One By One: Before, During and After by Simon Kernick

BEFORE

The first part in a direct to digital short-story in a murder mystery three-part thriller from the bestselling author of Ultimatum, Stay Alive and The Final Minute.

Six ex school-friends have been brought together on a remote island.

They haven’t all been in contact since a fateful night twenty-one years ago, when their friend Rachel Skinner was found dead. The man arrested for her murder has now been acquitted, and the seven friends are fearing for their lives.

But are they hiding from the right person? Or have they fallen into a deadly trap?

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The opener to the 3 part series sets the scene and introduces the characters as they make their way to the island. Straight away you get a sense that something is not quite right - everyone has been told to keep their trip to the island a secret so you just know things aren’t going to work out well for some or all of them.

Charlie - an up and coming politician.
Karen - an unhappy woman who seems to have lost all she holds dear.
Marla - a high powered businesswoman who uses her sexuality and good looks to get what she wants.
Luke - young, free and single and enjoying his bachelor lifestyle.
Louise - a very happy housewife.
Crispin - a not very successful author who lives with his mum.

Once past the Prologue, the story is told from the point of view of Karen and she provides us with the reasons why they have come together - the official story and an indication that this isn’t the whole truth of what happened to their friend, Rachel, over 20 years ago.

Despite this being quite short (around 30 pages on the Kindle), Simon is able to draw you into the story and just when things start to get interesting, it ends on a cliffhanger and leaves you rushing for the “buy now” button for the next part.

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DURING

The second part in a direct to digital short-story in a murder mystery three-part thriller from the bestselling author of Ultimatum, Stay Alive and The Final Minute.

Six ex school-friends met together on a remote island being stalked by an unseen killer, and unable to contact help.

But who is after them and why?

As the body count mounts, it becomes clear that at least one member of the group can’t be trusted.

And the surviving members need to figure out who it is before it’s too late.

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This 2nd part to the 3 part series moves at a faster pace than “Before” and follows the friends on the island as they start to be whittled down in number but who is the murderer and how are they going to get off the island?

The story continues to be narrated by Karen and Simon Kernick expertly uses her voice to portray the fear she is experiencing whilst trying to work out which one of them is the killer whilst dropping vague clues and red herrings to us, the readers but then, just when you think you know who it is, a twist throws a spanner into the works and starts you guessing again.

Again this is a fairly short part (about 35 pages on the Kindle) but is packed with a lot of action and scenes of peril and, once again, ends on a cliffhanger which makes you want to get the 3rd part to find out what happens

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AFTER

The final part in a direct to digital short-story in a murder mystery three-part thriller from the bestselling author of Ultimatum, Stay Alive and The Final Minute.

Six people met together on a remote island and with a killer on the loose, only four remain.

Three have been brutally murdered in front of their eyes as a punishment for their actions on a night over twenty years ago.

But as the old school-friends start to turn on each other, will any of them leave the island alive?

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The final part in the 3 part series continues where the other 2 left off. The body count continues to rise along with the mistrust between the survivors which comes to a head as they turn on each other. The truth about Rachel’s murder 21 years ago is revealed but there are further twists to come.

This part has slightly less action than “During” but only slightly. It is well written and easy to read and although I worked out what was going on quite early on, this didn’t spoil my overall enjoyment.

As with the other 2 parts, this is fairly short (53 pages on the Kindle) but this one has the added delight of an extract from Simon’s latest novel, The Final Minute, which I highly recommend.

Overall, I enjoyed this series but think I would have loved it if it had been a little longer.