The Colleagues by Daniel Hurst
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 7th March 2024
Published: 10th February 2024
★★ 2.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
How far would you go to keep a secret at work? Would you kill for it?
I used to enjoy my job. I was good at it and felt fulfilled. I also used to enjoy spending time with the people I worked with. They say you spend more time with your work colleagues than you do with your family members, but that was fine by me because I made two very good friends at the office. I also allowed myself to get a little too close to my boss, but I soon realised that was a mistake.
Unfortunately, it was too late by then, and as my personal and professional lives quickly blurred into one, that was when everything changed.
My workplace became the scene for plotting, revenge and murder, but none of us were cut out for things like that. We were just three colleagues who became friends before things went too far. But there was no going back from what we did. We could only hope that we would get away with it. But not all of us would.
A gripping, page-turning psychological thriller from the author of The Couple's Revenge, The Passenger and the number one bestseller, The Doctor's Wife
MY THOUGHTS:
Well...where do I begin with this one? Daniel Hurst is one of my favourite authors. I pre-order everything he publishes and I don't even read the description because I know whatever the story, I'm going to be entertained and thrilled. Largely, I'm never disappointed. That is, until now.
What happened here? This is so far removed from the Daniel Hurst I know and love. Where is the fast paced plot? The thrill ride guaranteed to keep us entertained? This one was so slow in places it was like wading through quick sand. And the characters were all, and I do mean all of them, were so unlikeable it was difficult to find any sympathy for them.
Liz, Bev and Natasha were colleagues but remained friends even after the termination of each of their employment with the company for which they worked. But each of them came away with the same tale of woe. Their boss Edwin Van Dekker had either propositioned them or sexually assaulted them, thus resulting in the termination of their employment with a hefty payout and a NDA signed, sealed and delivered.
But this was not enough for the three women. They wanted him to pay for what he did to them. To pay the ultimate price...with his life. And so that's what they set out to do. But how do they do it? And how do they now get away with it?
Regardless of the positions they now find themselves in, Liz and Bev continue to make stupid mistakes over and over. Natasha never has the chance, having decided she can't live with what they've done. But is that what really happened? Or did one of the women silence her before she could go to the police and confess?
But the stupid mistakes didn't end there. They went right through to the end (almost). From incriminating texts to the lost phone to confessing to the boss' son without being the least bit suspicious?
The ending was kind of OK but not the shocking twist that was tagged as having and nothing really earth shattering either. In fact, it was an ending I thought the author would naturally come up with as is his style. But the rest of the book was something of a disappointment. I prefer his domestic thrillers and his other psychological ones.
However, I know that even our favourite authors can publish one we aren't endeared to and up until now that had never been the case with Hurst. I will continue to auto-buy and pre-order his books because I know what great things he is capable of. It's just this one wasn't for me.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
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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