THE VOICES

They believe you lost all your faculties in a tragic accident. But you can hear every word they say, and they aren't telling the truth. Then again, before the crash, neither were you.

Tamsin Shaw's doctors describe her condition as a permanent vegetative state, and say she has no chance of recovery. After three years in limbo, her husband Jamie is given the option of withdrawing her treatment. To save her own life, she must somehow prove what no one has understood that she has full awareness. When it becomes clear Jamie may have his own reasons for allowing his wife to slip away, Tamsin, trapped inside her own mind, fears she may never be able to communicate with the outer world. In her old life, Tamsin was an eminent psychiatrist, specialising in treating sex offenders. Her final client before the crash was the charming, aristocratic Richard Mandeville, who insisted he was innocent of the horrific crimes he had been convicted of. As his retrial now looms, Tamsin's boss Dan suspects her notes indicate she may have fallen under Mandeville's spell. With no memory of the day of the crash, Tamsin is convinced those lost recollections hold the key to understanding exactly what her brain is trying to protect her from, by keeping her vegetative. If it wasn't an accident, who would want to harm her, and why?

Natalie Chandler was educated at St Chad's College, Durham and has a professional background in behavioural education. Her debut psychological thriller Believe Me Not was an Amazon bestseller in the UK and US. Natalie's second novel What We Did will be published in May. She lives with her fiancé and a collection of cockapoos.