Thirty years after a teenager was murdered, her killer is about to be released from prison. By coincidence, a production company is shooting a film which bears a striking resemblance to the events surrounding the murder. Is someone out for revenge or trying to reframe the past?
The Cut by Richard Armitage opens in 1994 with a nightmarish scene of a young woman being chased through a storm. From a high vantage point, someone is watching the events as they unfold. The story then jumps to 2023, and we meet architect Ben Knott, a school friend of the victim at the time of her death.
The story alternates between 1994 and 2023. In the past, we meet Ben and his circle of friends. The group is a strange mixture of mainly unpleasant characters held together by Ben. Ben's intelligence, physique and home background have allowed him to get away with some unsavory behaviour, much of it excused by his home life. In 2023, we meet a very different character, a successful family man who is haunted by the past. I did feel some sympathy towards teenager Ben; his home life was harrowing. Modern day Ben didn't come across well; he compartmentalise his life, puts business before family and was desperately trying to hide secrets.
As the storyline alternates between the two time periods, we see everything leading up to the night of the murder. We discover that the bonds of friendship are tenuous, mainly because of the cruel nature of teenagers. In the present, Ben's fourteen-year-old son, Nate, is deliberately targeted to star in a "found footage" film. The nature in which Nate is encouraged to audition is creepy, not only does it add another layer of secrecy to the story, but it also reinforces the message that you never know who is at the other end of an online conversation. The two sets of events slowly begin to merge, and Ben realises that someone knows more about the murder than the police uncovered. The big question is what is their ultimate goal?
The terrifying opening and the tense conclusion keep your heart racing. I did find the middle section a little slow and confusing; however, I was determined to read on to find answers. The reader is kept in suspense for the majority of the novel as to the identities of the victim and her murderer, the Mill Killer. Shocks are in store when all is revealed, including the identity of the person manipulating the modern-day events, and the reader eventually learns about what really happened on that stormy night in 1994.
The Cut by Richard Armitage will be published on 28th August 2025 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for a review copy.
Author Details
Richard Armitage is a multi-award winning stage and screen
actor. In 2022 he penned his debut crime thriller 'Geneva'.
No comments:
Post a Comment