Catch Me When I Fall - Nicci French

Advantages: unsettling, gripping
Disadvantages: main character off her head so the reader has little sympathy for her!

Holly Krauss lives life on the edge. She's an adrenalin junkie who gets by on nervous energy and lots and lots of coffee and very little sleep. So when she goes out to a bar after work one day with her colleagues, they aren't really surprised to see her stepping into an argument between a drunk businessman and the female bartender. Initially the bully man tells her where to go, but having charmed him with her audacity, she is soon drinking with him ...
...before, leave her alone to fend for herself. Events after that are shady - Holly remembers going to a nightclub with the man, of drinking more and more and then drugs becoming involved. Memories fade but somewhere she remembers a shop window breaking and then a bed, and a man and another woman on it, and fingers fumbling with buttons, and blood in her mouth. '"This is so strange' she said. I said. "Don't stop"'. The next morning, realising what ... Read review

Advantages: Quick read, you won't want to put it down
Disadvantages: None really

Holly Krauss has everything going for her. A loving husband, a successful business which she co-owns with her best friend Meg and boundless energy to attack anything life throws at her. Admired by all and loved by many she has tremendous zest and works herself into the ground with no ill effects. She seems to thrive on a very little sleep, which would seriously harm a lesser mortal, until one night when it all comes unraveled. The book begins with ...
...she witnesses a man being exceptionally rude to the foreign barmaid who doesn't speak English very well and is very intimidated. The man is large and domineering and in a way that only Holly can, she feels she cannot tolerate the situation and has to do something about it. Afraid of nothing and no one she soon risks her own safety by challenging the man when none of the male customers will do so. The man is so surprised by her interference that ... Read review