A split-second decision puts your family in danger. A gripping new thriller that fans of Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay will read in one sitting. No Bad Deed by Heather Chavez will keep you guessing until the final page.
You’re driving home from work to your husband and children. Suddenly a woman is in front of your car. She’s being attacked. You call the police and they tell you to stay in the car. But what if you got out to help? What might the consequences be?
You save the woman, but the attacker takes your handbag. And your car. And then the next day, when you think it’s all over, your husband disappears. He’s gone without a trace. And then he texts you, I’m sorry. But is it really him?
Nothing could have prepared you for what happens next …
What did I think?
What would you do if you saw a domestic disturbance? That’s what you end up asking yourself within the first few pages of No Bad Deed.
The book opens with Cassie Larkin, mother of two, driving home after a 12-hour shift at her vet clinic. Everything is business as usual until someone runs in front of her car, possibly covered in blood. She pulls over to clean up her now spilled energy drink and unintentionally illuminates a couple having a domestic altercation. It’s intense, it looks dangerous and ever the helper, Cassie knows she needs to do something. Using her brain over her heart, Cassie quickly jumps on a call to 911 who tell her to stay safely in her car, something she plans to do until she sees the man throw the woman down a riverbank. Cue a heart takeover.
Jumping out of the car in an attempt to break up their fight, Cassie successfully prevents this woman from being murdered, but not before the man tells Cassie, “Let her die, and I’ll let you live.” He then races back to the road to outrun the oncoming sirens, stealing Cassie’s van, wallet, ID, keys and home address in the process. It’s a literal nightmare scenario.
After some curious questions from law enforcement, Cassie is able to successfully identify the assailant as a man who is known to police. Still fearing for the safety of her family and after some blanket assurance from the officers, Cassie is taken home. It’s here we meet her husband Sam, a man who becomes central to a key twist in the story.
While still on alert, Cassie tries to go about her day as normal but a few small and strange occurrences pique her curiosity. All of this starts to fall sideways however when her husband disappears on Halloween night while out trick-or-treating with their daughter. Distraught and fearing the worst, Cassie begins a frantic search to find her husband, a search that turns up nothing. Hours later, Sam sends Cassie a text confessing to having an affair, a text that provides more questions than answers. Suspecting foul play, Cassie encounters another set of dismissive cops (seriously what is it with this town?!) and begins an investigation to find her husband.
What happens next is full of all those good twists and turns that I can’t possibly spoil for you, you’ll just need to pick up a copy for yourself!
The key to this book lies in Chavez’s mastery of suspense, pacing and character development. I felt frantic with Cassie as she searched for her husband, felt her frustrations with less than helpful police officers, felt her fear as she started her own investigations, and many times thought to myself, what would I do if I was in her situation?
If you enjoy a thriller and don’t mind a few changing twists throughout, then I think you’ll really enjoy this darker read. It’s the kind of book that has you saying just one more chapter when it’s already 1am and you have work in the morning.
Find out more here and be sure to add it to your Goodreads TBR.
4/5 stars
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