Pages: 368
Published: 7th January 2016
Genre: Thriller
One word to describe this book? Wow.
I picked it up almost randomly from a library one day, thinking that it simply looked like the kind of book that I normally like to read. It turned out (for me, at least), to be the very definition of a thriller; with unbelievable, almost heart-stopping twists unravelling a multi-layered and mysterious plot.
It is a book that is truly amazing, yet enormously shocking at the same time, because of the issues that are explored, and the truth surrounding the protagonist, Jodie. She is a really compelling character, and I found it impossible not to like her despite some obvious flaws.
So much happens over the course of 357 pages. There are multiple settings – we experience prisons, hospitals, hotels, motels, care homes, wintry forest, airports, and Jodie even takes a trip to Belize. It is almost like The Shawshank Redemption meets Spotlight.
There is no anti-climax in Dead Secret. The final ‘showdown’ is outstandingly written, full of tension, drama, and outrageous revelations that had me audibly gasping. It was what convinced me to give this novel five stars!
What Is It About?
Jodie Garrett has set out to kill her husband, Ethan, who she believes is responsible for the death of her young daughter, Abby. She apparently succeeds, as we next see her having spent two years in prison for his murder.
However, a revelation from a journalist called Novak prompts her to make an escape, and together they help to piece together the truth about Ethan, which brings Jodie’s horrific family history right to the forefront. And all the while, she is a hunted fugitive, desperate for answers, but desperate to avoid being recaptured by police.
I really can’t say anymore – otherwise I would be giving too much away!
The book contains depictions of strong violence, serious sexual assault and exploitation, identity theft, and minor drug use. If these issues are likely to trigger a negative response, then this book is probably one to avoid.
Ava McCarthy is an Irish former medical physicist, and analyst for the London Stock Exchange, who became an author in 2009 upon the publication of her debut novel The Insider, the first in the Harry Martinez series.
Dead Secret is her first standalone thriller, released in January 2016. McCarthy currently lives in her home city of Dublin, with her husband and two children, and her novels have been translated into 13 languages worldwide.
This is an incredible book, which keeps delivering right up to the final page. Jodie is one of the best characters I have come across in a modern thriller, and what makes McCarthy’s writing even better, is that the answers are actually hidden in plain sight.
I took a few chapters to fully get to grips with the book, but once I did I was fully absorbed. The story may shock you. The truth may disgust you. But whatever way I look at it, this is a fantastic book.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stephen Reads Books 