Dead Secret by Ava McCarthy Published by HarperCollins Publishers UK on January 7th 2016
Genres: Thriller
Pages: 368
Format: eBook, Kindle Book
Source: NetGalley & HarperCollins Publishers UK
From the author of the Harry Martinez thrillers comes a gripping psychological suspense novel. Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Haynes and Gone Girl.
Two quick shots. One for him. One for you.
After the death of her three-year-old daughter, Jodie has nothing left to live for – or almost nothing.
She has one task to fulfil before she takes her own life. And that’s to kill the man she holds responsible for her daughter’s death – her seemingly perfect husband, Ethan.
But Ethan is hiding more than just his true nature. And as more horrifying secrets from his past emerge, Jodie’s strength will be pushed to the limit…
**Special thanks to NetGalley & HarperCollins Publishers UK for supplying my copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
Dead Secret is one of the most distinguished mystery thrillers I read. The book starts with the very deep and profound grief of Jodie, the wife of a very self-centered controlling husband Ethan. She is in such a disturbed state that nothing matters to her anymore. Having lost all that matters to her, she is focused on one thing – REVENGE – and she is determined to do it now taking her own life too as a finale for that sad revenge.
Now, things don’t quite go as planned and Jodie has to face the aftermath of her revenge action in prison. While Jodie still has no reason to go on, she is focused on one thing. That is completing what she failed on the previous time. Taking her own life. She can endure anything to reach that goal.
However, a sudden visit by a young reporter, whom she was very unwilling to meet at first, changes everything. Ethan, as monstrous as she thought he was, still had a darker side that she never knew. Suddenly her reasons to end her own life become her every reason to live. Jodie is now determined to get to the bottom of those secrets at any cost. Her revenge should be complete and she can’t do that before getting to the whole truth. In a series of events, the plot unfolds taking you through much unexpected twists and turns. Yet there is still a very dark secret – the darkest secret that Jodie has to face.
I really loved and enjoyed this mystery thriller. You might think that the plot has nothing new. I might agree that there are other thrillers having the same start. Yet, the brilliance of this thriller is in the fact that Ava McCarthy managed to come out with a very unique thriller out of a plot that might seem at first a common one. What I loved about this thriller other than the plot – which I loved so much – was Ava’s storytelling. Ava is very talented at planning her twists and turns. She knows exactly how and when to come up with a twist and reveal a secret. She held my interest right from the start. I couldn’t even blink. So many times I thought to myself I was smart enough to expect what comes next. Yet, I was wrong. Ava took me by surprise. I never saw it coming.
From my point of view, this is a very interesting fast paced thriller. A real page turner. I think it can be one of the best thrillers in 2016.
About Ava McCarthy
Ava McCarthy is the author of several international bestselling thrillers.
Ava’s critically acclaimed debut, THE INSIDER, was published in 2009. It was selected as Book of the Month for Sainsbury’s Book Club and has been optioned for film by Polaris Pictures in Hollywood. The sequel, THE COURIER, was published in 2010, and the third in the Harry Martinez series, HIDE ME, was published in October 2011. DEAD SECRET, a standalone psychological suspense thriller, will be published in January 2016. Ava’s thrillers have been translated into 13 languages worldwide, and her smart, page-turning thrillers have earned her comparisons with Harlen Coben, Lee Child and John Grisham. Her central character, hot-shot hacker Harry Martinez, is ‘strong, attractive and super-smart… a clear-eyed, nonsentimental soul sister of Val McDermid’s Kate Brannigan, or Sara Paretsky’s VI Warshawski’ (Irish Times).
Ava McCarthy was born in Dublin and is a graduate of University College Dublin, with a degree in Physics and a Master’s Degree in Nuclear Medicine. A former Medical Physicist and Computer Analyst for the London Stock Exchange, she worked in the software industry for over twenty years before writing her first novel. Ava lives in Dublin with her husband, two children and two dogs.