BLOG TOUR: One Bad Thing - M.K. Hill

She thought she'd got away with it. She was wrong.

Hannah Godley is an agony aunt on a London radio show Queen of Hearts. She's warm and empathetic; a good listener. Her catchphrase is: Be kind, always. But when a stranger phones in to tell a tragic story about her brother who killed himself after he was the victim of a terrible prank by two people, Hannah goes cold. Because she remembers Diane's brother well. In fact, all these years later, he still haunts her dreams. All because of that one bad thing she did when she was young...

Is Diane just a sad, lonely woman looking for a friend, or does she know what Hannah did, and is looking for revenge? Because as Diane insinuates herself into her life and family, Hannah is going to discover that you can never truly escape that One Bad Thing you did – sooner or later, you're going to have to pay the price...

 

What did I think?

Ooooh this is such a good book!  I was hooked from the very first page when Hannah explains that she did something in her past that she's not proud of...but what did she do?  I couldn't read fast enough to find out but that's not the only hook...someone knows what Hannah did and if the truth comes out it could destroy her.

Hannah is radio's Queen of Hearts and her crown would well and truly slip if people ever find out what she did, so when a caller to the radio show threatens to expose Hannah's secret, Hannah will do anything to keep it buried...even befriending the person who is threatening her.  Diane is really creepy, she is so clingy and needy but it's clear that she is very lonely and I did feel sorry for her.  Loneliness can be a crippling condition so I could understand Diane grabbing on to social contact whether obtained through fair means or foul.

Although Hannah has a deep, dark secret that could show her in a completely different light to her public persona, I still really liked her.  She's a new mum, juggling a busy career and a home with a husband who needs a good talking to.  I think Sean often forgets that he is married; he acts like a single bloke, always leaving Hannah to look after the baby.  Sean's contribution to parenthood was to hire a nanny...enough said.

I just loved everything about this book: the well-developed characters, the fast-paced, drama-filled plot and the compelling writing that really drew me into the story.  The writing is so good that I already have my eye on M.K. Hill's previous books and can't wait to read them.

Gripping, pacy and twisty, One Bad Thing is a cracking thriller that is as impossible to predict as it is to put down.  I highly recommend it and I think M.K. Hill is definitely an author to watch.

Many thanks to Sophie Ransom for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and to Head of Zeus for providing an ARC to read and review; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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Dear Amy - Helen Callaghan

FIRST CLASS PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE FROM A MAJOR NEW VOICE IN FICTION

In her guise as 'Dear Amy', agony aunt for a local newspaper, Margot Lewis has dealt with all sorts of letters - but never one like this...

Dear Amy,

I've been kidnapped by a strange man. 

I don't know where I am.
Please help me,

Bethan Avery

This must be a cruel hoax. Because Bethan Avery has been missing for nearly two decades.

But as the present-day search intensifies for another missing schoolgirl, Margot is unnerved enough to take the letter to the police, hoping they will dismiss it as a sick joke.

Instead, they let Margot in on a little secret. One that confirms her darkest fears and tangles her up in the search for the sender, which could save one young girl's life and cost Margot her own...

What did I think?

Although I read it quite quickly, I didn't really lose myself in Dear Amy as much as I expected.  I didn't really feel any emotions for any of the characters, not even missing girls Bethan Avery or Katie Browne.  I thought the story itself was a good enough idea but it was just too easy to guess the outcome, even for me who doesn't usually see most things coming.  I do, however, have to give Helen Callaghan special kudos for making me gasp out loud towards the end of the book when I drew in my breath as fast as the gunshot I had just heard in my head.

Margot Lewis is a teacher at a local school when one of her pupils, Katie Browne, goes missing.  Everyone thinks Katie ran away so the police aren't really looking that hard for her.  Margot, in the form of Amy, agony aunt of the local newspaper, then starts to receive letters from Bethan Avery, a girl who was kidnapped twenty years ago and never found.  Could Bethan still be alive?  Is her case linked to Katie's?  Margot, however, has problems of her own - she's going through a messy divorce and popping sleeping pills like smarties. Will Katie be found before Margot unravels?

Dear Amy is a fast-paced thriller with a few shocks and surprises that really did make me gasp out loud.  Although it never quite caught me within its grasp, it was an enjoyable, albeit slightly predictable, read.

I received this e-book from the publisher, Penguin, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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