The Fear

The Fear by C.L Taylor

Originality ♥♥♥♥♥
Quality of Writing ♥♥♥♥
Plot ♥♥♥♥♥
Setting ♥♥♥♥
Character ♥♥♥♥
Overall ♥♥♥♥ (4.5)

Blurb:

When Lou Wandsworth ran away to France with her teacher Mike Hughes, she thought he was the love of her life. But Mike wasn’t what he seemed and he left her life in pieces.

Now 32, Lou discovers that he is involved with teenager Chloe Meadows. Determined to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself, she returns home to confront him for the damage he’s caused.

But Mike is a predator of the worst kind, and as Lou tries to bring him to justice, it’s clear that she could once again become his prey…

My Verdict:

I absolutely loved C.L Taylor’s new thriller. I loved the originality of the plot – the exploration of sexual grooming and the impact it has on the victims. The book seemed fast paced – mainly because I was enjoying it so much and found it difficult to put down. The theme of the book is very dark and reading through Lou’s flashbacks (or diary snippets) of when she was in France with Mike was quite sickening. These images were very realistic and frightening – so some readers may find it disturbing. The rawness of it all definitely made a great thriller and tense novel. The blurb doesn’t mention another important character – Mike’s ex-wife, Wendy. Wendy’s side of the story is very important in the novel as it shows how she too was Mike’s victim. I very much liked this exploration of character – and without giving too much away, Wendy had a very big part in the plot.

Overall, I give this book 4.5 stars as I simply could not put this book down!

Additional details:

Published by Avon (HarperCollins) on 22^nd March 2018

Pre-order at Amazon: The Fear

Author bio:

C.L. Taylor is the Sunday Times bestselling author of five gripping, stand-alone psychological thrillers: THE ACCIDENT, THE LIE, THE MISSING, THE ESCAPE and THE FEAR. Her books have sold in excess of a million copies, been number one on Amazon Kindle, Kobo, iBooks and Google Play and have been translated into over 20 languages. THE ESCAPE won the Dead Good Books ‘Hidden Depths’ award for the Most Unreliable Narrator and THE LIE has been optioned for TV by The Forge who produced National Treasure featuring Robbie Coltrane.

Cally Taylor was born in Worcester and spent her early years living in various army camps in the UK and Germany. She studied Psychology at the University of Northumbria and went on forge a career in instructional design and e-Learning before leaving to write full time in 2014.