Portobello Book Blog

Today I am sharing the prologue from Can You Keep a Secret, the latest novel by Karen Perry (the pen name of Dublin-based authors Paul Perry and Karen Gillece.) and also giving you the chance to win a paperback copy for yourself, courtesy of the publisher. Read on and if you like what you read – and I’m sure you will – don’t forget to enter the giveaway.

Can You Keep a Secret? – Prologue

Night has entered the house. Crept in like an intruder.

Outside, crows gather in the trees. Sharp beaks jab at unseen feathers.

Beyond the window, the black outline of the avenue beckons. You feel your way in the dark. The floor-boards creak. The surfaces of the room are blindly unfamiliar. The house around you feels vast, empty. Where are the others?

Your hands reach out and find the door, fumbling for the handle. You realize that you are trembling. That’s when you hear it again – a sharp crack echoing through the silence, a shot fired in the rooms below. This time you are sure. Your breathing snags in your chest. Blood pounds in your ears. You try to be still, struggling to listen.

The dark pushes up against you, thick and oppressive. The crows in the trees cease their flutter and call.

Someone is on the stairs.

Panic grips you by the throat. You take a step back- wards. On the floor about your feet, the pictures lie scattered. The footfall is drawing closer.

You stare hard at the door as it opens, straining for a chink of light, but there is no familiar silhouette. Night has crept into the hallway.

You say a name, but there is no answer.

You hear the shallow breathing approach and the knowledge plunges through you like a dead weight. You know – you are sure of it: you should not have come back to this house. A reckless decision. Ill conceived, ill-judged, and – you are certain of it now – fatal.

 

Creepy isn’t it? To enter the giveaway, click the link below. You can enter up to midnight on Thursday 30th November and I will contact the winner within 24 hours. UK entries only please.

Click here for your chance to win

Can You Keep a Secret is available now as an ebook and the paperback will be published by Penguin on 30th November. You can order a copy online here: Can You Keep a Secret

From the back of the book

It’s time for a reunion

Lindsey hasn’t spoken to Rachael in twenty years, not since her brother’s 18th birthday party at their parents’ remote country house.

A night that shattered so many friendships – and left Rachel’s father dead.

Now Thornbury Hall is up for sale, and the old gang are back there, together again.

A weekend to say goodbye to the old place, to talk about the past.

But twenty years of secrets aren’t given up lightly. Some won’t speak about what happened that night.

While others want to ensure that no one does.

Surviving the weekend is going to depend on whether you can keep a secret . . .

 

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