The Secret Path by Karen Swan published by Pan Macmillan

Tara Tremain has worked hard to leave the controlling grasp of her extremely affluent family far behind. Building a life in medicine as a junior doctor she meets Alex Carter and together they build an intense relationship. However Alex isn’t all that he seems. Fast forward ten years and Tara is now an Intensive Care Consultant and together with her friends and family she travels to Costa Rica where she is called upon to help a local boy who is desperately ill. His treatment will mean that Tara has to travel deep in the perilous jungle in order to help him, but then she discovers that she needs the help of the man who betrayed her and destroyed her life ten years ago.

I loved this book, although Tara was a very wealthy young woman (I’m not!) I could still relate to her and I loved her friend Holly who kept her grounded although they were from completely different backgrounds.

The book is set amongst the hustle and bustle of London, but also the more laid back, tranquil, white sandy beaches of Costa Rica. This is a country I’ve never visited yet with the fantastic descriptions, I could see myself walking on the talcum powder sand, and dipping my toes in the warm ocean.

You can tell when you read Karen Swan’s books that she does so much research on her locations, characters and storyline, and I find that I always learn something from her books that that I never knew before.

A great book that I shall recommend to all my friends.

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