The Memory Wood

Book excerpt: "I was pulled into The Memory Wood from the very first page—it grabs you by the throat and doesn't let you go" —Shari Lapena, #1 bestselling author of The Couple Next Door A heart-stopping, chilling thriller about an abducted girl, the boy who can save her and the terrifying cat-and-mouse game of deception and betrayal that they are playing. "If you've only just arrived . . . then why do you want to leave?" Elissa arrived in Memory Wood on the most important day of her life. The thirteen-year-old chess prodigy was competing at the English Youth Grand Prix when she was snatched, and then woke up in a makeshift cell underground. Elijah has lived beside Memory Wood for as long as he can remember. He's only twelve but he's spent his life so far exploring every inch of it, and that's how he finds Elissa. When he appears in her cell, Elissa assumes Elijah will help her; that he'll go to the police and give them the answers they desperately need. But Elijah doesn't want her to leave. As her abductor's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, Elijah's company is soon her only source of relief and Elissa realizes that this strange, lonely boy is her one hope for survival. Drawing on all her resilience and powers of logic to outwit him, their deadly game of cat and mouse, of deception and betrayal, but also their bond of friendship, will determine both their fates. . . .