Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Bright Lies by A.A. Abbott.
About the 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
About the book
She’s learned too much, too young. Can she break free? Emily’s dreams come true when her mother marries wealthy painter, David. Thanks to him, Emily’s artistic talents shine. Then he starts teaching her things a 14-year-old shouldn’t know. While Emily breaks free, she’s forced to sleep in a rat-infested alley.
Bad boy Jack has turned his life around. Working as a DJ with ambitions to open a club, he rescues Emily from the streets when he sees a woman in trouble. He doesn’t know she’s still only 15 - and trapped in a dark web of secrets and lies.
David must find Emily and silence her. As he closes in, Jack faces the hardest choice of all. If he saves Emily, he’ll kiss goodbye to his future... What would you sacrifice for love?
Review
Emily is on the cusp of discovering herself and her own sexuality, which makes her a prime target for a deviant, but in her mind the experience of feeling special evokes a sense of something exciting and unknown at first. It's this confusion that victims find hard to reconcile with the reality of being abused.
When Emily finally realises what is happening she tries to escape, which is when she meets Jack. A young man with his own demons, guilt and part of his own crimes includes being a party to indiscretions against the vulnerable. The question is whether he can change his path and make the kind of choices that will either protect Emily or put her in more danger.
It's a fast-paced psychological and domestic thriller. I felt it lacked clarity at times and was a bit rushed, the underlying premise and ideas are good though. More depth, better dialogue or giving characters the chance to delve deeper would do the premise more justice.
Grooming is still a very misunderstood crime. People always think of strangers in connection with grooming and tend to underestimate the number of victims who fall prey to someone in their inner circle. Accepting that someone you know could be a sexual deviant is a hard pill to swallow, so it is easier to dismiss accusations and ignore alarm signals when you experience them. The thought of falsely accusing someone always rates higher than the voice of a victim - always trust your gut instinct.
Buy Bright Lies at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Perfect City Press; pub date 23 Nov. 2020. Buy at Amazon com. At Hive. At Bookshop.org.
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