Review: Looking For Mr Fly by KK Byrne

Synopsis: Looking for Mr Fly is a psychological thriller that looks at the lives of seemingly regular individuals that have very little in common with the exception that they are all chasing the elusive goal of happiness. Tragedy is the catalyst that drives the groups demons to the surface and it soon becomes evident that when you peer underneath the veneer of normaility and look closely enough you find that people are anything but normal.

How well do any of us really know our work colleagues. Here author KK Byrne silently posits the question whilst exploring the interconnecting relationships of a small group of co-workers through interweaving narratives.

Set against a bleak landscape which seems to project itself onto the lives of these individuals, Byrne has created a tantalising psychological thriller, whose detailed ambiance slowly, and subtlety, draws you in, leaving you constantly second guessing where you are being lead. In fact, the narrative is as manipulative and as disingenuous as some of the characters.

" ... there is a story to tell there ... the only trouble will be getting someone to tell it ..."

The ending is not how a reader will imagine it ... but ... well .... I will leave that for the reader to discover for themselves. Definitely a book to be read and savoured in one sitting!

Review: The Perfect Family by Robyn Harding

Synopsis: The bestselling author of the The Swap explores what happens when a seemingly perfect family is pushed to the edge... and beyond in this “propulsive, constantly surprising” (Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, author of The Girls Are All So Nice Here) thriller.

Thomas and Viv Adler are the envy of their neighbors: attractive, successful, with well-mannered children and a beautifully restored home.

Until one morning, when they wake up to find their porch has been pelted with eggs. It’s a prank, Thomas insists; the work of a few out-of-control kids. But when a smoke bomb is tossed on their front lawn, and their car’s tires are punctured, the family begins to worry. Surveillance cameras show nothing but grainy images of shadowy figures in hoodies. And the police dismiss the attacks, insisting they’re just the work of bored teenagers. Unable to identify the perpetrators, the Adlers are helpless as the assaults escalate into violence, and worse. And each new violation brings with it a growing fear. Because everyone in the Adler family is keeping a secret—not just from the outside world, but from each other. And secrets can be very dangerous….

This twisty, addictive page-turning suspense novel about a perfect family’s perfect façade which will keep you turning pages until its explosive ending.

~ ~ ~

A fantastic page turning, gut wrenching, edge of your seat psychological thriller. Going to be up there on my list of must reads for 2021! I really can't add much more except - read this!

2025: Well actually I can.

This is a psychological thriller with an emphasis on unstable, delusion mental and emotional conditions; it focuses on the devious depths of the human mind; the stressed characters revealing a focus on the distorted mental perception and a slow dissolving sense of reality.  As events spiral out of control, anxiety, paranoia, and mind games take hold amplifying the tension, suspense, dread, fear, terror, deception and manipulation.  As secrets are laid bare, the family quietly implodes.  The question is asked: why them - why all of them?

"... the truth is so much worse ..."

Review: Catch Us The Foxes by Nicola West

Synopsis: Some secrets you try to hide. Others you don’t dare let out … Twin Peaks meets The Dry in a deliciously dark and twisted tale that unravels a small town.

Ambitious young journalist Marlowe ‘Lo’ Robertson would do anything to escape the suffocating confines of her small home town. While begrudgingly covering the annual show for the local paper, Lo is horrified to discover the mutilated corpse of Lily Williams, the reigning showgirl and Lo’s best friend. Seven strange symbols have been ruthlessly carved into Lily’s back. But when Lo reports her grisly find to the town’s police chief, he makes her promise not to tell anyone about the symbols. Lo obliges, though it’s not like she has much of a choice – after all, he is also her father.

When Lily’s murder makes headlines around the country and the town is invaded by the media, Lo seizes the opportunity to track down the killer and make a name for herself by breaking the biggest story of her life.

What Lo uncovers is that her sleepy home town has been harbouring a deadly secret, one so shocking that it will captivate the entire nation. Lo’s story will change the course of her life forever, but in a way she could never have dreamed of.

I don't tend to wax lyrical about a book but in this case I will make a rare exception.

I am going to put this forward as one of my must read psychological thrillers for the year - right up there with two of my past favourites - Killing The Girl and The Creak on the Stairs.

I - and probably much to the angst of the publisher - recommend having a physical copy of this book as you will often find yourself moving backwards and forwards, thinking you have missed some little clue, as the author dangles much before you, only to snatch it away at the last moment.

This book is - to use a colloquialism - an onion. There are so many layers that the reader really does need to pay attention. The synopsis really does give the reader a slight inkling as to what to expect - but you are being deceived. And don't think that by skipping to the end you have the whole story - you don't! You will find yourself sucker punched a number of times before the ending is revealed.

In the words of our protagonist: " ...... I know better than anyone just how alluring a conspiracy theory could be ..... I had fallen for it's allure ... it was a better story than the truth ..." - but what is truth, what is conspiracy and what is delusion ....... well, I for one won't be revealing that!

All I will add, is someone had better snap up the film rights to this one rather quickly!

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