Today it is an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Worst Case Scenario by Helen Fitzgerald. This is a psychological thriller, a story which intensifies and becomes steadily more destructive as it progresses.
Helen FitzGerald is the bestselling author of ten adult and young adult thrillers, including The Donor (2011) and The Cry (2013), which was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and is now a major drama for BBC1. Helen worked as a criminal justice social worker for over fifteen years. She grew up in Victoria, Australia. She now lives in Glasgow with her husband.
Follow @FitzHelen on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Buy Worst Case Scenario
About the book
Mary Shields is a moody, acerbic probation offer, dealing with some of Glasgow’s worst cases, and her job is on the line. Imprisoned for murdering his wife, Liam Macdowall has published a series of letters to the dead woman, in a book that has made him an unlikely hero – a poster boy for Men’s Rights Activists.
Liam is released on licence into Mary’s care, but things are far from simple. Mary develops a poisonous obsession with Liam and his world, and when her son and Liam’s daughter form a relationship, Mary will stop at nothing to impose her own brand of justice...with devastating consequences.
Is it bad that I thought Mary was hilarious? Aside from the fact everything goes from bad to absolutely dire in the blink of an eye, I think Mary may be my spirit person. Saying exactly what she thinks and to hell with any consequences.
Mary speaks truth. Those three words are what make her such a captivating character. Part of me wishes this type of truth were part of procedures. Unfortunately everyone, at least in a democracy, has certain basic human rights. I will also go out on a limb and say that perpetrators, depending on the type of crime, tend to have more rights than the victim.
What appealed to me the most about Mary, and the way the author describes the deviants and the job of policing and ensuring they abide by the terms and conditions of their release, was the factual reality of the deviancy. You won't hear many people who work in the system telling mere mortals the truth about the danger living around and with us. You can't cure specific deviancies, you can only teach control and hope they ignore their inner impulse.
In essence this story is about a character who decides to finally air what she thinks about the system, because she is planning to leave it all behind. An 'I don't care' attitude, no really ...she just doesn't care.. What Mary doesn't count on is the domino effect of her actions.
Fitzgerald doesn't give a toss about what anyone considers to be the norm in crime or the thriller genre, which is what makes her stories so spectacular. She has a certain quality, which is hard to describe, but you know it when you read it. Some authors have the ability to go beyond the norm, inhabit the minds of others and then bring it to the reader.
This is a psychological thriller, a story which intensifies and becomes steadily more destructive as it progresses. The attraction is the honesty, albeit an absolutely scathing and brutal one. Mary says what everyone thinks and wants to say, but are unable to do so, because it isn't professional or politically correct.
Buy Worst Case Scenario at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Orenda Books; pub date 16 May 2019. Buy at Amazon com.
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