The Choice - by Gillian McAllister (Paperback)

About the Book

"First published in 2018 by Penguin Books/Penguin UK under the title Anything You Do Say"--Title page verso.

Book Synopsis

From the author of the Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick Wrong Place, Wrong Time and Just Another Missing Person comes a captivating, ingenious novel about a woman who must make an impossible decision....

"A Sliding Doors thriller with a moral dilemma at its heart. Brilliant."--Claire Douglas, author of Last Seen Alive

It's the end of a night out and Joanna is walking home alone. Then she hears the sound every woman dreads: footsteps behind her, getting faster. She's sure it's him--the man from the bar who wouldn't leave her alone. So Joanna makes a snap decision. She turns, she pushes. Her pursuer tumbles down the steps and lies motionless, facedown on the ground. Now what?

Addictive and compelling, The Choice follows the two paths Joanna's future might take, depending on the choice she makes. If she calls the police right away, she can save the man's life. Yet doing so puts her own innocence at risk, as she waits for judgment on a charge of assault and the hope that her husband and everyone she loves will stand by her. But if she runs and goes home as if nothing has happened, no one will ever know. No one saw her do it, and it's only up to Joanna to keep quiet...forever.

"Almost unbearably tense."--The New York Times Book Review

Review Quotes

One of Wisconsin Public Radio's Summer Reading Picks

"The Choice, Gillian McAllister's almost unbearably tense novel, divides its narrative into alternative stories, 'Sliding Doors'-style, playing out two possible futures in one person's life. It's such a fascinating thought, how a moment can change everything....The Choice is less a conventional thriller than a morality tale, a granular exploration of secrecy and guilt--how they corrode, how they poison a psyche--in the manner of Crime and Punishment or The Tell-Tale Heart." -The New York Times Book Review

"[A] moral thought-provoker. [The Choice] seeks to give readers that glimpse of how differently a life can unfold based on one simple action (or inaction)." -Self

"The suspense of each story line is compelling in this well-written novel, but the weightier value of The Choice is in author Gillian McAllister's probing questions about morality and responsibility, questions which--like most things related to human nature--have no easy answers." --Mystery Scene

"[A] smart, ferociously paced novel...The clever, fresh structure...will keep thriller enthusiasts glued to the page as they flip by." --Booklist (starred review)

"I literally could not put this book down. This isn't a far-fetched psychological thriller; this is a deeply human novel about a split-second, life-changing decision any woman could find herself having to make. What would I do? I found myself asking, from the very first page. Razor sharp, brilliantly written, and utterly gripping. Highly recommended." --Rosie Walsh, author of Ghosted

"A terrific premise, delivered with panache." --Clare Mackintosh, author of After the End

"Assured and gripping." --Alex Marwood, author of Wicked Girls

"An addictive, exciting and devilishly clever book." --Holly Seddon, author of Try Not to Breathe

About the Author

Gillian McAllister has been writing for as long as she can remember. She graduated with an English degree before working as a lawyer. She lives in Birmingham, England, where she now writes full-time. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time and the Sunday Times bestsellers Everything But the Truth, Anything You Do Say (titled The Choice in the US), No Further Questions (titled The Good Sister in the US), The Evidence Against You, How to Disappear, and That Night. She is also the creator and co-host of the popular Honest Authors podcast.