I Don't Forgive You Review

Author: Aggie Blum Thompson

Genre: Mystery Suspense

Publisher: Forge Books

Release Date: June 8, 2021

Preorder Link: Amazon

My Rating: 5 Twisted Hearts

Perfect for book clubs or the beach, Aggie Blum Thompson's I Don't Forgive You is a page-turning, thrilling debut "not to be missed." (Wendy Walker)

Review:

Photographer Allie Ross is trying to find her place among the women in an upscale Washington, DC neighborhood where she's recently moved with her lawyer husband Mark and young son Cole.  Being accepted is important to Mark's career as he climbs the corporate ladder so it's imperative that Allie make friends and fit in with the neighborhood moms.  Unfortunately, the harder Allie tries the more obvious it becomes that she's an outsider and unlikely to be accepted into the established mom cliques.  In a last ditch effort, Allie agrees to attend a neighborhood block party with Mark where she once again finds herself standing on the sidelines.  When another dad strikes up a flirtatious conversation with her, Allie plays along until a combo of alcohol and a disturbing reference to her secret past send her fleeing to the bathroom where she fends off a sexual assault after which she insists on going home.  Allie makes a spur of the moment decision not to share details of the troubling attack with Mark which comes back to haunt her the next day when news of the neighborhood dad's overnight death circulates like wildfire.  The neighborhood rumor mill is running rampant, and it's only a matter of time until intimate pictures of Allie and the guy from the party surface on the internet fueling the raging gossip and suspicions.  Much to her surprise and her husband's shock, Allie's become the prime suspect in a murder investigation.  

The story that unfolds is unsettling, disturbing, and eerily relatable.  The role society cliques, gossip mills and social media play in accusing, judging and convicting Allie is eerily similar to modern day cyberbullying.  Tinder and Facebook accounts indicate Allie is living a double life - one as a wife and mother and another as Sexy Lexy the sensuous Tinder sensation.  She claims she's being framed by someone from her past, but the evidence of her guilt is insurmountable as are the growing doubts in the minds of police, friends and her husband who is reeling from all the negative media attention.  Allie sets out to prove her innocence which means opening old wounds.  Undoubtedly, someone knows her secret and blames her for what happened way back in high school.  Someone who doesn't forgive her.  

There's nothing I love better than a dark, twisted thriller that keeps me burning through pages looking for answers.  One that forces me to change my mind numerous times throughout the story.  I'm thrilled to say I Don't Forgive You is one of those books.  Author Aggie Blum Thompson has rendered a creepy, unsettling story ripe with lies, hidden truths and paranoia that will have readers questioning every character.  I Don't Forgive You is so twisted and convoluted with evidence so damning to the unreliable narrator Allie that it's hard to know what and/or who to believe.  Continuous shocking revelations move the story forward at a furious pace leaving readers and Allie reeling.  Her attempts to soften the blows and disappointment in the lack of support and sympathy from family leads to an increase in her alcohol consumption which unfortunately leads to strong suspicions about her behavior.  Is someone setting Allie up?  Or is she delusional?  Did she kill to keep her secrets? 

I Don't Forgive You ventures into the dark, dangerous, scary world of  the dark web.  A place of deceit, lies, secrets and illusions.  A place where innocent lives are exploited and destroyed.  It's not often that an author can keep me floundering in the dark until The End, but Thompson's skill at weaving a twisted tale with a large cast of possible villains kept me guessing until the big reveal. Fans of suspense thrillers are going to love this one.  It's a page burner that demands reading straight through in one sitting.  I couldn't put it down.

Synopsis

An accomplished photographer and the devoted mom of an adorable little boy, Allie Ross has just moved to an upscale DC suburb, the kind of place where parenting feels like a competitive sport. Allie’s desperate to make a good first impression. Then she’s framed for murder.

It all starts at a neighborhood party when a local dad corners Allie and calls her by an old, forgotten nickname from her dark past. The next day, he is found dead.

Soon, the police are knocking at her door, grilling her about a supposed Tinder relationship with the man, and pulling up texts between them. She learns quickly that she's been hacked and someone is impersonating her online. Her reputation—socially and professionally—is at stake; even her husband starts to doubt her. As the killer closes in, Allie must reach back into a past she vowed to forget in order to learn the shocking truth of who is destroying her life. 

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