by Lisa Kenway
Publisher: Transit Lounge Publishing, 2024
Publisher’s blurb
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?
Review
by Robyn Pryor
Lisa Kenway’s debut novel All You Took From Me is a riveting story about Clare, an anaesthetist, who wakes up in hospital with amnesia. She’s been injured in a car accident and her husband is dead. A desperate Clare battles to remember the events of recent months and find out what happened to them.
Set in the majestic Blue Mountains, the beauty of the Australian natural world is woven through the story. It’s written from the perspective of an anaesthetist, which made it unique and added to the excitement of the hunt for the truth. My antennae were twitching from the first page. I had to know what had happened and how Clare was going to find out. I rapidly churned through, trying to anticipate her next move. At times I gave her advice, which, thank goodness, she didn’t take.
The value of friendship and the emptiness of betrayal resonated and inserted me into the story. Clare’s friends and colleagues came alive with vivid descriptions of the hospital, her state of mind and what it’s like to lose your memory. The story development was excellent. I was in Clare’s corner rooting for her all the way through.
Lisa’s career as an anaesthetist and her fascination with memory and consciousness was pertinent for me. As a hypnotherapist, I am passionate about the inner mind and how it guides and protects us. Her explanation of the fragility of memory was both simple and intriguing. Only when she was well enough, both physically and mentally could Clare’s subconscious breadcrumb the past to her.
Clare never lost the desire to solve the mystery of her husband’s death, even when her mind and body were almost at breaking point. I loved her courage and tenacity. All the way through my mind was ticking over, trying to work out what happened to Ray and how in hell Clare was going to uncover his secrets. This book is a must read for anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers. It was packed with the exciting twists and turns I crave, infused with the fascinating worlds of anaesthesia and combat sports. I found it hard to take a break.