The Boyfriend by Daniel Hurst
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 17th November 2024
Published: 20th June 2021
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
What if your exes were being killed off one by one?
Adele has had a colourful romantic past but has finally found her soulmate, Tom. They are engaged and she is looking forward to a future of blissful happiness.
Until she realises her ex-boyfriends are turning up dead.
At first the deaths seem accidental, but soon a sinister pattern emerges. All of Adele’s former partners are being killed off - in the order she dated them. As the body count grows, Adele has to figure out who is doing this and why.
Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time until the killer gets to Tom…
The Boyfriend – the stunning psychological thriller from the author of The Passenger and The Broken Vows.
MY THOUGHTS:
"Three down...three to go..."
What if someone is killing your exes off one by one?
Another entertaining tale penned by Daniel Hurst, even if a little OTT - but who cares? It had thrills, twists and adrenaline pumping entertainment and that's all I'm here for. Another quick read to devour in 4 hours before bed. This is my thirtieth read by the prolific author.
This time we meet Adele. At thirty six, she has finally met her soulmate in Tom. They are engaged and planning to marry next summer. Life couldn't be better. Until one evening out with BFF Nicola, a perusal of her phone alerts her to the suicide of her first boyfriend Shaun. Adele is shocked and the women then drown their sorrows until well after midnight with Adele stumbling into the house she shares with Tom, giggling and somewhat drunk. Tom is not amused.
The following morning, she wakes with a pounding headache only to be replaced by a different kind of headache that she has suffered ever since her mysterious accident when she was sixteen. She and Nicola attend Shaun's funeral at which many old school friends she hasn't seen for twenty years also attend.
And then she discovers her second boyfriend was killed in a car crash. That's two in as many days. When a third dies in a housefire, Adele becomes frightened. Especially when she receives a text message soon after saying:
"Three down, three to go..."
Someone is killing off her boyfriends one by one and with three left that number also includes Tom. Frightened and needing to warn the others, Adele confides in Tom who doesn't believe her and neither do the police. It's obvious to her (and to the reader) that her two other exes are in danger but police don't see any threat citing the message could mean anything. Why won't they listen to her? Why won't Tom? Only Nicola seems to believe her. Together they realise that it has to be someone close to Adele, someone who knows her past, her boyfriends and in the order in which she dated them. Suddenly Adele starts to wonder who she can trust? Could someone from her circle of friends be behind all this?
With only boyfriends four and five left before the killer hones in on Tom, Adele tries to convince the police of the danger before deciding to try and find the killer herself.
Well...what an entertaining thrill ride this was! I opened it just to peruse it before maybe watching some TV before bed. Instead I was pulled into the story and began swiftly swiping the pages until the very end...some four hours later.
I really love Daniel Hurst and know I will be entertained by whatever he delivers. This one is no different. The plot is unique, the pace fast, the story entertaining. It's a race against time as Adele (and the reader) try to uncover the killer before any ore lives are lost. But will they be too late?
None of the characters are stand out. Adele is something of a lush, behaving like a sixteen year old rather than a thirty six year old, stumbling in drunk several times a week. And she thinks that's OK? No wonder Tom is losing patience with her. I think he is very patient with her under the circumstances. Her need to drown her sorrows at every turn drove me mad and is another reason I rated down. Must every thriller include senseless drinking?
As with all Daniel Hurst thrillers, there are only a handful of characters so working out which one could be behind it all could be tough to figure out. Some have cited it being VERY hard to figure out. I didn't think so. But then I try to think like Hurst and ponder who will have wearing the killer "hat". I did work it so was expecting another (bigger) twist at the end which is what Hurst is renowned for...leaving fans with a killer twist that leaves them speechless. Not so with this one. In fact, after the race against time fast paced adrenaline-fuelled plot, I was left feeling a little flat. Hence the rating drop.
But having said that, it is still a entertaining fast paced thrill ride in Hurst's unique signature style.
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.
Social Media links:
Social Media links:
No comments:
Post a Comment