Trust in Me by Luca Veste

Trust in Me Reviews

• 
  Ceecee

  Sara has a comfortable life in the north-eastern United States, a good job as a counsellor, a loving successful husband and two children she adores. However, this life is a million miles away from her troubled past in the United Kingdom. This seems tucked away firmly in its sealed box, that is until she has a new client. As Ella tells her story, Sara gets a distinct sense of familiarity, a sort of déjà vu, and though Sarah does her best to deflect Ella, to throw her off, it’s clear, she’s actually telling Sara’s story. Who is Ella? How can she possibly know about Sara‘s past? One thing is for certain, Sara will do anything to protect what she has. This is a tale of dark secrets, of a life spiralling so far out of control it’s almost in orbit.
  
  The start of this psychological mystery/thriller between Sara and Ella is utterly gripping and beyond tense. Sara’s fear almost bounces off the pages and it sure sets off a chain reaction. It leads to so many questions in your head which little by little get their answers. The pace rises and falls giving you some much needed breathing space as Sara tries to process what is going on in her rapidly imploding life. A suspenseful cat/mouse game ensues and some scenes are high octane. It’s dramatic, there are some very exciting encounters where you almost hold your breath and it’s very entertaining in a suspend your disbelief kind of a way. It does get a bit convoluted but I cannot deny there are plenty of twists that make your head spin and keep you reading on! One element of the endgame is not a total surprise, because quite simply it has to be. Just goes to show you can rarely “trust in me”.
  
  Do I buy at all? Probably not, but it’s a very diverting read with truly awful characters who deserve all they get and that certainly keeps you glued to the pages.
  
  With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
• 
  Annette

  For a book that barely contain one likeable character, this was a quick and compelling read which I whizzed through in a couple of days.
  I’ve read other books by this author and he certainly knows how to spin a good yarn-this book was no exception to that rule!
  Sara is a therapist, married to Jack for 15 years with two young children. She is English but now living with her American husband in the US.
  When a patient enters her office one day and tells her a story about a terrible deed from her past, Sara knows she has a problem. Ella, the patient is actually describing something she herself did, many years earlier.
  As the book progresses, Sara begins to panic at what Ella knows although she cannot trace her. Sara’s perfect life starts to spiral out of control and she realises that she has a lot to lose.
  I didn’t much like Sara, she’s done a terrible thing but compartmentalised it and gotten on with her life. Although she obviously feels remorse and has chosen a caring career as a counsellor, it doesn’t negate the fact that she’s behaved appallingly.
  I did feel some sympathy for her in the course of the novel but ultimately felt she deserved everything she got.
  However most of the other characters were not pleasant with apart from her young children and one of her other patients who only had a minor role in the plot.
  Definitely not a pleasant read but it was difficult to put down and I raced through it at top speed. I just wish there had bend one nice person in the book!!!
  If you like dark psychological thrillers with several twists you will enjoy this.
  Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my advance copy.
• 
  Ⓢ Ⓨ

  As Sara comes face to face with someone who discovers her secret, just how far will she go to protect herself and her family? Who is this woman she has never met before, and how does she know she killed a man?
  
  This is a well written psychological thriller that will keep you guessing. A solid 4 stars, only dropping a star because I found the middle just a little slow for me. However, the last 10% was brutal! Some utterly jaw dropping WTF moments had me turning the pages quicker than my heart was racing! This book certainly got my adrenaline pumping, and I felt like I was right there with Sara, fighting alongside her.
  
  Three words to describe this book… EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.
  
  Will definitely be reading more from Luca Veste. Massive thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for my advanced copy.
• 
  Sue

  TRUST IN ME is a psychological thriller by bestselling author Luca Veste. This novel will grip you from the first page.
  
  His Standalone Novels Include:
  
  The Silence (2019)
  aka The Six
  The Game (2020)
  You Never Said Goodbye (2022)
  Trust in Me (2023)
  
  This is my review of Trust in Me.
  
  “My patient just confessed to the murder I committed.”
  
  Sara had it all…She had been brought up in a small village in England, but had moved to the big city, gone to university, moved to USA, got married to Jack, and now has a comfortable home and two children, Olivia and J.J. Sara is a therapist and trauma counsellor.
  
  But her entire life has been built on a lie. She had now lived in the USA for more than fifteen years. She needed to confess to Jack about her past.
  
  Then one day, a new client, Ella, comes into the office to meet with Sara, and confesses to a crime that Sara knows all too well - because it's the one Sara committed many years earlier.
  
  Who is this person and how do they know about Sara's past? Sara is afraid that Ella will tell someone else. Sara must keep her secret and her family safe.
  
  This story is told by Sara, allocating between past and present.
  
  Trust In Me is a fast-paced read, that will grip you from beginning to the end.
  
  Many thank to the author and The Book Club Reviewer Request Group (FB), and NetGalley for my digital copy.
  
• 
  Susan Atkin

  I like my thrillers with more depth and a realistic plot. This wasn't badly written but you could easily work out what was happening, and it was hard to believe. Reminded me if one of those 80's Murder, Mystery and Suspense or "straight to video" films.
• 
  Jodi

  Successful therapist, happily married and devoted mother of two. Sara has the perfect life. That is until her next client walks in and confesses to a crime that Sara knows she can't have committed as Sara is the one who did. Moved on and the crime firmly in her past Sara thought she had got away with it but her past has finally caught up with here. How does this patient know what happened and how far is Sara willing to go to stop her from telling all?
  
  Although I thoroughly enjoyed this, the twists, turns and secrets I couldn't seem to 'like' any of the characters which is why I gave it four instead of five stars. Even the bad gone good and the protagonist Sara even though you could physically feel her rage.
  
  I would still recommend as a fast paced page turner and great read.
• 
  Jen

  I do like a Luca Veste novel. He knows how to draw me in and hold my attention, right from the start of the book. That was certainly the case when it came to Trust In Me, a book which seeks to deceive and misdirect at every turn. No matter what you think you know is happening, and, to a degree, the why of the book is pretty much explained very early on, be prepared to be surprised. This is not as straight forward as you might believe, just the way I like it.|
  
  Now I have a very mixed history when it comes to psychological thrillers. I don't like the way in which characters, who know quite well what they have done wrong and why they are being targeted, think cryptically about said problem until somewhere around the 60% mark of a book. No-one does that. If we have sinned in such a way that it is payback time, we automatically equate that in our heads and start obsessing about it (not that I would know from experience - this is how I expect I would behave 😬) That is totally not the case in this book, where the protagonist, Sara's, sins are spelled out very early on. I say her sins but it is largely guilt by association and a very bad thing from her past is now coming to bite her on the arse - really hard. So we know the why. We also, mostly, know the who. It is the timing and the connection between who and why that is missing - a much more believable scenario for me. That mystery is what kept me reading, kept me invested in Sara's story, as much as the characters themselves.
  
  Luca Veste is an adept storyteller. the pacing and rhythm of this book was spot on. Moments of quiet reflection when Sara took us back to the past, to the fateful night that has led to her current woes, but also moments of real jeopardy where the tension is high and the edge of the seat fear factor nearly off the charts. Whilst there is a strong air of intimidation, Sara's resilience and defiance really had me rooting for her, in spite of her past mistakes. The author has made her strangely sympathetic, maybe because of her current circumstances, and despite that fact that we know she is not entirely innocent, I wanted to see her come good. In fact, as I have come to expect from this author, the book is packed with authentic characters who we could love and hate in equal measure, some of whom managed to surprise me by their behaviour. As a therapist, Sara is used to getting to the bottom of people's fears and what is motivating them, and this is reflected perfectly in the way in which Luca Veste has created the characters on the page.
  
  You would be forgiven for thinking that having so much of the facts of the story laid out early on would spoil the edginess or the mystery of this book. You would be wrong. There are many layers to this book, secrets being kept and a wonderful use of misdirection to keep us all guessing. There are many shock reveals after the author has led us through a succession of potential suspects for Sara's trauma, and towards the end of the book the stakes are raised even higher with the outlook seeming inescapably bleak.
  
  The author still has some aces up his sleeve though, and it is with a wry smile that I read the closing chapters of the book. It just hit the spot for me, that mix of mystery, action, tension and brilliant characterisation that I love in my reads. If you love the author's standalone thrillers, you are really going to enjoy this one.
• 
  Lisa Toner

  While the storyline to this novel sounds promising, unfortunately I found the book poorly-written and predictable, while at the same time being overly-convoluted in spots. I figured out the ending at about two-thirds of the way through, if memory serves. On the plus side, it was compelling enough for me to finish it.
• 
  Anne Fox

  DNF
• 
  Mary Picken

  Oh I do love a psychological thriller and Trust in Me is a cracker! Luca Veste uses all his psychology skills to produce a compelling portrait of a woman who will do anything to keep her family safe. From the outset we know that Sara is holding onto a huge secret; one that if revealed, could threaten everything she has worked so hard to achieve.
  
  She’s married to Jack a successful American financier, has two wonderful children, a dream house and she has a fulfilling career as a psychological therapist. It’s a lifetime away from the young English woman who had so many reasons to escape her past.
  
  While most things in Sara’s garden are rosy, she worries about Jack who is working long hours and she’s never really bonded with Jack’s sister, Stephanie, who looks after the kids when they’re out of school and Sara is working. Other than that though, she and Jack are happy and have everything they ever wanted.
  
  Everything changes though, when a new client comes to the Sara’s practice, specifically asking to see Sara for a therapy session. Elle is a composed young woman and as she starts to tell Sara her story, Sara finds it very hard to believe what she is hearing, because Elle is narrating, almost word for word, the story that Sara has been keeping secret all these years. There’s no doubt about it – so who is Elle, what does she want and how did she know?
  
  Trust In Me is told at a great pace which keeps the reader involved and on a bit of a rollercoaster as events unfurl with speed.
  
  One of the great things about the way that Luca Veste has written this book is that as you learn more about both what went before and Sara’s actions now, you find yourself constantly questioning your feelings about Sara. She is obviously scared and clearly she adores her kids, but is her attempt to atone for her past sufficient to overcome the harm that she has done?
  
  She is a very relatable character and as things progress she is put under ever increasing pressure her façade of the gentle loving mother and therapist does seem to start to crack.
  
  Because you know where Sara’s guilt comes from, the threat emanating from Elle is very real and you really feel for Sara as she basically freaks out and puts her career in jeopardy. But Sara is stronger than she looks and she’s not prepared to be intimidated. She will fight tooth and nail for her family.
  
  Luca Veste is adept at getting you to invest in his characters; he’s also plotted a course with this book that keeps you on your toes. There’s twists and misdirection that make you change your mind about what’s going on all the time. I love that kind of a read – one where the characters surprise you and challenge your perceptions of them.
  
  Verdict: Great characters and a brilliantly twisty plot set around secrets and lies with many emotional highs and thrilling moments that keep the reader guessing all the way to the very end.
• 
  UKDana

  Sara is a happily married mother of two children. Her hectic life revolves around her family and her job as a therapist. Her first session with a new client becomes a nightmare situation when the woman claims that along with her boyfriend, she murdered a man and hid the body. Every detail fits the secret Sara has been hiding for 18 years.
  
  I found Trust In Me by Luca Veste to be an intriguing read. The opening pages hint at a huge secret, this then jumps to a family situation, a scene where there is obviously an undercurrent of tension. We very quickly learn that hidden away in the house is a dead body. The story then switches to days before the scene with the body and we learn about Sara Edwards and her day-to-day life.
  
  Sara is a typical flustered working mother; she's the one that makes sure the family is fed, watered and packed off to school/work each morning before rushing off to work herself. Sara comes across as a little disorganised and always in a rush, however, it's obvious that she loves her family deeply and will always put them first.
  
  The story becomes very intriguing when Sara accepts a new client, Ella. In the first session Ella is suffering from anxiety because of something she has done, a crime she has committed. Sara eventually persuades her client to tell her all the details. Ella then explains that when she was with her boyfriend they lay in wait for a young man and beat him to death then hid the body. As Sara listens she realises that the description fits with exactly what she did 18 years before. Sara has kept this secret and wonders how a woman who is only about 25 years years old can know.
  
  At the end of the consultation, Ella disappears. Recovering from a state of shock. Sara realises she has to track the young woman down to find out how she has discovered Sara's secret and what she wants. As Sara discovers that the details Ella has provided are fake you can feel her turmoil. She is torn between survival or finally admitting what she has done. Self-preservation for herself and her family is the overriding feeling.
  
  I had a pretty good idea of who was responsible about a third of the way in, then changed my mind following some of the interactions. I then kept chopping and changing my mind the more I read; this indecisiveness continued for almost the rest of the book.
  
  By the end the story has come full-circle and the conclusion shows the formidable character Sara is when her family is threatened. We also learn how manipulative people can be to get what they want.
  
  If you enjoyed my review please check out my book blog, Reading For Leisure
  
  https://readingforleisure.blogspot.com/
  
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  @Debbie_Hart_UK
  
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• 
  Elli (Kindig Blog)

  As a therapist you meet all kinds of people and hear all kinds of stories, but when Sara hears a new patient confess to a murder, the details sound a little too familiar…
  
  Trust In Me is a cat and mouse thriller of Sara, who has a murder hidden in her past, and Ella who seems hellbent on getting Sara to admit it. I really enjoyed the beginning of the novel, the tense scenes in the psychologist office as Ella is telling Sara’s story word for word. However, as the novel goes on it starts to get more and more convoluted and you have to suspend your disbelief in a lot of places.
  
  The novel is mainly told from the perspective of Sara, who isn’t really much of a likeable character. She makes some silly decisions and has a tendency towards violence which makes you wonder if she might be an unreliable narrator. The plot only really works if you are rooting for Sara and I’m afraid I wasn’t. There aren’t a lot of other characters to be onside with either which might be why I wasn’t as engaged with it as I could be. Sara doesn’t like sister-in-law Stephanie, so we don’t either, Ella is shady and her husband Jack seems aloof and distant. There are also chapters from the perspective of two hitmen who have been hired into this mess as well. I didn’t really understand why these perspectives were included, they did little to advance the plot and I found myself wanting to skim past them.
  
  The book dragged a little in the middle and there were some repetitive phrases used throughout which didn’t help the pace. I didn’t initially guess the main twist but the ending is very rushed and didn’t feel realistic at all with a lot of smaller ‘twists’ and misdirection.
  
  Overall, Trust in Me is a cat and mouse thriller but has rather an unrealistic conclusion and unlikeable characters which hampered my enjoyment. Thank you to NetGalley & Hodder & Stoughton for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
  
  For more reviews check out
  www.kindig.co.uk
• 
  Kath

  I have a chequered history with this author but, although I did have to suspend belief a tad along the way, I did quite enjoy this, his latest offering.
  We start with Sara who has a pretty solid life. A good marriage, loving husband and a couple of children make up her private life. Her professional one is as a counsellor with a well respected and thriving practice. Until the day she welcomes a new patient, Ella. A patient that will tell her a story. A familiar story. Her own story. And it isn't a good one. How in the heck could Ella know what happened all those years ago. How could she know the secret that Sara has been hiding. But she does. And the more Ella says, the more details she gives, the more scared Sara becomes... And then Ella runs out of the consulting room and disappears...
  And so begins a bit of a cat and mouse chain reaction of events that has Sara running around trying to track down Ella, to find out what exactly she knows and why, and how, she knows it and, more importantly, what she, or whoever, wants. Before her life comes crashing down around her.
  I've already said I had to suspend belief a tad along the way. I also rolled my eyes on occasion. But, all that said, I did have a lot of fun along the way too. It does all get a bit convoluted and interconnected so you do have to have your wits about you throughout. And there are definitely plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing.
  Characters are a bit hit and miss for me but I think you are not really supposed to like them and that's OK. It also means that they thoroughly deserve all that the author throws at them along the way!
  And the ending, when it eventually came was worth the effort and satisfying, if a little eye-rolly! My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
• 
  Lynda

  I really enjoyed this. A complex psychological thriller centred around Sara a British woman who moved to the USA with wealthy Jack, who she subsequently married and had two children. She is now working as a therapist and they live a very comfortable life. Told largely from Sara’s POV, who is at best an unreliable narrator, and not the most likeable of people. To be fair the whole book is littered with unlikeable characters! The book starts with Sara and then boyfriend Dan killing someone and disposing of the body. Well written and well constructed this is a pretty fast paced novel apart from a section near the middle where I found it a bit slow going but it soon moved up apace with a thrilling and quite shocking ending.
  
  Briefly, when Sara has a new client, Ella, she is shocked when the client confesses to murder, because her confession is virtually a description of the events of the murder Sara was involved with. Sara has to decide what to do next as there are clearly going to be consequences.
  
  You need to suspend belief at some of the goings on in the story, particularly when two hired ‘thugs’ join the plot, but it’s fiction, it’s ok if it’s a bit far fetched! It was a good enjoyable read with a few red herrings, a few twists, including one pretty huge one. Very cat and mouse with Sara chasing Elle and everyone chasing Sara and throw another client of Sara’s who happens to be a police detective and it almost becomes a bit of a Brian Rix type farce. Personally, I thought it was a really good entertaining read.
  4.5⭐️
• 
  Teresa Nikolic

  Sara, a therapist, is now happily married to Jack, with two children and living an affluent life in the US, a world away from her old life in the UK where secrets are buried and she's happy for them to stay that way, until a new client, Ella confesses to a crime that is far too close to home for Sara's liking, because the crime that she has just confessed to is Sara's, how could she know what happened all those years ago, thousands of miles away and what will Sara do to keep her secret and her family safe?
  
  Trust in Me is complex thriller told mainly from Sara's perspective, across a dual timeline of before and after. This is an intense read with some very dubious characters, Sara included and, regardless of the book title, I didn't feel that any of them could be trusted. It's a fast paced read with some intriguing twists that kept me invested in this sometimes far fetched tale and, although I guessed who was behind the drama this didn't, in any way, detract from my enjoyment of the story. It's a well crafted cat and mouse tale of suspense and intrigue which is definitely worth reading.
• 
  Hannah

  Sara is a therapist who leads a lavish lifestyle in America. Suddenly Ella turns up and at her practice and tells a terrible story that sounds very familiar; it sounds like her own story. Sara needs to find out how Ella can know so much about what happened all those years ago and how she can keep her secret safe.
  
  This was a compelling read with plenty of twists and turns. The story slowly builds up suspense, with some action packed scenes. Although I enjoyed the premise of the plot and the writing style, I did find that it took me quite a long while to get into the story and found it dragged somewhat in the middle. The main character I found quite unlikeable so I never felt as though I was rooting for her and it does end up needing some suspension of belief. Overall this is definitely an entertaining, thrilling read once the story gets going. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this copy in return for an honest review.
• 
  Pam Fox

  Trust in me by Luca Veste is another great, fast paced and twisty stand alone thriller from one of my favourite authors.
  Sara is a Brit living in the US, working as a counselor and one day her patient starts opening up and confessing to a terrible crime. As Sara listens she becomes more and more shocked as Ella describes a crime she knows only too well. Can this really be a coincidence or does Ella know more than she's saying? The appointment with Ella starts a series of events which become scarier and more twisty by the minute. Sara's life that she's made is in danger of collapsing but how? Who's behind it all?
  I admit to working out some of the twists but no way did I come close to unwinding it all. If you like a book to keep you guessing then this is definitely for you. Written with Luca's usual skill and twisty mind Trust in Me is another book which should jump to the top of your 'to be read' pile.
  An easy 5 stars from me.
• 
  Sharon Valler

  A fascinating premise and I was really drawn in from the very start as Sara comes face to face with a client who appears to be confessing to a crime that Sara knows she herself actually committed, years ago.
  
  Overall an enjoyable read, but I did find the middle far too long and slow. Some great twists though, once the pace picked up towards the end and the ending was intense!
  
  There is one recurring characteristic in the book that really irritated me, and that was Sara’s constant correction, in her own head, whenever she used an English word, rather than the Americanised version. She is English and living in America, so I get why she would use words like “garbage”, for example, when talking to Americans, but in her own head, she does not need to constantly correct every English word she uses! They are correct English, after all!
  
  3 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Luca Veste and Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC in return for an honest review.
• 
  Janaya Kabamba

  I was really captivated by the premise and couldn't wait to get started but the book wasn't as engaging as I'd hoped. The plot definitely didn't go the way I was expecting and resulted in more of a cat and mouse rather than a thriller. It leans heavily into the fiction element of things but if you don't ask too many questions and take it all at face value then it was quite a good read.
  
  From the premise, I expected a story about someone admitting to a murder and believing they were responsible, not realising this other person actually was....... but its more just someone knows the main character got away with a murder and so they bring it up to her as if they did it to wind her up basically..... and she spends the rest if the book trying to figure out who knows her secret and why they're tormenting her with it. Stilla good premise but not the one I was expecting
• 
  Julie Lacey

  This is a great psychological thriller.
  Sara is a therapist and when a client tells her what is causing her problems, Sara is shocked to hear her speak about something she did when she was younger.
  Sara is confused by her client but as she runs off straight after the session, she’s not sure what to do.
  She tells her husband, who is aware of her past, and he tries to reassure her. Soon a man and a woman break into their home and for Sara, they have crossed the line as her children were upstairs.
  Events take a few twists and turns and the whole situation comes to a nail biting face off.
  I guessed some of the aspects of the story but this did not spoil it for me.
  This is a gripping thriller that I really enjoyed.
  Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
• 
  Helen Frost

  This was really good. A good balance of absolutely not knowing what was going on or going to happen but desperately needing to know with guessing a few of the twists and being smug about that but not seeing all the other twists coming. The premise was original and interesting and I loved the therapist angle and karma in balancing out doing lots of good with having had done something bad. There was plenty of food for thought around what anyone used be capable of in the face of adversity and with children involved etc and questions about what is inherently good and evil. The old favourite having done something bad in your past and it coming back to bite you hard and unravel your present doesn’t really get tired in this instance as there are plenty of clever threads to the storyline. Compelling and very readable I’d definitely look this author up for future reads. Recommend.
• 
  Livia

  Sara is a therapist and trauma counsellor , married to Jack with two beautiful children , her life in the USA is a world away from the life she once lived in the UK ...But when Sara meets with a new patient, as she gets the young woman to gently open up to her , she is filled with a sense of unease ..as the story the woman tells her is a story she knows by heart ..her own ..So who is this woman, and how can a complete stranger possibly know about Sara's past ? Told through the eyes of Sara ..with flashbacks to the past ...Trust in Me is one of those stories that keeps the reader hooked ..Dark devious characters..and so much misdirection...Trust me this is a fast Paced brilliant read . that will keep you on the edge of your seat ..Dark Stunning Storytelling ..Brilliant ..