It's Somerset. Snow is falling, and the school is under siege.

Children and teachers are barricaded into different areas of the school building - the classrooms, the library, the theatre. The headmaster has been injured.

As pupils and staff seek to stay safe, longing for it all soon to be over, parents gather desperate for news and the police seek the identity and motives of the gunmen.

When I read the blurb for this book, I was horrified at its theme. I read on and was astonished at the compelling storyline, sensitively told. Reading almost in real time, you're breathing heavily and your heart is racing, unable to put the book down.

It's a powerful, well written thriller. I always feel rather uncomfortable at reading for 'entertainment' when events are so close to reality and horrifying in their cruelty and brutality, but this book was ultimately an account of courage, resilience and community.