The 10.12 by Anna Maloney

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✦ BLURB ✦

Claire Fitzroy was just trying to get home when her train from Manchester to London was hijacked by a group of armed men. In one terrifying moment she faced the starkest of to stand back. To fight back. And maybe to die either way.

Claire chose to fight back, and in doing so saved hundreds of lives. But what looks like heroism in the heat of the moment can play out very differently in the courts and the eyes of the public. Especially when you have the blood of two men on your hands.

Selfless and quick-thinking. Attention-seeking vigilante. Unrepentant murderer. Whichever she is, this is Claire's story of what happened that day.

But is it the whole story?

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A claustrophobic, high-stakes thriller told through manuscripts, memos, and moral ambiguity.

Pre-Reading Thoughts:
Hijacked train? Ordinary woman in an extraordinary moment? I was so ready for a page-turner — and when I saw the manuscript-with-editor’s-notes format, I got that little jolt of curiosity that says, oh, this could be something different.

Post-Reading:
As I thought... the base story is gripping. The attack, the chaos, the sheer immediacy of Claire’s choice — it’s pulse-pounding and believable. I also liked how the aftermath didn’t let her off easy; it’s not just “hero saves the day,” it’s “hero deals with what saving the day costs.”

It surprised me by... how meta it got. The manuscript-and-editor format is a bold idea, and I think it’ll really work for readers who enjoy a puzzle and love putting clues together across multiple layers. For me, though, the frequent interruptions pulled me out just when I wanted to stay deep in Claire’s head. I’d also have loved a map of the train to anchor the action — maybe that’ll appear in the final version, since I was reading an ARC.

Music Pairing:
🎵 “Run” – Snow Patrol
🎶 How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb – U2
🎧 Artist Rec: Muse — for that mix of tension, introspection, and adrenaline.

Vibe Check:

• 🎨 Colour Palette: steel grey, flickering orange, dark red

• 🎬 Soundtrack: metallic clangs, radio static, breathless silence

• 🌤 Season: late autumn — cold, brittle, tense

• 💭 Mood: claustrophobic, analytical, morally tangled

• 🌹 Scent: diesel fumes and cold metal

Tarot Pull: Justice. Moral certainty, repercussions and the judgement of others on your actions.

For fans of: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes and The Chain by Adrian McKinty.

The 10.12 publishes on the 29th of January, 2026. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.

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