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Wednesday, October 9, 2019

I will Make You Pay Review

Title:  I Will Make You Pay
Author:  Teresa Driscoll
Publisher:  Thomas & Mercer
Release Date:  Oct. 10, 2019
Purchase Link:  Amazon


My Rating:  3 Perplexing Hearts


*With special thanks to the publisher for an arc of this book via Netgalley


Synopsis:
Every Wednesday, like clockwork, the terror returns.

It seems like an ordinary Wednesday, until the phone rings. A mysterious caller with a chilling threat. Journalist Alice Henderson hangs up, ready to dismiss it as a hoax against the newspaper. But the next Wednesday, the stalker makes another move—and it becomes clear that this is all about Alice.

Someone wants her to suffer, but for what? Her articles have made her a popular local champion—could it be her past rather than her work that’s put her life in danger? Alice is determined not to give in to fear, but with the police investigation at a dead end, her boyfriend insists on hiring private investigator Matthew Hill.

With every passing Wednesday the warnings escalate, until it’s not only Alice but also her family in the stalker’s sights. As her tormentor closes in, can Alice uncover what she’s being punished for before the terrifying threats become an unthinkable reality?

Review:
Journalist Alice Henderson answers a threatening phone call while in the newspaper office one Wednesday.  While it unsettles her, she brushes it off as just another newspaper crank caller.  However, when she's threatened again the next Wednesday . . . and the next, she is forced to admit that she's being targeted by a stalker to the point that her life is totally disrupted by paranoia, frustration, and fear.  The question is why?

I Will Make You Pay is an entertaining suspense thriller that is told through multiple points of view - the main one being Alice.  Chapters alternate between past and present, but it's the past chapters that I found most chilling as they come from the view point of "Him" - first as a lonely, abused child and later as a dysfunctional adult.  It quickly becomes clear that the abuse the villain suffered as a child fed the monster within until he could no longer keep it leashed.

The author does a great job of building tension by utilizing short chapters with an escalating pace.  I raced through the first part of this book seeking answers.  While I haven't read other books by Driscoll, I understand there are a couple of reoccurring characters appearing in this book but it definitely reads as a standalone.  While I enjoyed reading I Will Make You Pay, I was less than thrilled by the reveal of the villain as well as the hurried way in which the ending scene played out.  I had figured it out much earlier which is okay if the ending works for me.  Unfortunately, I just wasn't sold on it.  I ended what was a great, tension-filled read up to the climax feeling let down, and therefore I deducted a star.  Having said that, I think many suspense thriller readers will love this one and highly encourage you to give it a shot.

My Rating:  3 Perplexing Hearts
Cross My Heart . . . xxx

Sandra

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