#Blogtour The Other Tenant by Lesley Kara

It’s my turn on the Blogtour The Other Tenant by Lesley Kara, published by Bantam Press – 25th April 2024.

‘From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a gripping new thriller that asks how well you really know the people you share a home with… After all, living with strangers can be murder…‘

About the Author

Lesley Kara is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Rumour, Who Did You Tell?, The Dare and The Apartment Upstairs. The Rumour was the highest selling crime fiction debut of 2019 in the UK, and a Kindle No.1 bestseller. Lesley is an alumna of the Faber Academy ‘Writing a Novel’ course. She lives in Kent.

You can follow Lesley on Twitter @LesleyKara or visit her website at lesleykara.com

About the book

The Queen of the killer twist is back in this gripping closed-circle thriller about an unusual home full of strangers, with a murderer in their midst… 

Marlow has always lived in unusual places. But when she accepts a position as a live-in property guardian, she finds herself moving somewhere she swore she’d never return to. Right from the start, she knows it’s a terrible mistake. The elegant Victorian school is due to be turned into luxury apartments, but its eerie, empty corridors are full of Marlow’s worst memories.

And now something sinister is happening on the site. One of the other tenants has disappeared without warning, and Marlow suspects that the nine other guardians know far more than they’re letting on. She’s determined to find out what happened to the missing woman – but which of these strangers can she trust? And can she uncover the truth before her own past catches up with her?

Review

From a plot scenario perspective I was in two minds about the concept of being a property guardian – by the way is this a thing? The idea of living in extraordinary spaces, unusual or perhaps those reserved for the more privileged, it’s intriguing. A little bit like treasure hunting, urban exploring and the appreciation of spaces.

The flip-side includes the trauma inducing deserted places, the shabby and spooky ones, but the dealbreaker for me would probably be the having to share living space with complete strangers on the spur of a moment. Frequently changing people and no control over how many or how often it may happen. Unless we are talking desperate measures, the apocalypse or a zombie invasion, I’m not sure I would ever agree to the above.

I think it’s the combination of enticing and trust your gut instinct that makes the concept such a great idea, because the reader kind of knows it has the potential to go really wrong for someone – is that someone Marlow?

Marlow finds herself right back at the core of her inner trauma when her role as property guardian takes her right back to her previous life, this time with a bunch of strangers who seem curiously disinterested in the disappearance of the person she is replacing.

It’s very much an atmosphere and space/place driven story, the author uses the evoked visuals to create a constant current of danger, fear and suspicion. It’s a great read.

Buy The Other Tenant at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Bantam Press; pub date 25th April 2024 | Hardback | £14.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Five Bad Deeds by Caz Frear

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Five Bad Deeds by Caz Frear.

About the Author

Caz Frear has a first class degree in History and Politics, and spent twelve years working as a headhunter before she started writing. She hasn’t lost her enthusiasm for networking, and is a popular member of the crime fraternity. She lives in Coventry with her husband. 

Her debut, the number one bestseller Sweet Little Lies, was the winner of the Richard & Judy Search for a Bestseller Competition 2017 and went on to sell over 250,000 copies. It was followed by Stone Cold Heart and Shed No Tears, both of which feature her police detective Cat Kinsella. Five Bad Deeds is her first standalone thriller. Follow @CazziF on X

About the book

One Womans Secret, Two sides to every story, Three deadly betrayals, Four potential suspects, Five bad deeds.

Ellen Walsh has done something very, very bad. If only she knew what it was . . .

Teacher, mother, wife, and all-around good citizen Ellen is juggling non-stop commitments, from raising a teen and two toddlers to job-hunting, to finally renovating her dream home, the Meadowhouse. Amidst the chaos, an ominous note arrives in the mail declaring:

Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.

Why would someone send her this note? Ellen has no clue. She’s no angel – a white lie here and there, an occasional sharp tongue – but nothing to incur the wrath of an anonymous enemy.

Everyone around Ellen – her husband, her teenage daughter, her sister, her best friend, her neighbours – can guess why, though. They all know from bitter experience that while Ellen’s intentions are always good, this ultimately counts for very little when you’ve (unintentionally?) blown up someone’s life. Could the five bad deeds that come to haunt Ellen explain why things have gone so horribly wrong?

As she races to discover who’s set on destroying her life, Ellen receives more anonymous messages, each one more threatening than the last . . . and each hitting closer and closer to home and everything she cherishes.

Review

I really enjoyed the vibe of this story – deliciously wicked undertone of authenticity and lack of clarity when it comes to black or white – everyone has their own version of somewhere in between. Sharp wit, thoughtless jibes, nasty intentions – no wonder someone has had enough and wants to expose the hypocrisy.

Interestingly Ellen doesn’t really evoke sympathy, empathy or much compassion. I think the majority of readers understand why Orla makes Ellen ragey, why hubby frustrates her, why the twins make her feel as if her life is a constant cycle of chaos. Her sister is somewhere between frenemy and jealous friend, her friends a necessity for appearances – actually that seems to be a lot of negativity, perhaps because it is and she is.

That’s without even wandering into the murky secrets Ellen keeps locked away, not well enough it seems. Someone is out to expose her one secret at a time – she isn’t the only one keeping secrets though. As the threats pile in Ellen becomes a little less cautious and a lot more willing to keep her life intact.

It’s a riveting psychological thriller. The sharp-tongued and brutally honest main character resonates, mainly because life really is just a series of choices, secrets, compromises and challenges. Some of us can cope with them without doing anything drastic, other people not so much. Highly recommend.

Buy Five Bad Deeds at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Simon and Schuster Uk; pub date 11th April 2024 | Hardback £14.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Glass Woman by Alice McIlroy

It’s a pleasure to help kick off the Blogtour for The Glass Woman by Alice McIlroy – Long-listed for the Stylist Prize for Feminist Fiction.

About the Author

Alice McIlroy was born in London. She graduated in English and has a post-graduate in Law. She completed Faber Academy’s novel-writing programme. She has taught English in state schools in London and Milan, and volunteers with a post-natal depression charity. Her writing has been longlisted for the Stylist Prize for Feminist Fiction and Grindstone International Novel Prize. The Glass Woman is her debut novel. Find @alice_mcilroy on X and @alicemcilroy_author on Instagram. Visit alicemcilroy.wordpress.com

About the book

If you could delete all the hurt and pain from your life… would you? Even if you weren’t sure what would be left?

Pioneering scientist Iris Henderson awakes in a hospital bed with no memories. She is told that she is the first test-subject for an experimental therapy, placing a piece of AI technology into her brain. She is also told that she volunteered for it. But without her memories, Iris doesn’t know what the therapy is or why she would ever choose it.

Everyone warns her to leave it alone, but Iris doesn’t know who to trust. As she scratches beneath the surface of her seemingly happy marriage and successful career, a catastrophic chain of events is set in motion, and secrets will be revealed that have the capacity to destroy her whole life.

Review

Imagine waking up and having the bare minimum idea of who you are and what your life is or was. Being terrified of something you allegedly agreed to, yet subconsciously being in a constant state of disbelief about it. Agreeing to scrub the bad, the painful and incriminating memories, so you can live a more peaceful version of your life and self. It’s just a tad inconvenient that the human element of a person will always start to question and eventually try to uncover the moments that are hidden from them.

I really enjoyed this read perhaps because this concept had me going back and forth a little, it’s threatening, riveting and deplorable in equal measures. More worrying is the fact it’s also probably the future of medical and human AI interventions, which will be used and misused by anyone who believes they can profit from it, whether that be financially or in any other capacity.

Essentially it’s an interpersonal system installed in the brain – just from the perspective of the main character in this instance, which screams Gileadesque control at first. It’s a element of full control, and complete and utter invasion into self, thought, actions, mental and physical wellbeing. An inner voice that is supposed to help Iris navigate recouping all her memories, that she agreed to have wiped for her own good, within a specific amount of time. Is the system inside her a friend, an enemy? – The irony of the concept having a schizophrenic aspect to it was not lost on me.

On a side-note: How did you answer the question – love the moral dilemma, which also gives an insight into the way Iris thinks she should answer in that situation without the full picture. The full picture tells us her real answer. – I could talk about this book for yonks. It is such an incredible piece of speculative fiction, domestic thriller, and tech and med thriller.

Buy The Glass Woman at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Datura Books, pub date January 2nd, 2024 | Pbk original £9.99 / $17.99. Also Available in eBook & Audio. Buy via Amazon com.

About Datura – An imprint of award-winning SFF publisher, Angry Robot Books, Datura Books focuses on crime with a strong sense of voice and place that push the boundaries of the genre, while playing with readers’ favourite tropes. Datura has been created with the purpose of showcasing plots that engage, stories that matter and most of all, characters that are true to life. Visit daturabooks.com

#Blogtour The Weatherman by Royston Reeves

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Weatherman by Royston Reeves.

About the Author

Royston Reeves is a psychological thriller writer from Essex, England. After spending years in advertising writing TV scripts, newspaper ads and billboards, Royston’s first novel, The Weatherman, will be published in November 2023.

Reeves is the Head of Strategy for JOE Media and he currently lives in the Kent countryside with his wife, Carly, and daughter, Hunter-Rose. (Author pic – credit to Carly Cussen). Follow @royston_reeves on X

About the book

‘I’m going to tell you about the worst thing that ever happened to me.’

Will’s a nice guy. So when he takes a shortcut to the tube station after a few beers with his mates from work, he steps out of the way of the fellow who’s staggering towards him. But he – deliberately – moves back into his path. They knock each other as they pass.

Moments later one man is dead and another’s life is changed forever. Or is it? There are no CCTV cameras. There was no one else in the out-of-the-way alley. Maybe the world doesn’t have to end for Will after all. But there’s always someone watching . . . and Will’s life is about to implode.

Review

It’s s great example of how quickly life can change – one minute all your ducks are in a row and the next you might or might not have committed a crime. The kind of crime that has the potential to destroy your life. Knowing that, would you put yourself at risk by doing the right thing?

Will likes to tell himself and us that he is a nice guy. Do nice guys commit crimes and then try to hide the fact – just walk away as if nothing ever happened at all. And what if someone else was aware of your secret and decided to profit from your fear and desperation? This element of feeling watched, judged and waiting to be exposed makes Will retreat into a former lived version of himself.

It’s a riveting psychological thriller that plays with the grey areas between right and wrong, what is morally right when it comes to self preservation, and isn’t it I wondered whether the introduction of Solly was more than just the nemesis. Was Solly the physical representation of Will’s other more surprising character traits? The dark side that is obviously there inside just waiting to pop out.

Imagine Solly as the physical representation of a conscience and simultaneously also of the depths someone will go to to hide their true nature, especially when it gets them into trouble.

Buy The Weatherman at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher; No Exit Press,23 November 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour My Husband’s Lies by Liz Lawler

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour My Husband’s Lies by Liz Lawler.

About the Author

Liz Lawler grew up sharing pants, socks, occasionally a toothbrush, sleeping four to a bed. Born in Chatham and partly raised in Dublin, she is one of fourteen children. She spent over twenty years as a nurse and has since fitted in working as a flight attendant, a general manager of a five star hotel, and is now working with trains. She became an author in 2017 when her debut novel Don’t Wake Up was published by Twenty7. Follow @authorlizlawler on X, Sign up to Liz Lawler’s mailing list

About the book

The police are coming, they’re going to arrest me.’ My blood runs cold at his words. My husband is accused of murder. He swears he is innocent – so why won’t he tell me where he really was that night?

I feel so lucky to have my handsome husband Mark and our blue-eyed little boy. Everyone says we’re the perfect family. I used to believe them.

But everything changes when Mark comes home from a work trip with dark circles under his eyes. That night I jump at a hammering at the door. The police want to question him about the murder of a beautiful, blonde young woman. Mark swears he had nothing to do with it, that she was a colleague, nothing more.

Mark is a respected airline pilot, and the model husband and father. It seems impossible that he would be involved in something like this. But he won’t say a word about where he really was. I believe that he’s not a killer – but I know he’s hiding something. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Then my husband is attacked. I sit by his hospital bed praying for him to wake up, tears streaming down my face. The police say it’s an accident. But what if someone has done this to him?

I go rigid with fear when I see someone hidden in the garden, watching the house. Are they coming to hurt us too? I’ll do anything to protect my precious little boy – and I have to start by uncovering my husband’s lies…

An unbelievably tense and twisty psychological thriller that will leave you breathless for more! Perfect for fans of Kathryn Croft, T.M. Logan and Ruth Heald.

Review

I wonder if anyone else got ever so slightly frustrated by the almost self-flagellation Kate tends to put upon herself, whilst excusing the actions of others. Her fault that her husband may or may not have strayed, her fault for putting the temptation of another woman in his path – come on lady!

The author captures this specific element of self-blame that women tend to inflict upon themselves, especially in domestic situations and relationships. Always looking for the possible mistake they might have made that contributed to whatever went wrong. This headspace probably explains the way Kate automatically goes into protective mode instead of seeing a very large question mark when it comes to the possible crime her husband is suspected of – is he really capable of killing someone?

Eventually Kate realises she has to start to unravel the layers of deceit wrapped around her life to keep her child safe, even if it means losing friends and loved ones on the way.

It’s a fast-paced domestic thriller, one of those stories where you start out certain of who did what to whom and why, but in the end the web is tightly woven and full of secrets hiding in plain sight.

Buy My Husband’s Lies at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: Bookouture, pub date 20 Nov. 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Babysitter by Emma Curtis

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Babysitter by Emma Curtis.

About the Author

Emma Curtis was born in Brighton and now lives in London with her husband. After raising two children and working various jobs, her fascination with the darker side of domestic life inspired her to start writing psychological suspense thrillers. She has published five previous titles with Transworld:  One Little Mistake, When I Find You, The Night You Left, Keep Her Quiet and Invite Me In. Follow @emmacurtisbooks on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter).

About the book

Three women. Three secrets. – Claudia’s life imploded ten years ago when she was convicted of the murder of her child. Now she has done the unthinkable and confessed to manslaughter in order to be granted parole – her only hope of finding out what really happened to Tilly.

Sara is married to Joe, Claudia’s ex-husband, and they have a young child together. She finally has everything she ever wanted, but Claudia’s release threatens the perfect life she has created.

Anna was the babysitter who let Claudia and Joe down on day their daughter disappeared. Married with a child of her own, Claudia’s reappearance in her quiet cul-de-sac is an unwelcome surprise.

These three women are tied together in more ways than they realize. But only one of them is capable of killing.

Review

Admittedly, this did not start the way I expected it to – it’s an excellent opening gambit. So simple and yet so consuming. The mother who will question ever moment, every person and each interaction going forward. Was there something obvious that could have changed the outcome of the evening?

Who could have imagined that one moment of assumption would lead to an endless horror of a nightmare. Claudia is stuck in time with a lack of answers whilst Anna has moved one, and Sara has more or less slid into the open space created by a tragedy.

There is an interesting moment towards the end, it sort of solidifies the state of mind of the perpetrator. Excuse as an explanation. If you hadn’t then I wouldn’t have had to. It’s a very specific logic when they assign blame to a certain order of events. It’s a special kind of manipulation I think, because it automatically kickstarts a thought process that makes the innocent party question their own actions. Just imagine if you hadn’t done x before z.

It’s a riveting and complex dark domestic psychological thriller, one that would work well as a mini series. Imagine the diversions, the sleight of hand, and ultimately the lack of real consequence, but hopefully eventually the truth.

Buy The Babysitter at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Corvus | Paperback Original £8.99, Pub Date: 12 October 2023. Also available in e-book. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour After You Were Gone by Vikki Wakefield

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour After You Were Gone by Vikki Wakefield.

About the Author

Vikki Wakefield writes fiction for young adults and adults. Her books explore family, class and relationships in a contemporary setting. Her novels All I Ever Wanted, Friday Brown, Inbetween Days and Ballad for a Mad Girl have been shortlisted for numerous awards. This Is How We Change The Ending won Book of the Year: Older Readers, Children’s Book Council Awards, 2020. After You Were Gone, a psychological thriller, is her first novel for adults. She is working on her second one. Follow @VikkiWakefield on Twitter

About the book

What happens to a family when a child goes missing? – In a busy street market, Abbie lets go of six-year-old Sarah’s hand. She isn’t a bad mother, just exhausted. When she turns around, her daughter isn’t there.

Six years later, Abbie is in love and getting married. But her fragile peace is constantly threatened: not knowing what happened to Sarah is like living with a curse. Then she receives a phone call from an unknown number. A man claims to know what happened to Sarah, but if Abbie tells anyone or fails to follow his instructions, she’ll never find out the truth.

After You Were Gone is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that poses the question: How far would you go to find your child?

Review

Abbie is exhausted when Sarah disappears, but she also doesn’t expect a very short moment of not paying attention will lead to the permanent loss of her precious child. Without a trace and without an explanation, just gone. No wonder she jumps at the chance when a mysterious phone call could mean the end of her misery.

There are right fighters and there are people who will do anything to hurt you, even if it means taking the one thing that means the most to you. To destroy, to sever, even to kill. What kind of cruel intention must live on the shoulder of the kind of person who thinks nothing of committing the most nefarious crime against another human being.

It’s a driven piece of work, where emotions live constantly on the cusp of causing an implosion or the complete shutdown. What strength and determination must it take to swim through the devastation of a loss for which you will always blame yourself. The kind of loss that will forever leave a gaping hole.

I found the last few chapters especially poignant, perhaps because it pulls on the invisible threads that bind, especially across the generations. The acknowledgement of past mistakes and the willingness to ensure the generational trauma doesn’t carry on – well at least to try.

Buy After You Were Gone at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎No Exit Press; pub date 6 July 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Girls Don’t Cry by Peter Kesterton

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Girls Don’t Cry by Peter Kesterton.

About the Author

I was born in Manchester to Irish parents who gifted me the tradition of storytelling and a love of words. Unusually for an Irish family I was an only child and found company in books and stories. I moved to Bristol to go to university, and loved the city so much I stayed on after graduating. I landed a job as a technician at the BBC and worked on radio dramas. Not content with simply doing the sound effects, I decided to write my own radio play. Many years and drawers full of rejections later, I had my radio drama Heads You Win, Tales I Lose, broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

I went on to write stage plays, notably Air Guitar for the Bristol Old Vic Theatre and Playing with Snails which won the Croydon Warehouse International Playwriting competition 2011.

In 2019, I went to Bath Spa University as a mature student, undertaking an MA in creative writing. I graduated with distinction. Girls Don’t Cry was partially written on the course. Follow @Peter_Kesterton on Twitter – for more information visit: peterkesterton.com

About the book

A decade after his young daughter’s murder, a grief-stricken father’s need for justice puts his own life in danger as events spiral out of control . . .

Ever since Caitlin Grady was released from prison, Darren has been tormented by rage and injustice. He finds himself venting online, where a stranger befriends him—and encourages him to seek revenge.

But Caitlin no longer goes by that name. She has been given a new identity and is living quietly, dreading exposure as the tabloids—with help from her publicity-hungry mother—try to hunt her down. And having committed the crime at age eleven, Caitlin struggles as an adult on her own, out in the world beyond prison walls. Will Darren manage to track Caitlin down, and if he does, will he be able to carry out his plans?

Review

Without taking the ending into account, because discussing any sort of twist would spoil the plot and read for everyone – I want to focus on the element that intrigued me the most about this story. The question of guilt, forgiveness and whether the punishment can ever fit the crime when the crime is the worst you can imagine.

I liked the way the author showed the clear difference in coping strategies, or complete lack of, when it came to the parents. The father is unable to let go of the idea that the perpetrator is allowed to reboot their life after being released and the mother just wants to leave the pain behind in the past. A child on child crime is one that can divide opinions, because the perpetrator gets the choice to rehabilitate and move on from their crime. The victim, especially if the victim is deceased, and their loved ones don’t really get the same offer of choices. You can’t turn back time or bring someone back to life.

I can understand the obsession Darren has, which has become a cooking pot for his pain and anger, instead of an outlet to work through the violent death of his child. Some things are unforgiveable, aren’t they?

It’s a dark domestic thriller that will make the reader question their gut reaction, the societal expectation in regards to whether the punishment fits the crime, and how anyone in such a cruel situation can move forward.

Buy Girls Don’t Cry at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Bloodhound Books; pub date 22 Feb. 2023. Buy via Amazon com.

#Blogtour Kill For It by Lizzie Fry

 It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Kill For It by Lizzie Fry. ‘A gripping feminist thriller, Dexter with a twist – how far would you go for the thing you want most?’

About the Author

Lizzie Fry is a debut author of high concept thriller The Coven (published by Sphere books), but you might know her better as LV Hay. LV’s books previous books were crime fiction: The Other Twin, Do No Harm (Orenda Books) and Never Have I Ever (Hodder). The Other Twin is currently being adapted for the screen by Agatha Raisin producers Free@Last TV. Follow @LizzieFryAuthor on Twitter

About the book

Would You Kill For It? The story pits young and upcoming journalist Cat against veteran reporter Erin. Cat is sick of not getting ahead at work so comes up with a sickening plan to literally grab the headlines … and the only one who can stop her is Erin, but to do so she must put her own life at risk.

In the game of cat and mouse, there can only be one winner in the book advance readers are calling ‘Killing Eve meets Nightcrawler.’

Review

Erin has made a choice, albeit allegedly a difficult one, career comes first and family somewhere at the end of the list. Her ambition has cost her an arm and a leg already, and now she has to make sure she maintains her slot at the top.

You would think that Erin would be able to understand the way Cat wants to succeed and get ahead. Stepping over others and being ruthless, perhaps more importantly teaching her that the most obvious path isn’t necessarily the one you should take, but it will be the one others expect you to stay on. Both women want to succeed, but at what cost to either of them?

At the end of the day is it a case of two sides of the same coin. Does same recognise same? Is it ambition or a frustration about having to swim upstream against the sexism and misogyny, wouldn’t that make someone do something extreme? In fact isn’t that the real difference between Erin, Cat and you and I.

And where does that ending leave us? It’s a bit like opening a door a few inches with the knowledge that just an inch of a slit could mean the return of something very dangerous indeed.

It’s the kind of read I absolutely expect from the author – under either name. She loves to pit the worst of human behaviour, traits and reactions, against each other. This dark domestic read is also a psychological thriller with important themes driving the characters and the plot. Women as second class citizens in the workplace, especially when it comes to leadership level. Having to fight dirty to sit at the place they have earned at the table, what’s worse is having to become one of guys to do just that or perhaps even become the victim of  someone abusing their power.

It’s a riveting read with imperfect characters who make split second ruthless choices to get ahead and doing so move the obstacles in their way.

Buy Kill For It at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Sphere pub date 18 Aug. 2022. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Ugly Truth by L.C. North

It’s a pleasure to take part in Blogtour The Ugly Truth by L.C. North.

About the Author

L.C. North studied psychology at university before pursuing a career in Public Relations. Her first book club thriller – The Ugly Truth – combines her love of psychology and her fascination with the celebrities in the public eye. L.C. North is currently working on her second novel, and when she’s not writing, she co-hosts the crime thriller podcast, In Suspense. L.C. North lives on the Suffolk borders with her family. L.C. North is the pen name of Lauren North. 

Follow her on Twitter @Lauren_C_North and @lauren_c_north on Instagram

About the book

Everyone’s telling a different story. Who do you believe? Melanie Lange has disappeared. Her father, Sir Peter Lange, says she is a danger to herself and has been admitted to a private mental health clinic.

Her ex-husband, Finn, and best friend, Nell, say she has been kidnapped. The media will say whichever gets them the most views. But whose side are you on? #SaveMelanie #HelpPeter

‘Told exclusively through interviews, transcripts and diary entries, The Ugly Truth is a gripping, original and smart thriller. It explores the influence of the press and social media on public opinion and in private lives; from conservatorship to the lack of mental health support for reality TV stars, the news cycle is full of stories about the often tragic consequences of media attention. L.C. North cleverly weaves these themes into a tense and compulsive thriller, perfect for book clubs. This thought-provoking and conversation-starting novel reminds us of the people behind the headlines, and how difficult it can be to separate fact from fiction.’

Review

I think this dark psychological domestic thriller echoes a manifestation of the negative attributes of social media, the media overall, and how we all have front seats to the actions and emotions of our fellow humans on a daily basis. Whilst the above comes with plenty of positives, such as information sharing at high-speed, which is especially important in countries and situations that would and are usually shrouded in a cloud of information suppression, connecting all of us via threads of virtual communication can often come at a costly price.

The question is whether the positive outweighs the negative. Keeping in mind that media is now opinion sharing and no longer fact based reporting, which brings disinformation, misinformation, propaganda, and both troll and bot farm driven information. It’s also important to remember that our media companies are run by wealthy private individuals and big companies who drive their own political, social and personal agendas via these forums.

The above, and indeed the ability to influence a worldwide audience, is at the core of the story. It doesn’t matter what the truth is – only how many people you can convince that your narrative is the truth.

This is actually more than just a psychological thriller, it’s also simultaneously a poignant reminder of the way society is wrapped up in technology and the trickle down changes in the younger generations we are seeing. Opinion is fact, rumours are facts, truth is a blurred narrative with a lack of boundaries. Imagine being a victim or someone falsely accused in that ever expanding vacuum of opinions and reactions. Real life consequences and real time damage. Imagine, if you will, the power this allows the liar to wield.

Kudos to the author for the ending that leaves us with more questions than answers. Is that in itself a product of the above. That no matter what kind of factual proof a person convinced by a hydra of mixed messages receives they will stand on their hill and defend it blindly, despite the damage they leave in their wake. It’s a great read. I wonder – are you team Melanie or team Peter?

Buy The Ugly Truth at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Bantam Press; pub date 16th March 2023 Hardback | £14.99. Buy at Amazon com.