When Lou’s father dies, and after a bad break-up with her boyfriend, she decides to up sticks, leaving London and returning to her childhood home, one she hasn’t been back to for 18 years.

Given what happened when she was last there, it’s possibly not the smartest idea, but she feels she needs to to confront her demons and start living her life again.

The what happened is she ran away with her teacher, a much older man.  Or at least that’s the cliff notes version.  As The Fear unfolds, so does Lou’s story, which is much more frightening than it first appears and explains a lot about why she is who she is.

When she finds the teacher, determined to tell him how much he has ruined her life, she finds him with another young girl.  Believing history is about to repeat itself, Lou feels she must act, and act she does.  How, I can’t say as that would mean spoilers but I will say that the story didn’t quite go where I expected it too – in a good way.

What else can I say without spoilers? That this is a really good book.  It is well written, throwing me straight into a fast, tense, plot and not letting me go till the end.  Also, and this makes a bit of a change for me and my recent reads, I liked all the characters.  Yes, they are flawed but they aren’t eye-rolling-ly silly.  It was refreshing to read strong female characters, ones with baggage but ones with a bit of smarts as well.

To say I devoured this book isn’t much of an understatement – I read it in two sittings, with only sleep in-between, and I loved every minute of it.

About the book…

When Lou Wandsworth ran away to France with her teacher Mike Hughes, she thought he was the love of her life. But Mike wasn’t what he seemed and he left her life in pieces.

Now 32, Lou discovers that he is involved with teenager Chloe Meadows. Determined to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself, she returns home to confront him for the damage he’s caused.

But Mike is a predator of the worst kind, and as Lou tries to bring him to justice, it’s clear that she could once again become his prey…

Publisher: Avon
Publication date: 22nd March, 2018
Genre: psychological thriller, domestic thriller
Number of pages: 400
Rating: 5 out of 5

Note: I received this book in return for a fair and honest review.  All thoughts, feelings and opinions are my own. 

My other C. L. Taylor reviews

The Escape