The Perfect Nurse (The Perfect Nurse #1) by Daniel Hurst
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 27th July 2024
Published: 1st July 2024
★★★ 2.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
‘My name is Darcy, I’m your nurse and I’m here to help you.’ I repeat the words I’ve said so many times. Except this time, I don’t mean it…
If you saw me walking down the street, you’d think I was pretty ordinary – I wear the typical crisp, white nursing uniform, my hands are scrubbed clean and you’d have no reason to believe I was anything other than a good citizen. A good nurse.
But looks can be deceiving. You shouldn’t trust me – because I don’t even know if I can trust myself.
Now I stare at the reflection in the mirror – dark smudges under my eyes and blood on my hands – listening for the sound of police sirens.
Because the truth is I had to do something terrible. I broke all the rules a nurse should follow. I wanted someone gone so badly. And now they’re dead because of me.
I’m looking over my shoulder everywhere I go because I’m sure someone knows my secret. Then when my home is broken into I know one simple truth: this isn’t over yet…
It’s only the beginning.
The police are the least of my worries now. But to save myself, am I going to have to kill again?
A nurse who isn't as she appears...do you trust her?
It's no secret that I am a huge Daniel Hurst fan. I've devoured everything I've read of his in record time and loved (mostly) them all. And then along comes the perfect nurse...which is anything but.
Now I've been in a reading slump for months so I wasn't surprised when I found myself struggling to get into the storyline and connect with the characters. But I pushed on through. Because I know what Daniel Hurst is capable of and that I wouldn't be sorry if I just ploughed on. But then I come across another couple of reviews which highlight the same concerns I had.
1. that it was waaaaay too slow from the start when Hurst's thrillers have been non-stop thrill rides from the first page!
2. a bit too repetitious (I get it, she wears a uniform) but it seems to spend more time on the floor if this story is anything to go by.
3. I'm all for popcorn thrillers with somewhat far fetched tales (after all, it is just fiction) but this one just pushed the limits of believability a little too far. I guess the fact that nothing happened until around chapter 25 didn't help either!
4. the setting. I read British authors because I prefer British set thrillers. I'm not keen on when they take their stories to foreign climes. If I wanted to read a book set in America then I would read an American author. But that's just a preference and not a major issue here.
Now...that's out of the way, let's get down to the rest of it. On the surface, it's an OK thriller. Not one of his best by any means but by the time the reveal came and the action began, waking me from my coma, things did start to pick up. Of course by then it was too little too late for this book but hey, it had potential.
Seriously, I liked the concept behind the bigger picture and I feel it would have played out so much better presented differently and with a far more likeable main character. Darcy was irritating and I couldn't care less about what happened to her in all honesty. The prologue shows her burning her uniform (yes, the same one that seemed to have permanent residence on her floor) no longer wanting to be a nurse. The question is, why? And so we go down the rabbit hole in pursuit of the answer. What made her so disillusioned by her chosen profession that she wanted nothing more to do with it? Well, we've a long way to find out because none of the first half sheds any light nor is it very enlightening about much at all.
Darcy and her friend Pippa have been charged wit the care of middle aged Scarlett who had an accident at home in which has caused her to lose her memory or memories, though she does have some lucid moments from time to time. But it isn't long before Darcy gets a weird vibe from husband Adrian and begins to think that all is not as it seems with the couple. And so she sets about determined to prove their nefarious subterfuge despite Pippa's best efforts to dissuade her. But Darcy is determined...though nothing will prepare her for the shocks she is about to uncover.
So true to Hurst fashion, there are the usual twist upon twists but sadly not of the same calibre as his other offerings. I admit, I did enjoy it once the pace picked up and the thrills got better but like I said it was too little too late for this one.
I intend reading the second book shortly so I hope that one is faster paced and more exciting. And hopefully, Darcy is more likeable this time round.
I would like to thank #DanielHurst, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #ThePerfectNurse in exchange for an honest review.
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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