Books: Sexual menace to sibling rivalry

In Try Not to Breathe (Corvus), Holly Seddon gives us a former broadsheet-paper darling, now incontinent alcoholic (no, wait). Alex Dale's days are measured in fluid ounces as she paces her drinking with obsessive precision, dispatching her soiled bed linen each morning before counting down to her first bottle once more. What rescues her (and us) from this harrowing timetable is a coma victim, Amy, who lies inert in a nearby hospital. Attacked and left for dead many years before, Alex is drawn to the mystery of who left Amy like this and why. She is helped by a sympathetic, if slightly reluctant ex (a detective playing second fiddle no less). This is a top-notch psycho-drama, with plenty of red herrings and setbacks before Alex slowly regains her life and her self-respect.