Book Review: Tell Me A Secret by Samanthe Haynes

Tell Me A Secret by Samantha Hayes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars




O,WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE WHEN FIRST WE PRACTICE TO DECEIVE!

This mesmerizing,riveting thriller has more twists and turns than a roller coaster.It's a gripping tale of two women,deceit,secrets,relashionships,obsessions,manipulation and revenge that had me hooked in from the first page right through to the shocking final chapter.

The story is mainly voiced by Lorna,a psychotherapist who is married to Mark and has two children,their daughter Freya and Mark`s son Jack from his previous marriage.Ten months ago Lorna was seduced into having a very,torrid,intense affair with Andrew who was one of her clients at the previous practice she worked at.But eventually the guilt and other factors became too much for her so she ended the affair,moved to a different practice and did everything in her power to forget about HIM.A year later despite running her life like clockwork,she can't stop thoughts about HIM creeping into her head,filling her with mixed feelings of guilt,regret and longing.Then suddenly Andrew tracks her down and turns up at her new practice and once again Lorna finds herself putting her marriage and career at risk,unable to resist her all consuming feelings for Andrew.He is the drug,she is the addict who despite knowing deep down that she is risking everything,can't resist constantly going back for just one more hit.Then Lorna`s life is thrown into turmoil when Andrew is found dead in his home but she continues to receive messages from him.Someone knows her secret,but who and what do they want from Lorna? How far is she prepared to go to prevent her secrets from being revealed
I can't say I thought Lorna was a very likeable character,never mind being a therapist,I think she needed therapy herself.She was one seriously messed up mix bag of conflicting emotions,a very neglectful parent despite constantly insisting she loved her children,and despite being a therapist couldn't see the truth behind her seemingly perfect marriage.Interspersed throughout the story are extracts from Lorna`s journal detailing her first meeting with Andrew,their subsequent affair and the final shocking conclusion to Lorna`s story.There is also chapters told from the point of view of a woman called Nikki who is also a new client of Lorna`s.Nikki also comes across as a very messed up person but once her back story is revealed,it's hard not to feel some sympathy for her and be more understanding about her actions.I really liked Lorna`s group of friends that she met up with a number of times throughout the story,they were a likeable set of characters who remained loyal and still cared about her well being despite Lorna`s unpredictable behaviour.

The story opens with a heart breaking prologue and contains characters that are vivid,realistic and mostly untrustworthy.Lorna and Nikki`s narratives are unreliable and the twists and turns really keep the reader guessing.There was one jaw dropping,mind blowing twist that almost caused me to drop my kindle in shock,I most definitely didn't see that twist coming.I absolutely loved this enthralling thriller,it's worth far more than five stars and I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future.

                                                              AUTHOR BIO

Samantha Hayes grew up in Warwickshire, left school at sixteen, avoided university and took jobs ranging from private detective to barmaid to fruit picker and factory worker. She lived on a kibbutz, and spent time living in Australia and the USA, before finally becoming a crime-writer.

Her writing career began when she won a short story competition in 2003 and her ninth novel, THE REUNION, will be published February 2018. You can pre-order now! Her novels are family-based psychological thrillers, with the emphasis being on 'real life fiction'. She focuses on current issues and sets out to make her readers ask, 'What if this happened to me or my family?'

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING says "We’re big fans of Samantha Hayes. Her believable psychological thrillers are completely gripping..."

To find out more, visit her website www.samanthahayes.co.uk
Or connect with Samantha on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaHayesAuthor
And she's on Twitter @samhayes

PUBLICATION DATE : 25th May 2018

PUBLISHER : Bookouture

GENRE : Psychological Thriller

PURCHASE HERE....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tell-Me-Secret-psychological-heart-stopping-ebook/dp/B07C547GCB/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527243176&sr=1-1&keywords=tell+me+a+secret