning of her estranged family compound, adding layers to her character, and setting up truths when twists fill the final chapters.
While the first half of the book is a slow burn, and the story goes in directions you didn’t think it would, the action-packed climax is thrilling, making All You Took From Me a satisfying read, crafted by a talented writer who knows how to meld beautiful prose and gritty storytelling to create an intriguing page-turner.
When Clare Carpenter, an anaesthetist, wakes in the ICU department of the hospital in which she works, it takes some time for her to processes the severity of her many injuries, the result of a car accident. She survived but Ray, her husband, did not. Devastated by her loss and frustrated by amnesia which prevents her from remembering what happened in the weeks prior to the accident, Clare gets desperate. When hypnosis with her treating psychiatrist under the hospital’s ‘back to work’ protocol doesn’t retrieve lost memories, Clare resorts to her own devices.
As we journey with Clare in her quest to uncover the truth of what happened, we too are plunged into questioning how reliable our memory really is and how well we really know those we hold close. Exploring our rich and colourful country and the depth of wonder that is in the Blue Mountains was a bonus.
Choosing to have the main protagonist as the narrator required careful editing to avoid confusion between what is said between characters and Clare’s thoughts. Rereading sections for clarification was annoying. Classified as a ‘psychological thriller’ this novel did not meet the mark for me. Disappointing.
This debut novel offers an interesting take on the post-accident-amnesia trope with the protagonist being a slightly deranged anaesthetist. Dr Clare Carpenter is a hot mess after her husband is killed in a car accident in which she is injured (hence the amnesia), and she gets steadily messier as the novel progresses. Written in first person, present tense (not a favourite of mine), there are various twists as Dr Clare bumbles her way to resolving her lost memories, and the mystery of what she and her husband were up to at the time of the crash. This author is surely one to watch in the future.
Having not read Lisa Kenway previously, I was pleased when the story started straight away and didn’t have a confusing or complicated plot and character relationships. Action packed and full of twists, it was certainly hard to put down but unfortunately too similar to the repeating scenarios of English translated eureopean thrillers flooding Netflix – and therefore a little predictable. Despite the Australian setting, the characters and drama didn’t spark memories as not relatable to any of my own personal friends and family. Easy to read but not memorable in innovation of thriller scenarios.
A gripping psychological thriller set in the Blue Mountains and a Sydney hospital. From the first page there is an underlying sense of menace and suspense. Dr Clare Carpenter wakes in the ICU with a brain injury and retrograde amnesia and a terrible foreboding about why her husband is not present and what might have happened to him.
Kenway’s prose is elegant and evocative. She skilfully ramps up the tension as each revelation compels the story forward. The characters, especially Clare are memorable, flawed, multifaceted and relatable. Written in first person narrative from Claire’s perspective I felt as if I was living the experience of trying to get my memories back and make sense of the past whilst sharing in her fear and paranoia.
The novel left me reflecting on the nature and reliability of memories lost and retrieved and had me questioning how far I would go to keep and protect what is important to me.
For fans of psychological thrillers and Australian noir this is a must read.
Anaesthetist Clare Carpenter wakes from a coma to a world of confusion. She remembers little of the events leading up to the accident which caused her head injury and took the life of her husband Ray. Many unanswered questions now crowd her existence, and unsettling things are happening – she is being questioned by police, a strange man is shadowing and threatening her, and even her closest friends seem to be hiding secrets. She returns to work but feels that everyone else knows more about her life than she does, and she begins to realise that her husband was not exactly as he seemed.
In her determination to find answers, Clare embarks on a risky path, putting her career and her life in danger. She gradually fits together pieces of the puzzle, however the quest takes her into the world of drug abuse, gangs and undercover police.
There are many twists and turns in the fast-moving plot, and interesting insights into the world of anaesthesia. I found it hard to accept some of the circumstances as plausible, and there are a few loose ends which are not resolved; however it is best to suspend disbelief and just go with the rollercoaster ride of the action in this psychological thriller.
The narrator of this story is Clare, an anaesthetist who wakes up in ICU with retrograde amnesia sh several weeks after a single-vehicle crash in which her husband was killed and Clare sustained a head injury. As her memory gradually returns, she remembers some of the events leading up to the accident in the Blue Mountains of NSW.
As Clare makes a physical recovery and returns to work, she is stalked by a mysterious biker who says she should know him and implies that her husband was doing something illegal in which she was also involved. In the process of trying to recover her memory, Clare discovers that her Brazilian husband had a murky past.
Aspects of the story sometimes require the reader to suspend belief. The story follows some rather convoluted twists and turns in which the most sympathetic characters are her supportive neighbours. This was not exactly a page-turner but there was certainly a lot of action towards the end.
This well written psychological thriller will have the reader on the edge of their seat from start to finish.
Dr Clare Carpenter has woken from a coma following a fatal, single-car accident in which her husband Ray has been killed. She has not only lost her husband but her memory as well.
She suddenly realises she is being followed by a stranger and begins receiving threatening phone calls, messages and letters. She has no idea what, in her past, has brought this about but she is determined to find out regardless of the dangers she is putting herself in. The lengths she goes to in order to uncover the mystery often defy belief.
Lisa Kenway’s debut novel makes for compelling reading and lovers of this genre will be drawn to this book.
A great read!
This story introduces us to Clare, an in-patient at a Sydney hospital who has amnesia and has been in a coma for quite some time. We quickly learn who she is and feel the need to read on to discover what happened to her, where her husband is and who the mystery biker is. The plot is full of twists and turns. The characters are all flawed humans and the end is quite a surprise. Well written, this book is a good fun read.
I am a big thriller/crime fan and Lisa definitely brings the suspense of a thriller right from the beginning. Her characters are well-rounded and just when you think you have them sussed another curveball comes your way and what you thought you knew was going on takes on another twist.
Unpredictable twists and turns makes it a read that you keep saying to yourself just one more chapter before turning off the light which never comes and you devour it in one sitting like I did.
I was sure I knew what was going on but was surprised that I was way off base. I usually have a good radar for that and Lisa kept me on my toes throughout. I love the Australian setting and the familiar places for people living in the area that they can recognise. The adrenaline rush of the read took a little while to wear off which is always the mark of a good book.
I am a big supporter of Australian writers and Lisa will definitely be on my to-read list when more novels are written and released. Can’t wait to see more of Lisa’s books on the shelves in the future. Love a good thriller that keeps the heart pumping fast while you read.