REVIEW: My Daughter's Boyfriend by Daniel Hurst

My Daughter's Boyfriend by Daniel Hurst

Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense

Read: 14th July 2023

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Published: 3rd June 2023

★★★★ 3.5 stars (rounded up)

DESCRIPTION:

My daughter thought she had found the man of her dreams. But now her life is in danger…

When Ellie tells me she has a new boyfriend, I am absolutely thrilled and can’t wait to meet him. She finally seems so happy and in love.

But there’s a catch. Ellie has never met him in person. In fact, he doesn’t even live in the same country. Our home is in England, but Daryl is in Los Angeles.

When handsome Daryl invites Ellie to stay with him at his luxury Los Angeles mansion for a few weeks, I insist on joining her. I need to find out more about the man who has my daughter so enamoured.

Daryl welcomes us into his whitewashed house, complete with a stunning swimming pool and sun-drenched patio. Then one morning, I discover a terrible secret in his basement that changes everything. He has been lying to us from the start.

I go to confront him, but Ellie and Daryl are nowhere to be found. I call Ellie’s phone but there’s no answer.

Has something happened to my precious girl? And will I be able to save her?

An utterly gripping psychological thriller that will keep you up all night from the author of the number one bestselling novel The Doctor’s Wife. If you love Gone Girl, The Night She Disappeared and The Perfect Couple, you’ll be hooked by My Daughter’s Boyfriend.

MY THOUGHTS:

A mother's intuition is always right...

I really should be reading a book that gets my Netgalley shelf down but I can never resist a Daniel Hurst thriller. So I threw caution to the wind and, despite my bowing shelf, jumped right in feet first (much like a character in this very tale).

Hurst needs no introduction. He is by far one of my favourite go-to authors and when it's not on Netgalley I auto-buy or even pre-order his latest releases such as this one (and the one published tomorrow which should land on my kindle sometime in the next 9 hours). His settings are diverse not only taking place in England but also in Europe, Australia like one, America. I once said about another author "there is no such thing as a bad book by the said author". That is also the case with Hurst. While I may not "love-love" everything he writes, I enjoy every single one of them anyway. Because he knows how to pen a story to keep the reader entertained from beginning to end, regardless of how far fetched or ridiculous it may seem in reality, he certainly gives us that certain thrill. And then leaves us with a twist at the end that leaves us going...what the...? Either way, readers are thoroughly entertained throughout.

MY DAUGHTER'S BOYFRIEND tells of the budding online romance between Ellie in the UK and Daryl in the US. The two have never met but were "matched" via an app that connects people with similar interests throughout the world with one another. And so that's how Ellie met Daryl. It matters not to her that they've never met in real life and that they've only had one video call since embarking on their fledgling relationship via text. Ellie knows beyond all doubt that Daryl is the one for her. More so now that they've shared this video call and seen each other for the first time ever. The same call that her mother Dawn barged in on and interrupted without warning. At least, that's how Ellie sees it. She's only glad her mum didn't notice the touch of blusher she was wearing at the time given that it was the middle of the night and she was in bed.

Dawn's life has been somewhat mundane since the tragic death of her husband Sean four years ago and she has been left to support her daughter, who at 24 (in my opinion) is old enough to start supporting herself or at least helping her mother towards that support. Dawn works endless shifts at a 24/7 supermarket for a minimum wage, often overnight and finishing at 4am when the rest of the country is getting ready to wake up. So when she walks in before dawn to find her daughter awake and on her phone, Dawn is surprised and then shocked at the revelation that Ellie then makes. She has a boyfriend. But there is a catch. He lives in America. And now Ellie wants to fly out there to meet him. Surprisingly to her daughter, Dawn agrees...on one condition. That she accompanies her.

So within a week of learning of her daughter's new romance, Dawn and Ellie embark on the eleven hour flight to Los Angeles. Once there, they stay with Daryl and his father Harvey in their beautiful sprawling home that made their little house back in Suffolk seem small and poky. Ellie couldn't wait to explore the marvels of sunny California, the homes of the rich and famous, Venice Beach, Santa Monica and Malibu - places she had only dreamed about and saw on TV. But in the early hours of the morning, Dawn stumbles upon a secret that lay hidden within the basement proving that Daryl has been lying to them and she is further unsettled when she discovers that Ellie and Daryl have disappeared. Then as the days unfold her unease only grows.

MY DAUGHTER'S BOYFRIEND is a little different from Hurst's other thrillers I have embarked upon but they still contain his unique ability to draw readers in and further entertain us no matter the story. Full of twists, albeit predictable, there are a few surprises along the way though I had it figured out almost from the start. But that didn't spoil my enjoyment because as is always the case with Hurst, the thrill is in the ride and as always are adrenaline-fuelled.

As with his stories, the characters are few so it always kind of narrows things down but in this case the stupidity award goes to Ellie as does the one for so little respect for her mother. Honestly, she behaved liked a teenager instead of a twenty four year old who constantly is rude and disrespectful. She keeps herself locked away in her room when she is home and made a song and dance when her mother asked her to start contributing to the finances since they both lived there. At her age, it was only fair. But no. And poor Dawn was left to work long thankless hours to keep her daughter fed and clothed. And now she wanted to jet across the other side of the world to meet a man she has only met online? She was insane not to mention stupid.

Nevertheless, the story was fast paced, addictive and entertaining from start to finish with a nice little twist at the end...something that has become something of a trademark for Hurst.

Overall, not a bad read. Not his best but I still enjoyed it and am always eagerly looking forward to what he will deliver next.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Daniel Hurst was born in the northwest of England, a part of the world famous for its comedians, pasties and terrible weather.

He has been employed in several glamorous roles in his lifetime, including bartending, shelf stacking and procurement administration, all while based in some of the most exotic places on the planet, like Bolton, Preston and South London.

Daniel 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.

Since following his lifelong passion for writing in 2020, he has amassed a loyal and devoted set of readers, and regularly has several books in the top 100 of the Psychological Thriller Charts on Amazon. His title The Passenger became the #1 selling psychological thriller in the UK in October 2021. The Doctor's Wife is his first publication with Bookouture.

A prolific writer, Daniel likes to keep readers on their toes by self publishing even more books in between those released through his publisher.

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