REVIEW: The Intruder by Daniel Hurst

The Intruder by Daniel Hurst

Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller, Suspense

Read: 29th September 2022

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Published: 21st September 2022

★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)

DESCRIPTION:

Getting into their house was easy. The hard part was getting out.

Maria and William seem to have it all. Two happy children. A beautiful house. A thriving business.

But when their home is invaded by David, an ex-employee with a score to settle, the couple face a terrifying fight to survive.

During the course of one hellish night, David picks apart their carefully constructed life. Secrets are unearthed, truths revealed.

And soon David begins to wonder if he’s bitten off more than he can chew – because he’s discovering Maria and William are not the defenceless couple he imagined. By the time he realises who these people really are, it may already be too late…

Who will make it out alive?

One couple. One intruder. Several shocking secrets…

MY THOUGHTS:

Daniel Hurst does it again! He never fails to disappoint and I know that whenever I open the pages of another of his books, he will take me on a ride pumped full of adrenaline that I will never forget. THE INTRUDER is an action-packed thriller from start to finish with a twist partway through that turns everything on its head and we wonder in which direction is this going to go now? What begins as pure unadulterated oblivion ends up a cat and mouse game of their lives. But just who will get out of it alive?

The perfect couple with the perfect marriage, a perfect house and a perfect business and working relationship, William and Maria Gallagher have it all. Their successful advertising agency has paid for their illustrious house offering magnificent views and their comfortable lifestyle. They have two children - Edward (7) and Penny (5) - both of whom they dote on and who want for nothing. Everything in their lives is as perfect as they are. 

Or are they really?

When disgruntled ex-employee David breaks into their home one night in a revenge-seeking home invasion, their perfect lives are shattered and this is just the beginning of their troubles. He intends to ensure the Gallaghers admit that he was innocent of that which he was accused of and he was dismissed without a thorough and proper investigation. And he wants to know why. He has watched and waited for this moment and he resolves to see it through to a satisfying conclusion. So when he handcuffs them and bundles them into William's exclusive super-car, what is it that he has in mind for the couple? But he has nothing to lose, since he has already lost everything.

Little did he know, but David was about to begin the unravelling of dark secrets and cracks in his former employers' marriage...and ultimately, their business. Just who are William and Maria Gallagher really? 

Events of the night lead the couple and their captor to a different house where William and David face off with Maria left in the car's boot. And suddenly the lies and deceit come to the surface threatening to uncover the betrayal and the sins of the past. 

This is where things start to get interesting, wrapped up in workplace harassment, infidelity, betrayal laced with plenty of secrets, lies and deceit, you have no idea just who is going to come out on top in this cat and mouse game with a difference! One has secrets to hide and one is smarter than the other suspects. But who will outsmart the other?

WOW! Talk about an addictive jaw-dropping thriller! Daniel Hurst leaves no stone unturned as he cranks up the tension with every page in THE INTRUDER. Just when you think you know what's going on, he throws in another twist taking us in a completely different direction. And while you may have to suspend belief a little with some of the decisions made and actions taken, Hurst's writing is so compelling and addictive that it doesn't really matter because it is just soooo good!

The perspectives shift between Maria and David to begin with before progressing to those of Maria and William. And little by little, we watch as the perfect world of the Gallaghers gradually falls apart. I love the dark humour and the multi-layering of twists that keep coming keeping us engaged throughout until the final page. THE INTRUDER is another fine example of Hurst's completely compelling domestic suspense thrillers.

I would like to thank #DanielHurst, #Netgalley, #InkubatorBooks and #ZoolooTours for an ARC of #TheIntruder in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Daniel Hurst writes psychological thrillers and loves to tell tales about unusual things happening to normal people. He has written all his life, making the progression from handing scribbled stories to his parents as a boy to writing full length novels in his thirties. He lives in the North West of England and when he isn’t writing, he is usually watching a game of football in a pub where his wife can’t find him.

Daniel writes psychological thrillers. The New Friends will be his fourth novel published with Inkubator Books.

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