The Secret Within

By: Lucy Dawson

Narrated by: Sarah Lambie, Philip Stevens

Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the best-selling author of The Daughter and White Lies comes a thriller unlike anything you’ve heard before!

Julia Blythe is starting again. After blowing the whistle on a fellow surgeon at her hospital, resulting in him being let go, she found herself illegally bullied from the job by her male colleagues who closed ranks against her. No longer willing to endure their campaign of smears and intimidation, she packs her family up and moves to Devon, to start a new life in a new hospital. To Nathan Sloan, who abuses his role as a surgeon as fully and freely as he can, she couldn’t be more perfect. After all, he reasons, you can’t blow the whistle on two separate hospitals without starting to look like you’re the problem.

When Julia cannonballs into Nathan’s life, he finds that she very quickly manages to turn it upside down, and for one reason or another, he can’t get her out of his head. Pretty soon he would go to any lengths to control her, humiliate her, possess her. But Julia isn’t a woman who can be possessed, and when she discovers Nathan’s true nature, she becomes determined to expose him, no matter the cost. Nathan builds a web to snare her, and only one of them can emerge with their career and their life intact.

©2021 Lucy Dawson (P)2021 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

definitely not a must

I really liked White lies but here something felt off. without giving any spoilers it's just there's no real background explaining the behavior of one of the main characters only little clues thrown here and there but there's no consistency in in the behavior so it just didn't work for me.

Just too over the top

I have so enjoyed Lucy Dawson’s books but unfortunately this one was just too far fetched for me. I did like some of the characters especially the children and she does a good job with character development.

Gaslighting

When the gaslighting occurs, I was shocked at how clever the antagonist is in the story! I would have liked a little more “closure” at the end. All in all a good story. Good performance. I enjoy Lucy Dawson’s writing very much

Fantastic

Lucy Dawson knocks it out of the park. It's been awhile since I've read a new book by her but the wait was worth it. 5 star highly recommended book.

Not bad ... but not great

The story was reasonably enjoyable but I found the narration of the 2 main Drs extremely annoying .. I thought the style erred on comical. I nearly gave up after only 3 chapters but stuck to it and although not as enjoyable as other Lucy Dawson novels, it was OK

The plot and narrators are amazing!

This is an exciting read I would recommend to everyone! I enjoyed it so much.

Kept my interest!

I really enjoyed this book. Some stereotypes of the bad apples was a bit much for me but the book was still entertaining. Worth the credit regardless.

Absolutely a great read.

I couldn’t stop listening to this story, as it was the best listening experience I’ve had for a while. The readers did a superb job.
A must read. 👍🏼

Loved this!

I didn't think I was going to like this in the beginning but as I got into it and became familiar with the characters I found that I couldn't put it down. I'm looking forward to reading more books by Lucy Dawson. Narration was well suited to the story also.

So intriguing

Lucy Dawson is an excellent writer. As an American it is fun hearing from another perspective and she has an amazing way to write the thoughts of a woman very accurately. I’m an avid reader since I was a child and have been delighted to discover her. I will read all her books!

I had to give up!

I gave it an hour. The female narration was fine but the males! Notwithstanding the fact this may have evolved into a great book to read, I could no longer bear to listen. The first men we meet are like wicked adolescent boys merged with the old boys club. The way they talk about what they want to do, what they have the right to do to women and how wonderful they themselves are did not, for me, set up a story I would enjoy reading or listening to. Surely we’ve moved on from notches on the bedpost. I’m sure many will love it but the first hour was enough for me.

loved this book

loved this book the narrator is excellent and terrific storyline would recommend this 📚 book

Did not disappoint

Loved this book from start to finish. Kept me engrossed throughout. The characters felt real. Only negative was the voice of Hugo which irritated me. Love Lucy Dawson books

brilliant!

I really enjoy Lucy's stories...this one was as crazily far fetched as it could be real. Enjoyed learning about each character and couldn't listen quickly enough. Thankyou Lucy, I've read all of your books to date, keep them coming!!

A Hospital Story with a different.

I found it incredibly difficult to stop listening to this book.
An intriguing story line.
What made this book one of the best is the narration. Having a female and male narrator made the whole story be more compelling.

Slightly Comic

Standard domestic thriller, working mum as the lead character with drama taking place at home, at work, and at the school gates...and of course her boy goes missing (don't they all). Sadly, I rather like these.

This one was a bit over-done. The drama was far-fetched and so unbelievable it became comic. Made worse by the two narrators over-acting. It still gets a 4 from me though.

Nathan Sloan is set up in the story as the most unlikable character you could imagine. He's a surgeon at the hospital where Julia Blythe also works as a surgeon. She wants to report his mal-practice, but he's very slippery and she worries about getting a reputation as a serial whistle blower.

Enthralling

A really great book, I will certainly pick this up again.
How could a person like that live with himself, a very devious mind.
Expertly written, well done Lucy.

Mixed Reaction but Overall Good

This is the 1st Lucy Dawson book for me and won’t be my last. There was a lot I liked about it… and read it quite quickly.. but I found the male narrator bordered on irritating…especially with the Hamish voice.. he turned it into more of a farce presentation rather than a thriller! But the rest good except some of the twists and turns and actions were hard to believe!!

Kept me guessing

A book to keep you guessing right to the end a twist to make you smile

Brilliant and terrifying

I listened to this in one marathon session!
Truly gripping and very well narrated. Recommended!