The Beach Road

The Beach Road is the subtly threatening crime debut from Sarah Diamond. The story is about two very different girls in a secondary school in England. The first is Jane Sullivan, a lonely and in many ways odd girl who has only recently discovered her mother dead. The second is Beverly Green, a gorgeous and popular `golden girl' who keeps the strained nature of her home life secret from all her friends. The two girls are brought together when Beverly goes through a terrible experience whilst on holiday which makes her susceptible to being flattered by Jane's adoration when she comes back home.The plot is interesting and unusual and really draws you into the two girls different worlds. You can't help feeling sorry for Jane, who is the classic underdog with a bad start in life, although I found it harder to warm towards Beverly because she seemed quite nasty and snobbish at times. The writing style of the author was very good and really engrossing. The ending was quite startling and different to what you might expect. Overall The Beach Road is an entertaining read. I'd recommend it to those who like psychological thrillers and are willing to read something which does not end particularly happily. I would also urge readers to try out Sarah Diamonds next two books, Cold Town and Remember Me. I thoroughly enjoyed these two books and think she is going from strength to strength.JoAnne