#bookreview The Girl Behind The Lens by Tanya Farrelly @tanyafarrelly

‘Where every word’s a lie

A picture is worth a thousand’

The Girl Behind The Lens is a new release from Irish Writer Tanya Farrelly, published by Killer Reads (Harper Collins). The ebook was released on 28th October and paperback is due for release in December (2016).

I received my copy via NetGalley after a request from writing.ie if I would read and review the book for them.

Billed as a ‘Dark Psychological Thriller’  and for fans of Girl on The Train, I was intrigued to see what it’s pages unfolded….

Please read on for my thoughts….

Book Blurb:

Photography student Joanna Lacey has always been close to her mother. But when Rachel Arnold turns up on their doorstep telling them that a man’s body has been found in the canal, Joanna’s world falls apart. The father she never knew was a married man – and now he’s dead.

At the funeral, Joanna meets Oliver Molloy, the man who found the body. She’s convinced her mother is still keeping things from her and turns to him for help. Never one to say no to a pretty face, Oliver is happy to oblige.

But Oliver is concealing a dark secret of his own, and Joanna soon starts to suspect that something isn’t right. Can she uncover the truth before the past destroys them both?

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

Oliver Molloy makes a grim discovery one morning when he sees a body frozen in the waters of the Dublin Canal. He informs the police, as he feels it is his civic duty and we slowly become introduced to Oliver’s life and ways.

Oliver is a lawyer, not a particularly busy one, whose life is a mess. He is hiding a secret that is slowly unveiled as the book progresses, a secret that will destroy the comfortable life he has made for himself. The last thing Oliver wants is to attract the attention of the police.

In the meantime Joanna Lacey, a photography student in her twenties, lives at home with her mother totally unaware of the full truth of her own background. Her mother has kept many secrets from her but Joanna’s life is about to change forever.

An unexpected visitor comes knocking on their door late at night. It is a woman called Rachel Arnold. Her husband has been identified as the body found in the canal. Joanna is shocked to discover that this man, sports journalist Vincent Arnold, is her real father.

Joanna, upset and distressed by this discovery, searches for the truth and in doing so becomes unwittingly tangled up in a web of deceit and lies.

Oliver Molloy and Joanna become acquainted as Joanna’s search for the true facts about her father continues. She finds herself becoming dependant on a man who is not all he seems.

Oliver Molloy is a difficult character to pin down. Initially, he is portrayed as having a gentle and helpful personality. He is rather unassuming and seems genuinely infatuated with Joanna. She is younger than him and is obviously attracted to him too.

But ….theirs is a relationship that is very much one way. Oliver Molloy is a manipulator. Under his calm persona is a rather twisted individual who appears to be unwilling to accept the truth of what he has become. Convinced he is the victim somehow, he twists words and facts to suit his situation at any given time.

Now I’m going to be honest here and say that I did find some of the story a little too far fetched. The reality of certain incidents happening is a little unlikely in my view. I was also hoping for a little more of the story to be tied in with Joanna’s photography as that is what the title lends itself to.

Overall, The Girl Behind The Lens is an easy read. I would be inclined to categorize it under suspense as opposed to thriller.as it wasn’t one of those books where my heart was in my mouth. There are parts of the story for me that were more Gone Girl than Girl on The Train but you will just have to read the book yourself to find out…..

Purchase Link: The Girls Behind The Lens

Who is Tanya Farrelly:

Tanya Farrelly works as an English Language teacher, and facilitates Creative Writing classes for South Dublin County Council. Her stories have won prizes and been shortlisted in such competitions as the Hennessy Awards, the RTE Francis MacManus Awards, and the Fish International short story competition.

Runner-up in the William Trevor International Short Story Competition in both 2008 and 2009, her stories have appeared in literary journals such as the Cuirt Annual and Crannog magazine. She has also reads her work on RTE’s Sunday Miscellany.

In 2013, she completed a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing at Bangor University, Wales. Tanya’s debut collection When Black Dogs Sing was released with Arlen House earlier in 2016.

Her latest novel The Girl Behind The Lens was released in ebook format on 28th of October 2016 and in paperback in Dec 2016.

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