Don't You Dare by AJ Waines
The Blurb
What if your daughter becomes your enemy? When barmaid, Rachel, discovers her soon-to-be-married daughter, Beth, pinned down by a stranger in the pub cellar, Rachel lashes out in panic and the intruder ends up dead. In desperation, Rachel convinces Beth they should cover up the crime and go ahead with the planned wedding in one month’s time. Rachel, however, has her own reasons for not involving the police. Hiding their dreadful secret is harder than they both imagined and as the big day approaches and the lies multiply, Beth becomes a liability. Rachel looks on in dismay at the hen party when, after too many drinks, Beth declares she’s about to make a special announcement. But before Beth can say a word, she disappears... When two people share a chilling secret, can both hold their nerve? This book explores the dark side of a mother-daughter relationship when pushed to the limit. It will appeal to fans of authors like Ruth Ware, Clare Mackintosh and C.L. Taylor.
About AJ Waines
AJ Waines writes Psychological Thrillers with *over 450,000* copies sold worldwide. She's a #1 Bestselling Author: GIRL ON A TRAIN topped the full UK and Australian Kindle Charts in 2015 & 2016. New: DON'T YOU DARE - PRE-ORDER NOW! Released 8th MAY 2018 Sign up for AJ's NEWSLETTER for book updates, or follow on Facebook, Twitter or AJ's Blog All her books can be read in any order: The Evil Beneath, Girl on a Train, Dark Place to Hide, No Longer Safe, Inside the Whispers, (#1 in Sam Willerby series but also stands alone), Lost in the Lake, (#2 in series but also stands alone). Find them all at: Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com Formerly a Psychotherapist for fifteen years, she has worked with ex-offenders from high-security institutions, giving her a rare insight into abnormal psychology. She is fascinated by secrets and lies, crimes of passion, devious motives and anything hidden under floorboards. *A Kindle (KDP) TOP 10 'MOST-READ AUTHOR' in UK (2016)*
My Review
The premise is any one of us could be a killer by accident rather than design, but then most of us would not try to cover our tracks by hiding the body, and cleaning up the crime scene, or would we? Most of us would be scared of going to the police. The story starts by Rachel stumbling into the pub cellar, where she works, and discovers her daughter Beth is tied up and is being raped. Rachel did what any mother would do, given the circumstances, and uses the necessary force to save her daughter resulting in the rapist being killed from a head injury. However, it turns out Beth was having an illicit fling with the murder victim, and the rape was a fantasy role-play that she was willingly engaging in. Add to the mix, that Beth is engaged to someone else and is about to be married, a marriage that Rachel has hedged all her bets must go ahead, no matter what, to secure her daughter's future. The plot thickens with more twists and turns within a web of lies and deceit, and relationships disintegrate. What more do you want from a psychological thriller. Excellent.
