I'm Thinking of Ending Things By Iain Reid

Iain Reid is the author of two award winning non-fiction titles. (I really enjoyed One Bird's Choice - my review) I'm Thinking of Ending Things is his fiction debut.

Rather than try to paraphrase the plot, I'm simply going to quote from the publisher....

"You will be scared. But you won't know why....

In this deeply suspenseful and irresistibly unnerving debut novel, a man and is girlfriend are on their way to a secluded farm. What follows is a twisted unraveling and an unforgettable ending that will haunt you long after the last page is turned."

True, true, true! Oh, this was such an unsettling, disturbing, addicting little read. (I literally read it straight through in one sitting - it's 224 pages)

Jake and his unnamed girlfriend are travelling in the car. There seems to be a serious disconnect between the two looking in from the outside. Jake is quiet, intellectual, but a bit off in some way. The girlfriend is torn - they have been happy, maybe they still could be, but maybe it's just not working. She's thinking of ending things.

"I’m thinking of ending things. Once this thought arrives, it stays. It sticks. It lingers. It’s always there. Always."

There's some weird stuff in her own life, a stranger that keeps phoning her over and over with the same message. Things get odder when they reach their destination and downright terrifying when they leave. My thoughts and feelings about each character changed many times over the course of the book.

Interspersed are comments after a death takes place. No name is ever uttered, but there are clues in these remarks.

I kept turning pages, getting closer to the end, but not feeling sure of anything that was happening. I was frightened, horrified and quite shocked and surprised by the time I read the last pages. Enough so, that I had to go back to the beginning and take a second look at how Reid adroitly manipulated me. A second read is not out of the question, now that I know what I know. Events, actions, thoughts and dialogue would take on a whole different tenor. Read an excerpt of I'm Thinking of Ending Things.

You can connect with Iain Reid on his Website and follow him on Twitter.