My Secret Ex by Daniel Hurst
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 20th May 2025
Published: 12th April 2025
★★★ 3 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Some secrets never stay buried...
When I met Dermot, I was finally ready to move on from my troubled past. He seemed like a great guy - funny, charming, handsome - and he was the man I felt I deserved. He was nothing like my ex...
My relationship with my previous boyfriend, Carlton, has been over for years, but that doesn't mean it's been easy to forget about him. Not with how it ended. But I've tried my best. I've also tried my best to make sure my new man does not know about him. It's safer that way...
But as my relationship with Dermot deepens, my past with Carlton begins to intertwine and suddenly, my secret ex is not so secret anymore. Now we're all in danger - me, my son, my new boyfriend - everybody
A fast-paced and twist-filled psychological thriller from the author of The Couple's Revenge, The Baby Swap and the #1 bestseller The Doctor's Wife
MY THOUGHTS:
Some secrets never stay buried...
...and some people are just born stupid. I think just about everyone in this book must have been. It's hard to feel much sympathy for any of them with the situation in which they find themselves completely of their own making.
Marissa is a 37 year old single mum to seven year old George. Life is going swimmingly for them...until it doesn't. If only they'd left things as they had been. If only she never decided to go on that blind date. If only she never slept with Dermot. If only she never told him about Carlton. If only she wasn't so easily led. If only she stayed at home until George was 30. If only, if only, if only.
If only she hadn't met Dermot.
Dermot is a single guy who matched with Marissa on a dating app. He's had his fair share of setbacks in life and now he's put them all behind him and has started afresh. Marissa is his first date since his divorce. And on their date he opens up freely about that and why. And Marissa, being the kindhearted gentle soul that she is, feels his pain and applauds him his bravery at owning up to his mistakes, picking up and moving on. And for trusting her with this part of his life. It's his transparency and their easy camaraderie that cements the knowledge that she is sure to see Dermot again. She likes him and, judging by their easy banter, he likes her too. And he has opened up to her about a very painful time in his life. Which makes her secret sit all the more heavy in her baggage. She's sure than as soon as she reveals that part of her life to him, she can kiss goodbye to any chance with him. He is sure to run a mile.
The fact is both Marissa and Dermot have baggage. A lot of baggage. And it's that baggage - for both of them - that catches up with them, changing the course of their lives forever.
And then there is Carlton. He is serving time in prison for some rather heavy crimes. Until he receives something that sets the wheels in motion for a pretty wild ride. And he isn't stopping until he gets what he wants and comes out on top. No one gets the better of Carlton O'Connor. And no one takes what's his - ever.
OK, I'll be honest. This was not Daniel Hurst's best work. It's not even one of his better books. But it is a quick and easy read. The first half is fairly mundane, switching between Marissa and Dermot respectively on their date. And then when they went home. And then the ensuing days. And their next date...and so forth. Until it got just a little more interesting. Things ramped up a notch more but only slightly. I wasn't overly excited by things and both Dermot and Marissa made some stupid decisions. When she was in that police station asking for protection, nothing (and I mean NOTHING) should have made her leave again! Not until she got the desired result or the police did. And she certainly didn't know Dermot enough to trust him completely...especially given his reaction. And Dermot? Did he really think nothing was going to happen to him if he did as he was asked?
This book was more of a telling of what happened rather than a showing of events and I really felt it was lacking what I know this author is capable of. The twists weren't really twists and I wasn't shocked by anything other than the characters' gullibility. Having said that, I was still compelled enough to read to the end. I did like the final showdown (hats off to Mr Edwards), which was a nice touch.
And unlike others, I certainly hope the story ends there and that there is no book 2. There is honestly nothing more to tell here. End of.
I love Daniel Hurst's thrillers but even our favourite authors can deliver something that doesn't excite us while another of theirs can blow our mind. Specifically "The Passenger" or "The Couple in the Cabin" or "The New Friends" or his freebie book (when you sign up to his newsletter) "Just One Second"- to name a few.
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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