Today is my stop on the blog tour for this debut thriller. I LOVE a debut and this one is particularly brilliant.
Detangling the plot:
You think you'll stay the same – you won't. Infidelity will change you forever. There can be no going back.
Kirsten Calloway knows she should be grateful. She has a stable marriage, decent job, and a wonderful teenage daughter. But she also has a raging libido that won't shut up, and a husband who'd rather go on a bike ride.
She bumps into an old friend at a school reunion who faces a similar problem. Dianne, though, has found the answer: a discreet agency which arranges casual sex for people just like them, people who want to keep their marriages but also scratch that itch.
Enter Zac: younger, handsome and everything Kirsten could hope for in bed. For a while, they seem to have it all. Kirsten even finds herself becoming a better wife and mother. But Zac wants more – a lot more, and he'll stop at nothing to get it.
Sexually charged, shocking and relatable, Reckless is a profound exploration of marriage, motherhood and desire.
Bobs and Books honest review:
This is a wonderfully surprising read. What I love most about this read is how the ending creeps up on you. Throughout the book there are odd police reports revealing a little bit more about the crime, and yet I got so engrossed in Kirsten's life, the reports almost took a back seat until they can't any longer. It teases, and entices and then puts you in a different spin, and then hits you again. Its such clever, powerful writing.
Kirsten and Zac's relationship is an interesting one. Its complicated. The way in which they meet adds to the tension, and Kirsten's home life seems "normal." Her husband and daughter are great characters too.
The ending to this is definitely not guessable. I kept thinking towards the end that I just couldn't see how it would unravel. When it does, it really does not disappoint.
A very clever concept where at times I forgot it was a thriller until I absolutely could not forget. Its sharp, edgy, at times uncomfortable but a truly great read.
About the author:
After spinning out his university career as long as possible, RJ McBrien returned to London to try and make it as a writer. Like many people, he owes his TV break to The Bill. He progressed to working on other people's shows (Red Caps, Soldier Soldier, Merlin, Atlantis, Wallander, Spooks and Britannia) as well as writing original pieces (Trust for ITV and The Debt for the BBC). After a brief foray into Hollywood script doctoring, he enrolled on the Faber Novel Writing Course in 2018, and Reckless, his first novel, is the result.
Out Now!