'There's something delicious about not being known, don't you think?' Brenda Bouverie has come on a singles holiday to Turkey to escape. Intent on indulgence, she's looking for sun, sea and ... distraction from a past she would give anything to change.
But on this singles holiday no one is quite who they seem. First impressions are unreliable and when the sun goes down, danger lies in wait. As someone targets the unwary group of strangers, one guest is alone in sensing the threat.
But who would get involved, when getting involved only ever leads to trouble?
Singled Out subverts the sunshine holiday romance, taking readers to a darker place where horrific exploits come to light, past mistakes must be accounted for and there are few happily-ever-afters.
A simmering psychological suspense laced with moral ambiguities, for fans of Louise Doughty, Sabine Durrant, Gillian Flynn, Elizabeth Haynes, S.J. Watson and Lucie Whitehouse.
Everyone brings baggage on a singles holiday - a taste of Singled Out:
... It's never been the ones who flirt with him who interest him; it's the ones who don't. They're in awe of him; they understand their lack of status. Whatever, the result is captivating - a reticent glance here, a half-smile there, a quiet sublimation into the background. He lusts after their shy restraint, almost without control.
... She reached into her bag and drew out the letter. The envelope was worn, the contents familiar. She knew what would follow but the pull it exerted was too strong. She read from beginning to end; her punishment, an act of contrition, the price for stealing a night of freedom.
... He felt the blood draining from his forehead. In the flaming midday heat, a chill rattled his spine. He wanted to die. Right here, right now. But of course, it got worse.
... What did she know? What facts did she have, to back up the slivers of circumstantial evidence and the prickling ache in her gut?
... 'You don't know if I spiked it.' He smiled. 'Are you going under? Do you think?'
... 'Why couldn't you stay out of it? You ruined... everything.'
