Try Not to Breathe

Source: Publisher Website

Try Not to Breathe by Holly Seddon (Ballantine Books, 2016, 368pp.)

Alex, a struggling freelancer, is visiting the Neuro-Disability ward of a local hospital when she stumbles upon former media sensation Amy Stevenson. A little more than a decade ago, news channels captured the unfolding drama of then 15-year-old Amy’s kidnapping and brutal assault by an unknown assailant. Miraculously, Amy survived—but just barely. For the last 15 years, she’s been in a coma at Tunbridge Wells Royal Infirmary. Her only regular visitor is Jacob, her now-married high school sweetheart who still surreptitiously visits her bedside. Inspired by the story that haunted her own youth, Alex decides to put Amy’s story to paper, and in doing so, ends up digging up dirt that some people don’t want exposed. Narrated by multiple points of view (including the comatose Amy herself), Try Not to Breathe is a fast-paced stand-alone thriller, as well as an intriguing character-driven mystery. It will mainly appeal to fans of Paula Hawkins’ Girl on the Train, and similar mystery/thrillers.