Friday 24 February 2017

Fatal Option by Chris Beaky (Thriller, 10E/10E)

 21st February 2017, Post Hill Press, 280 pages, Ebook, Review copy from Netgalley

Content: inappropriate adult behaviour, drug and alcohol use, crime, 

Summary from Netgalley
A tragic accident. A family in crisis. And a killer watching every move.

On the coldest night of the year, Stephen Porter is pulled from a dreamless sleep by a midnight phone call. His 17-year-old daughter Sara is stranded in a blizzard near the top of a mountain beyond their suburban home. She's terrified and unable to stop crying as she begs him to come to her rescue.

Unfortunately Stephen went to bed just an hour before after a night of binge drinking. With his blurred vision and unsteady balance he knows it’s dangerously irresponsible to get behind the wheel. But he heads out into the snowstorm to bring Sara home.

High school teacher Kieran O’Shea is also behind the wheel, searching for his autistic younger brother Aidan, who is wandering aimlessly through the storm on that same mountain. Kieran is also terrified—of the voices in his mind, of the probability that Aidan will be taken away from him, and of the certainty that he will soon be arrested for murdering three women.

In a matter of minutes Stephen will encounter Kieran and drive headlong into a collision that will force him to unlock the secret of his wife’s death, avoid prosecution, and protect his children from violence that hits all too close to home.

Nayu's thoughts  
I'm glad I set aside a few hours to read thia as I didn't want to put it down.I have strong views on what Stephen did-even if there is strong danger there is never a reason to drink drive. I'm not a parent, and I appreciate he was in a tricky situation. He did what he thought was best, even if it was going to ruin all their lives which were already fragile by their mother dying. 

I loved how his daughter's situation was portrayed, how she was groomed into an inappropriate position, it shows how she was tempted with what she wasn't necessarily getting at home, but she lacked street smarts and wanted to be an adult. Her brother saw snippets of what was going on which did eventually got explained to their father. 

It was horrifying and interesting to see how Stephen reacted to what he did. There's no question the guy in question, Kieran, a sleezebag, but I felt a bit sorry for him and the other person involved. Stephen goes to great lengths to cover his tracks, and the panic rose as the police started to hem him in. The end had me needing tissues as I was torn by the moral justice and the effect it had on his  children. It goes to show good people can do bad things by accident. 

There were so many gripping moments that I'm eagerly looking forward to rereading this. There are parts were awful things nearly happen, but thankfully they don't, although a few unexpected not nice things happen too. I think there is only 1 truly innocent person jn this tale, who I cried for what they suffer. There are some truly evil people in this world and they don't always get what they deserve. I'm looking forward to Chris's next book!

Find out more on Chris's website.

Suggested read 
A good thriller which is a bit happier (only a bit) than Fatal Option which I enjoyed last year is Snow Job by Debbie Brown (Thriller, Romance, 10E/10E) 

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