The Victim by John Nicholl
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 21st January 2023
Published: 13th January 2023
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
Alice Granger is no ordinary survivor. She has a tale to tell, a story of revenge.
Alice feels driven to protect the innocent from dangerous men. Men like her father. Men who hurt children. Predators who prey on the innocent. And there’s nothing Alice won’t do to make them pay.
Alice wants to make them suffer as their victims did. But the police are one step behind. And as the net closes, Alice’s life spirals out of control, the lines between good and evil becoming ever more blurred as she attempts to escape capture.
When the hunted becomes the hunter, is anyone innocent?
*Previously published as Killing Evil*
MY THOUGHTS:
Alice Granger is no ordinary victim. And John Nicholl is no ordinary thriller writer. Once again he has smashed the genre with another brutal and extremely dark pageturner that is so twisted and disturbing but equally addictive. THE VICTIM is, by all accounts, not for the faint hearted. But it is one hell of a twisted read!
The story opens with a sad and heartbreaking tale of abuse at the hands of her father, a respected man of the community - a vicar, no less - but Alice Granger's life is no walk in the park. From the age of around four, she has been subjected to all kinds of abuse and sick depravities that by the time she is thirteen and recognises the look of lavishness as he eyes her baby sister. Alice knows what's coming. But how can she protect her baby sister from suffering the same fate she has for nine long years? Her mother wasn't going to be of any help...she denied her claims and failed to protect her.
Years later, Alice is now an adult and works in a probation office as admin. Kind of perfect when you think about it, as she is privy to all the details of offenders being released from prison. And who better than to mete out justice than Alice herself? Ever since she was a victim herself, Alice has sworn to protect other children from the predators who prey on them. She wants them to suffer as much as they made their victims suffer...before her final act of revenge.
But as one by one, they disappear and Alice is congratulating herself, the police are clueless and Alice is laughing at them behind their backs. They have no clue and she is even cleverer than they are.
Soon she is spiralling out of control...her father's voice continues to haunt her, ridiculing her and mocking her...her whole world becomes a delusion as she loses sight of good and evil...and her fight for the greater good becomes her undoing.
THE VICTIM is uniquely written, told exclusively by Alice, through what is essentially her diary. She tells her story from the beginning, relives her abuse, outlines her quest for revenge and her motives right down to how she meticulously plans each kill. She is almost like a Dexter, though he doesn't lose the plot in the way Alice does. Readers can almost sympathise with Alice after what she's been through and her reasoning behind her crimes. But at the end of the day, she is eseentially a psychopath...through no fault of her own. She wasn't born that way but a product of her traumatic childhood.
If you have ever read John Nicholl you will know that he tells stories in that no holds barred way that is brutal and often graphic. His tales are almost always from the perspective of the villain which is a very different way of bringing a story to life...through the bad guy's eyes. From the start, readers know who the villain is so there is no mystery there. But there is a kind of thrill to be had in the chase...a suspense...a narrative that is so skillfully plotted it's as addictive as it is twisted, but you just can't look away. Nicholl draws his readers in using his own experience as a child protection social worker and former police officer. He's seen the dark and gritty side of society and draws on his knowledge and firsthand experience to create this dark and twisted storylines. None of his books are easy reads but they are all addictive pageturners.
This is about the seventh John Nicholl thriller I have read in the 6 months since I discovered him, and I have loved every one of them. He is now one of my favourite authors and I never miss a chance to devour another one of his thrillers. They are all unique with tension filled plots that will haunt your waking hours. His thrillers are the type that leave you thinking...wow!
Overall, THE VICTIM is an addictive psychological thriller that is dark, disturbing and not for the faint hearted. But it is one hell of a read! I devoured it in one sitting!
I would like to thank #JohnNicholl, #Netgalley and #BoldwoodBooks for an ARC of #TheVictim in exchange for an honest review.
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