I’m dipping my toe back into psychological thrillers, I like to put a fair bit of space between them so that when I read one it has more shock value and I think I picked a good one to jump back in with.
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Till death do us part…
After leaving her marriage to jealous, possessive oncologist Maxwell, Lily and her six-year-old son have a second chance at happiness with headteacher Sebastian. Kind but vulnerable, Sebastian is the polar opposite of Maxwell, and the perfect match for Lily. After a whirlwind romance, they marry, and that’s when things start to go wrong…
Maxwell returns to the scene, determined to win back his family, and events soon spiral out of control. Lily and Sebastian find themselves not only fighting for their relationship, but also their lives…
Chilling, dark and terrifying, Do No Harm is a taut psychological thriller and a study of obsession, from one of the most exciting new voices in crime fiction.
Amazon | Goodreads | Book Depository
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Whilst I got really stuck into this book I unfortunately read a review that kind of spoiled a part of it for me, which meant that I didn’t quite have the same shock value that I was anticipating. It was my own fault really I usually know to stay away from reviews of psychological thrillers or I skim them just in case they go into the plot at all, because any information can change my reading experience.
Having said that I still really enjoyed the ride, the writing is fluid but still manages to grab you with a tight fist and not let you go. It is told from alternate points of view, we mostly hear from Lily and Sebastian and I liked how the narrative switched from first person to third. In a book where you are already questioning everything I liked that I had this added conundrum of whether it was a sign that maybe the switch meant something more, so it added a lot of extra tension.
As with this genre you do really start to question the characters frame of mind and the author has created a brilliant cast for us to pick apart. I wouldn’t say that I was completely enamored with any of them but they definitely got under my skin. You do get to the point where you are second guessing things left, right and centre, even Denny the six year old boy was looking suspicious for some of the trouble that Lily and Sebastian were facing.
I think the plotting in this was perfect, I of course won’t give details but there was no element of the unbelievable that can creep up in a psychological thriller and obsession is such a clever route to pick because people do tend to go to their furthest darkest point when they are consumed by it.
Do No Harm will definitely make you feel all the twisted emotions that you want from this genre, it doesn’t rely too much on over the top twists instead it plays a lot more with your feelings and makes sure you are invested the whole way through. I’ll be on the lookout for anything else that L V Hay writes.
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This tour is nearing its end but that does mean that there are lots of stops that you can have a look back on…
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Lucy V. Hay is a novelist, script editor and blogger who helps writers via her Bang2write consultancy. She is the associate producer of Brit Thrillers Deviation (2012) and Assassin (2015), both starring Danny Dyer. Lucy is also head reader for the London Screenwriters’ Festival and has written two non-fiction books, Writing & Selling Thriller Screenplays, plus its follow-up Drama Screenplays. Her critically acclaimed debut thriller The Other Twin was published in 2017. She lives in Devon with her husband, three children, six cats and five African Land Snails.
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Reviews of other L V Hay books
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everywhere-and-nowhere.com 
Thanks so much for your Blog Tour support Kate x
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