Oh my!! I seem to be reading quite a few horrifying tales. This was not horror, but certain scenes scared me good and proper. And I don’t think my heart would ever stop racing when I think of those scenes. Such was the power of author Nigel May’s writing.

This was a hard hitting story. The story started when down on her luck Lucie had just been released from the prison. She flew back to her country, was received by her mother whom she had lost touch with years ago, and was invited to stay with her and her boyfriend Terence. Drew, the landscaper, befriended her, and things started happening to shake Lucie up. Photos rescued from the well revealed its own flurry of secrets.

My first book by author Nigel May, had me gasping while reading the prison scenes. They were dark and gruesome and showed the reality of such a life. Abuses and injury were the norm. The author’s first power lay in the description, he didn’t hesitate or sugar coat the difficult ones.

Suspense and mystery soon followed in the present time, when Lucie wanted to learn the truth of her father and his family. That opened a chest which never should have even been escavated. Therein lay the author’s second power. He incited such a curiosity in me that I had to know the truth.

Then came the twists and a mind blowing, rug-pulled-from-under-my-feet kind of finale which frankly I never ever suspected. The prose had made me so laidback about the mystery that I didn’t think beyond what was shown to me… Mistakes, mistakes… The author was cunning. That showed off his third power which managed to culminate the book at a life threatening height.

Then came my niggles. The prose was staccato, the tension and emotions were not felt across the book. The story took time to traverse. But I am used to racing thrillers.

Overall, I would say this book was like a lightning strike, something so very different from the normal thrillers. One which had pathways made of quicksand which just sucked you into its murky depths. Whew!! I made it!! Would you?

I received a free ARC from the publisher, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.

All my reviews can be read here

Luck has never been on Lucie Palmer’s side. She feels her life is a cursed one, full of loneliness and cruel blows. How else can she explain being removed from the family she loved as a child? Or being imprisoned for a crime she didn’t commit as a young woman? Her life isn’t fair…

But now it’s time to rebuild her life, to start afresh. Lucie attempts to learn the secrets of her family’s past, about the people she was never allowed to love. But does a curse shadow her existence even now? A curse ready to strike again? Maybe even destroy her for good? Can she finally piece together the emptiness in her life before it’s too late, to no longer be the girl unknown…?

Publication Date: 30th August 2019

Publisher: Austin Macaulay Publishing