Title: Her Greatest Mistake
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
I am thrilled to take part in the blog tour for Sarah Simpson's riveting debut novel Her Greatest Mistake, a suspenseful psychological thriller exploring dysfunctional relationships and the dark corners of the human psyche. For excerpts, author interviews and more, make sure to stop by other blogs participating in this blog tour (schedule attached).
Book Description:
Do we ever know what goes on behind closed
doors?
Eve and Gregg were the perfect couple, with
the perfect marriage...which has become the perfect lie. Gone is the charming,
attentive Gregg - instead Eve wakes up each morning beside a manipulative and
sinister man who controls his wife’s every move.
So Eve flees her immaculate marital home to
keep herself, and young son Jack safe. Yet no matter how careful she has been,
she knows Gregg will be relentless in his pursuit of his missing family. And
that one day, when she's least expecting it, he will find them...
What was Eve’s greatest mistake?
Marrying Gregg? Leaving him? Or leaving him
alive…?
My musings:
Wow! This book certainly packed some punch! I was not surprised to find out that the
author has a psychology degree and vast experience in working with patients
with mental health issues. Simpson’s insights into what makes a psychopath tick
and how dysfunctional dynamics are being sustained in a marriage are insightful
and take this story to another level altogether.
Eve, our main protagonist, is a successful psychologist with
parents, friends and colleagues who love and value her. All that changes when
she meets Gregg, falls in love and gets married. It doesn’t take long for the
cracks to appear as the marriage slides into a game of power and control in
which Eve finds herself ensnared. Have you ever looked at a domestic violence
situation and wondered why the victim stays with her partner? Have you ever blamed
her for her own situation? Be honest! Eve is aware of what is happening to her,
and yet she allows herself to become estranged and isolated from all her
support people until she is solely at the mercy of her controlling spouse. How
could this happen? Over the course of the story, Simpson carefully explores Eve’s
insights into her own situation, and they will shock and surprise you.
But this is not simply a book about marriage and abuse,
because Simpson has spun it into a riveting thriller that picks up pace as the
story moves along, right up to its explosive finale. Because it is now twelve
years later, and Eve has made a new life for herself and her teenage son, away
from Gregg’s clutches. Gregg appears to have disappeared off the face of the
earth, and Eve prays that it will remain so. Until a note is slipped into her
briefcase, and she is forced to relive the trauma of her marriage all over
again. Will she ever be able to break free from Gregg’s clutches?
I admit that it took me a little while to get used to the
narration style, which is mainly Eve “talking to” Gregg as she recaps the
events that led up to her current situation. It’s an unusual style I’m not
usually fond of, but as the story progressed I found that it was befitting this
tale of power and abuse and helped to explore the dynamics that drive these
characters. Once I got into the story, it carried me with it like a runaway
train, depositing me firmly into the midst of troubled minds – that of the
abuser and the victim. Fascinating? Yes. Disturbing? Definitely! Some passages
evoked an almost visceral response of anger and disgust that made me want do
away with Gregg myself. It always reflects the skill of a writer to be able to
kindle such sparks in the minds of her readers!
Summary:
Without any further ado, and for fear of giving something
away that would spoil the suspense for other readers, just let me say that I
really enjoyed Simpson’s debut novel and look forward to reading more from this
talented author. Her insights into the dynamics that sustain dysfunctional
relationships and her experience in exploring the dark corners of the human
psyche provided additional depth to this suspenseful thriller that is often
lacking in similar novels. Highly recommended to lovers of the genre who enjoy
character driven stories of suspense that focus on relationship dynamics.
About the author:
Sarah Simpson has a first-class honours degree in Psychology and has worked in a neuro-psychology department at a Brain Rehabilitation Hospital. When she first graduated she formed a mental health consultancy and worked as a psychologist within the family court system of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire. Three years ago she moved to Cornwall with her husband and three children, and runs her own practice in Truro. Her Greatest Mistake is her first novel, and she is currently working on the second.
Twitter: @sarahrsimpson
Facebook: @sarahsimpsoncornwall
Facebook: @ariafiction
Twitter: @aria_fiction
Instagram: @ariafiction
Links to buy:
Hi Heidi,
ReplyDeleteJut wanted to thank you for taking the time to read Her Greatest Mistake and also for the wonderful, thoughtful review. It is so very much appreciated! x
Hi Heidi,
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to thank you for taking the time to read Her Greatest Mistake and also for your wonderful, thoughtful review, it is so very much appreciated x
Thank you so much for stopping by, Sarah - made my day!
ReplyDelete