The next book to be featured on the Radio 2 Book Club with Steve Wright will be Wrong Place, Wrong Time, the smart and gripping new novel from best-selling author Gillian McAllister. The book was released on 12 May and Gillian will be on the show with Steve on Thursday 23 June.
Not yet a member of Reading Groups for Everyone? Sign up now.
We have an exclusive extract available for you to read.
Wrong Place, Wrong Time
Can you stop a murder after it’s already happened?
It’s every parent’s nightmare.
Your happy, funny, innocent son commits a terrible crime: murdering a complete stranger.
You don’t know who. You don’t know why. You only know your teenage boy is in custody and his future lost.
That night you fall asleep in despair. Until you wake…
…and it is yesterday.
Every morning you wake up a day earlier, another day before the murder. Another chance to stop it.
Somewhere in the past lie the answers, and you don’t have a choice but to find them…
Selection panel review
The book was selected with the help of a panel of library staff from across the UK. Our readers loved Wrong Place, Wrong Time – here are some of their comments:
“Stunned by witnessing her son commit murder, Jen finds herself waking each morning on an earlier date, reeling back through time as she tries to discover the reasons for her son’s actions. I was thoroughly gripped by this page-turning thriller. With a clever premise and deft, carefully-constructed plotting, the author renders the incredible completely believable. The characters are well-drawn, relatable and highlight how, even in happy families, we cannot know everything about our loved ones. The reader picks up clues alongside Jen and wonders, with her, about whether she really knows the people in her life. Jen’s reactions and emotions as she re-lives past days are beautifully expressed; we can imagine how it feels to see long-gone events in a new light. Clues and red herrings are woven throughout the novel and there are a couple of twists that actually made me gasp. Drawing to a satisfying conclusion, this is a smart, compelling read that I thoroughly enjoyed.”
“Fantastic fast-paced story about a mother who experiences ‘hysterical strength’ in order to save her son. Jen inexplicably travels back in time, in a time loop experiencing déjà vu and trying to solve the mystery of why her son would inexplicably stab someone outside their house. It explores themes of parent/child relationships, the fast pace of life and whether we actually take time to engage and enjoy our lives, trust and the power of love. Highly compelling and enjoyable.”
“I was thoroughly absorbed in this book from the first chapter onwards, and the writer took me through the twists and turns with consummate story-telling and descriptive powers. The shock of the premise sucked me in, and I thoroughly enjoyed the misdirection throughout the chapters, and then the unfolding of the plot towards its conclusion. The characters were engaging throughout too. The use of the present tense throughout has irritated me in other novels, but it felt right here, adding to the feeling of immediacy and pace. Interesting characters, moral dilemmas, and questions galore. I gorged on this book, reading it in only a couple of sittings, which is a testament to the power of the book. A stunner.”
About the author
Gillian McAllister has been writing for as long as she can remember. She graduated with an English degree before working as a lawyer. She lives in Birmingham, where she now writes full-time. She is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Everything But the Truth, Anything You Do Say, No Further Questions, The Evidence Against You, How To Disappear and That Night. She is also the creator and co-host of the popular Honest Authors podcast.
Get involved
Tune in to the Steve Wright show on Thursday 23 June to hear a live interview with Gillian.
Have you read Wrong Place, Wrong Time? You can share your thoughts with us on Twitter using #R2BookClub and you can also follow Gillian.
Planning to buy Wrong Place, Wrong Time for your book group? Buy books from Hive or from Bookshop.org and support The Reading Agency and local bookshops at no extra cost to you.
Want to make sure you get the latest news? Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
You can join the Radio 2 Book Club Facebook group
