My review

The Fear produced extreme fear, and a strange kind of icckiness in me, I was scared to read, yet I was fascinated with the story. I have always enjoyed C. L. Taylor’s novels, but this by far, was the most different amongst them, dealing with a difficult topic. Kudos to her

Taylor’s characters, her story, and her character development, their complexities have a strange eerie quality to them. You know something is going to happen but you just don’t know when. The story is narrated in multiple points of view, the ladies who form the main characters.

Lou the main character, who at the age of 14, ran away with her teacher Mike, who had ‘groomed‘ her in the weeks prior. The story starts by following Lou’s present life with excerpts into the past. She is still haunted by the so called ‘love‘ of her childhood, the horror of it all. Mike made my skin crawl from the beginning to the end as he preys on young girls. (he is 49 years old now, just eeuu)

To take charge of her life, she decides to confront Mike, but she sees him kissing another 14 year old child Chloe. The story follows her life too along with her feelings for Mike.

Then there is Wendy, an unknown character, who is almost stalking Lou. What, in the wide world, is happening in this book??

I am going to write my review as I finish parts of the book

At 25% of book completion, Lou has met Chloe, warned her, her family, and the police. Wendy has met Lou under false pretenses, and is almost savage in her action. Lou has met Mike, and something drastic happens…. The atmosphere of the book is so intense that I am forced to put it down, take a deep breath, write this review, and then continue reading. At this point, I don’t know where the book is going, and I don’t care. I just want to follow the characters to the end.

At nearly 50% : Amidst the strange happenings and unforeseeable circumstances, Lou now knows who Wendy is and how she is connected to the plot. Omg I had goosebumps!! It looks like I am too involved in this book. Moving on….

At 100%, I am just amazed at this story, this story is just insane. I read the book with my heart in my mouth. My breath hitched, my heart raced, my palms sweated. I had to literally calm myself down after reading the book to slow down the adrenaline flow to complete this review.

The Fear by C. L. Taylor, deals with a difficult subject about a predator, but the story was paced fabulously with the right amount of tension filled scenes to make it the book of the day. Sighhhh… What a book!!!

P. S. I hate Mike, absolute loathe him.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Avon Books UK, and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating : 4.5 stars

About the Author

C.L. Taylor is a Sunday Times bestselling author. Her psychological thrillers have sold over a million copies in the UK alone, been translated into over twenty languages, and optioned for television. C.L. Taylor lives in Bristol with her partner and son.

Book 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…

Product Details

Publication date : 22nd March, 2018

Publisher : Avon

Language : English

A real-fictional fantastic story