BOOK DESCRIPTION
Charming. Charismatic. Beautiful.
And deadly?
The members of a local support group in a sleepy welsh town are captivated by the new arrival, Sheena Strachan. Each member of the group has a reason for attending. Some hide dark, sinister secrets, and for others it is the highlight of their week.
But what are Sheena's motives for attending?
The group's leader, Rose, unexpectedly stops attending meetings. She goes into hiding, and quickly becomes an outcast. And then she is arrested for her estranged husband's murder.
Did Sheena really have no involvement in his killing?
With Sheena at the helm, the group goes from strength to strength, both in numbers and commitment. But their behaviour is changing. No story is to leave the room. They trust nobody. Men are the enemy. The residents of the previously peaceful town start turning against each other.
Was this Sheena's plan all along?
One mystery, however, stands out more than all the others.
Who is here to kill who…?
I AM HERE TO KILL YOU is a compelling psychological thriller that explores the potential power and manipulation.
The chapters of this gripping thriller were voiced from the perspectives of various vivid residents of the sleepy Welsh town of Pontbach including Katherine and her husband Ray, Rose and seriously unlikable, master manipulator Sheena. It's the story of how a beautiful stranger,appears out of nowhere and starts tearing the community apart from the inside by driving a wedge between the residents using the power of suggestion, manipulation and their own secrets against them. I suppose, to a certain extent it is also a story whose plot contains elements of the topical issue of radicalisation. After forcing Rose out and taking control of the women's support group that Rose and Katherine had founded together, Sheena started working her mind games and manipulating her chosen victims,Katherine, Ray and another main couple, Apinya and her husband Bernard into their various positions on her chess board. As time passed and the two women fell deeper under Sheena's alluring spell, their personalities began to change as did Katherine's appearance and their individual senses of morality. As the story unfolded, we discovered that Sheena wasn't the only character who had secrets and knew how to manipulate people. The question was, what was Sheena's end game? Was she the puppet master or the puppet? In the ultimate battle of wits, who, if anyone would be left standing once the smoke had cleared?
Apart from Rose, I can't say that I liked any of the main female characters for various reasons. I loved brilliant, realistic Detective Inspector Hunter who was introduced into the story towards the end of the book. I thought Ray was a really likeable,adorable individual and felt a lot of sympathy for both him and poor Bernard. Yes, some of their actions were morally wrong but after everything that they had been through, who could honestly say that they wouldn't react in the same way if they found themselves faced with the same situations?
This is a extremely well written, tightly plotted, character driven psychological thriller that had me hooked in from the shocking opening chapter and glued to my kindle. Sheena was so unlikable that I spent the whole time it took me to read the book in a heightened sense of anticipation and fighting the urge to quickly flip to the end of the story to see wether she got her comeuppance or not. It's a captivating, addictive read that has a cast of vivid, diverse, realistic characters and some unexpected twists, turns and revelations. I really enjoyed this enthralling thriller and would happily read more of this author's books in the future.
About Chris Westlake:
After completing a Creative Writing course in 2010, Chris Westlake's short story, Welsh Lessons, was awarded 1st place in the Global Short Story Award (not bad for the first writing competition he had entered). He followed this up with 1st place in the Stringybark Erotic Fiction Award and 2nd place in the HASSRA Literary Award. Chris has written three novels. 30 DAYS IN JUNE is his first crime thriller. He is currently writing his second thriller, on schedule to be completed in 2020. He is determined to write many, many more - his main regret is that he didn't start writing earlier. Chris considers himself to be a developing author. He is always looking to improve, to make his next novel even better than the last. He is continuously experimenting with different styles, different genres. You can contact Chris at chriswestlakeauthor@hotmail.co.uk . He would love to hear from you.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisWestlake2
Website: www.chriswestlakeauthor.co.uk
Publishing Information:
Published in paperback and digital formats on 31st December 2020
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3s506Ix
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2PgQLi8
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ReplyDeleteThanks very much for your great review, Nicki. You put into words exactly what I was trying to achieve with my book!
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