This is the latest novel by Daniel Hurst, who was born in the northwest of England and has been employed in several glamorous roles in his lifetime, including bartending, shelf stacking and procurement administration. Since following his lifelong passion for writing in 2020, he’s regularly had several books in the top 100 of the Psychological Thriller Charts on Amazon.
When her son Jacob comes homes from school and marches straight to his room, Sara’s mother’s instinct tells her something is wrong. Jacob is avoiding eye contact and looks miserable. When Sara and her husband, Guy, investigate further they discover their son is the victim of bullying by a notorious bully named Mason. Three years earlier, a young girl in the community took her own life after being bullied by Mason. Consequently, Sara and Guy do not take this situation lightly. After drinking too much whiskey, Guy makes a trip to Mason’s house to confront his parents. The visit quickly escalates into an altercation and Guy is arrested. Sara is completely unaware of her husband’s actions and is distraught when she has to go get him from the police station. From that point on, a feud begins between the two families. Mason is so expelled from school for bullying Jacob but he retaliates by beating up Jacob in the park. When Jacob is taken to hospital with multiple injuries and Mason is released after police questioning, Sara and Guy decide it’s time to take matters into their own hands. Determined to protect their child at any cost, they come up with a plan to get rid of Mason once and for all!
This is a fast-paced, entertaining psychological thriller. The shorter length of this novel, coupled with the captivating and easy-to-follow storyline, similar to Hurst’s other work, makes this one easy to devour. Sara and Guy are both well-developed characters who are both very loyal and protective of their family unit. The story is most definitely a suspenseful thriller but also deals with many important subjects, including school bullying, depression, loss, family relationships, and marital struggles. School bullying takes centre stage in the novel and shows a fairly accurate depiction of how parents react towards school administrators and other parents when their child is being bullied. Sara and Guy’s reactions to their son’s bullying, especially after he’s been beaten, are emotional and borderline hysterical, making for some very dramatic and entertaining scenes. The story becomes somewhat implausible when they decide to take extreme measures to stop the bullying. Then reality sets in for them, and suddenly they face another major dilemma, which makes the story even more interesting. The story culminates with a pleasing twist ending and a delicious final scene.
Narrators Imogen Church and George Weightman both deliver convincing, top-notch performances. Church’s portrayal of Sara is especially dramatic and entertaining, filled with perfectly placed emotional outbursts and dramatic flair, especially during Sara’s confrontation with Mason’s mother. Church is so entertaining at times that you may find yourself laughing out loud and on the edge of your seat simultaneously. Weigtman brings a lot of authentic emotion to the portrayal of Guy, and the performance is a perfect compliment to Church. Overall, the story doesn’t have the layers of complexity of some other comparable thrillers but makes up for it with fast-paced drama, great characters, and a compelling story. If you haven’t tried Hurst’s work before or are looking for a shorter, suspenseful book that’s easy to follow, then give this book serious consideration.
