Bright Lies - A A Abbott

 

Description

She thought she had the perfect stepfather. So why is she running for her life?

Emily longs to be an artist. So she’s thrilled when her famous and talented stepfather offers to act as her mentor. But when his teachings take a darker turn, she flees his fancy home.


Bad boy Jack has made good as a hot DJ. Then he sees thugs attack a rough sleeper, and shocking memories spur him to her rescue. He doesn’t know she’s only 15 and running from a deadly predator.


Emily’s hopes of safety are crushed when her stepfather hunts her down. Now Jack faces the hardest choice of all. If he protects Emily from the fiend who’s stolen her childhood, he’ll kiss goodbye to his future.


What would you sacrifice to save a life?


If you enjoy nail-biting suspense, slow-burning secrets and dark domestic noir, you’ll love AA Abbott’s chilling psychological thriller.


Read Bright Lies today to join Emily and Jack on their journey!

I'm on the blog tour today with Random Things Tours for this audiobook

Trigger warning :- Paedophilia, grooming, rape

Review

A difficult story but it had me gripped.

Only a few minutes into this audio book and I could sense where this story was heading and I was not comfortable with it. Thankfully the author has treated the subject with sensitivity and I was able to listen on.

The story begins at the end and I was unsure why. However it gave me some reassurance as the awful truth began to dawn on what was to unfold. There was also a twist which I didn't understand until later in the book and then it all became clear.

The tale is narrated first by Emily and she tells us of her new life with her Mother and Stepfather, and all the fabulous wealth he has and spoils on her. He's also an artist and takes a keen interest in mentoring her with her own artwork.

Running alongside this is the story of Jack and his unhappy life. When things get out of hand for Emily with her Stepfather she runs away and meets Jack. Hoping for the story to take a better turn of events I realised too late that this was not going to end well either.

It's certainly a chilling read with totally believable characters, and unfortunately only so easy to imagine happening. It's a book that has haunted my mind since I finished listening to the audio. I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Random Things Tours for the invite to the audiobook tour.

Author

British crime thriller writer A.A. Abbott (also known as Helen Blenkinsop) loves to escape with an exciting and emotional read, and that’s what she aims to write too. Based in Bristol, she’s also lived and worked in London and Birmingham. All three cities feature in her pacy suspense thrillers. Her latest psychological thriller, ‘Bright Lies’, begins in North Somerset with a posh art exhibition in Bath. Young Emily meets the man who will change her life and cause her to run away to a squat in Birmingham, work in a nightclub and get further entangled in a web of lies.

To write ‘Bright Lies’, Helen has had advice from thirty beta readers on subjects as varied as police procedure, drug abuse, grooming, art, music, DJing and clubbing. She’s grateful to them and to her editor, Katharine D’Souza, for making huge improvements to the story.

Helen’s earlier 5 book Trail series is a lighter read focused on a vodka business. Snow Mountain is a premium vodka made in the former Soviet Union, and its owners have blood on their hands. The saga follows the fortunes of two families running the business and what happens when they fall out with each other and with a London gangster. Glamorous heroine Kat is the girl readers love to hate at the beginning of the series, but by the last book, she has won them over. Book research for the series included prison life, hotel research and vodka. Helen especially enjoyed a tour and tasting with the helpful folk at the Chase Distillery in Herefordshire.

Like 10% of us, many of Helen’s family are dyslexic. While she is not, she wants her books to be enjoyed by readers with dyslexia and visual impairment too. She publishes her thrillers in a Large Print dyslexia-friendly edition as well as the standard paperback and Kindle versions. (You can also adjust the font on your Kindle to suit your needs.) Audiobooks are definitely on the cards – watch this space!

Helen likes speaking to book groups, business networks and social circles, and reading thrillers and short stories at live fiction events and on Zoom. If you're a book blogger, litfest organiser, reviewer or simply adore books, she’d love to hear from you.

Helen is a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, Bristol Fiction Writers' Group, and Birmingham's New Street Authors.

Find out more and get a free e-book of short stories at https://aaabbott.co.uk