Her Last Hour by Daniel Hurst
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 4th November 2024
Published: 30th March 2023
★★★★ 3.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
One woman. Many enemies...
Home alone on a Friday night, Katherine is anticipating a peaceful evening. But that all changes when she receives a shocking note through her letterbox...
The note tells her that she only has one hour left to live, but with no other information, Katherine has no idea who just threatened her or why. But things quickly go from bad to worse when she suspects her tormentor is already in her home and suddenly, her fight for survival begins.
Forced to reflect on her life choices and with a sizeable list of enemies to choose from, Katherine may have met her match. Who wants to kill her? Why are they doing this to her? Is this really her last hour?
A gripping psychological thriller from the author of the UK #1 bestseller The Doctor's Wife, The Couple In The Cabin and We Used To Live Here.
MY THOUGHTS:
One woman...many enemies...
How many people want Katherine dead? Apparently, it is fairly extensive list! And not just dead, but within the hour?!
It's a typical Friday evening when Katherine returns home to Kent from her busy job in London and she is looking forward to putting her feet up, opening a bottle of wine and just chilling out for the rest of the weekend. After a shower to freshen up, she types a quick text to her brother but isn't surprised when he fails to respond. But tonight, she is going to have a tech-free stress-free evening. So with that, she switches her phone off and places it in her bedside drawer before heading downstairs.
Walking into her kitchen, she hears the mailbox flap before pondering that it's a bit late for the postman to be delivering, given the hour. But sure enough, there is an envelope just inside her front door where it has fallen. Retrieving it, she opens it and just as quickly drops it again, shocked by it's contents.
"You have one hour left to live."
At first shocked, Katherine regains her composure before dismissing it as some kind of prank. Until the lights go out...and her phone has mysteriously disappeared from her bedside drawer. In her attempt to run for help, she is accosted in the backyard by a man wearing a balaclava as he manhandles her back inside where he ties her to the dining room chair.
Thus begins this adrenaline-fuelled thriller where all of Katherine's foibles and ruthlessness are uncovered as she attempts to find out who is behind this ridiculous countdown of her life. Until she realises the significance of "one hour". It's what she gave others a deadline by which to make their decision.
So who of those she gave that deadline is behind this plot to end her life? And why the theatrics?
I was eager to dive into what is now my Daniel Hurst thriller and while I wasn't disappointed, I felt it lacked something though I'm not sure what. It had the adrenaline, it had the thrill-ride, it had the fast pace and snappy chapters. I think what it didn't have was that killer twist. It had a twist, yes, but I wasn't shocked or thrilled by it either. The biggest reveal came about two thirds into the story and with still so much more left, I think I was expecting something bigger, as Daniel Hurst usually delivers. Don't get me wrong, it's still a thrill-ride and adrenaline-pumped and of course his trademark OTT style, but it was hugely entertaining just the same.
Katherine wasn't the least bit likeable so I guess I found it hard to sympathise with her. She was ruthless but did she deserve to die for it? Someone seemed to think so. I just didn't much care for her really.
There are quite a few more characters in this one than is usual for Hurst but most of those play such a small part I guess it doesn't really matter. The main players here are Katherine and balaclava man.
I do have one final point that doesn't sit right with me. Unlike Australia or the US, in the UK their mail is delivered through a flap in the door (I kind of like that idea as it would save me venturing outside to the mailbox). However, very late on a Friday night an envelope is slipped through her letterbox flap. But her house is fortified like Fort Knox with an electronic gate that requires the mailman or delivery person to press a buzzer, announce their delivery and for Katherine to buzz open the gate. So how very late on a Friday night did she suppose the mailman was delivering her a letter? Why did she even have a letterbox flap when her property was locked up tight? In that case I would think she'd have a mailbox. Unlike most other aspects of his books, Hurst fails to explain this. And I felt it kind of needed explaining because it was the whole basis of the story and the threat she received that she had one hour left to live.
Overall, another entertaining adrenaline-pumped thrill-ride which whiled away the afternoon nicely.
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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