#Review : Deserve To Die by Miranda Rijks, deserves all the stars / Books Teacup and Reviews

Deserve To Die by Miranda Rijks
Publication Date: July 31st 2019
Publisher: Inkubator Books
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pages: 279
Stars: ★★★★★

Dom and Stacey have the perfect life. Until they meet Tamara. Brilliant, beautiful, she hides a horrifying secret. One that may destroy them all.

Happily married with two wonderful children, Dom and Stacey are living the dream. He runs a successful design agency, she is finding fame as an author of children’s books.

Everything is perfect. But then they meet the mesmerizing Tamara and their lives are changed forever.

Because Tamara is a woman with a plan. She executes it step by step – patient, systematic, methodical.

And as her plan unfolds, Dom and Stacey find their lives slipping out of control. Taking them from heaven into the deepest, darkest hell…

Deserve to Die is a compelling psychological thriller with a heart-stopping ending that will keep you gripped until the early hours. Perfect for fans of K. L. Slater, Teresa Driscoll and Andrew Hart.

*** Note: I received e-copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for and honest review. ***

Deserve To Die was tense, spine chilling, unnerving, addictive and intriguing (yes I’m going to put all synonyms here because they are so apt in describing the book) psychological thriller that revolved around happily married and happily living couple Dom-Stacey and not-so-happy Stacey who was after them with mission to destroy their life. It was about family love, betrayal, mistrust, and revenge.

Characters–

Characters were simply amazing, especially villain.

Tamara– She gave bad vibes from the very beginning. Hurricane of disaster, manipulating horrible witch, it all got one new word- Tamara. She was orderly, calculative, and a terrific planner with beauty and brain. She had everything you would want in villain. Her narration was most frightening in whole book.

Stacey was author children’s book. She was realistic, sensitive, and not too strong but one should not underestimate her when it comes to her kids and husband. You can easily place yourself in her situation and could see how precisely her actions and reaction were written. I like how mom turns to supermom when their kids are in trouble. I liked the way she fought back. She was great in the book.

Let’s not talk about husband here, because I was not happy with his actions. He should be more cautious while hiring her. What happened to employee background check?! I know Tamara was so believable but that’s no excuse. Other side characters were also good.

What I liked-

Writing was great. I liked author’s style the way she kept the nervousness alive from the very first page. Book was flawlessly written in first person narrative from Stacey and Tamara’s POV, one heroine, one villain who played their role terrifically. I liked the town, mom gossips and children’s stories in this book.

Plot was just brilliant. Book started with Tamara getting info about SAID, Dominic’s company, from its account director and putting forward her plan. It was blood chilling to read her callous plan and act. All I could think about was, why? What she had against Dominic? Or Stacey? Was it money, or something else? Stacey’s happy moments of signing contract with biggest publisher didn’t stay long when Tamara encroached in her life.

As I read more the more I disgusted felt towards Tamara, I was holding breath every time she executed her sinister plan, I felt so bad for Stacey and wanted to drag her out of this book. I kept thinking why Tamara is targeting this particular family. Is it her one of the game, destroy families and get all the money or something else? I couldn’t figure out the real reason until last 20% of the book.

It had somewhat ‘The Breakdown’ vibe, disbelieving husband, protagonist questioning her own sanity, all the bad things coming from all directions and where is her best friend all this time? But I’m sure husband doesn’t have anything to do here.

And this was just the first half. I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. You can see from series of questions how intriguing this book was. You might think you know where this will end and what might be the reason behind Tamara’s game but I tell you it was not that simple. It was getting even thrilling and darker in second half.

There was constant tense and anxious feel that didn’t die until the end. Twist and turn were surprising, I couldn’t guess Stacey and Tamara’s next step. At some point I thought things would get worse, Tamara played so perfectly that I couldn’t see how Stacey was going to prove her point.

And then came the revelation, the reason behind all these terrifying plan. I liked those backstories that cleared the fog of uncertainty. Climax was exciting. I was sitting on the edge chewing my nails till the end. I must say I wanted closure but I liked the way end was concluded. I’m sure I’m going to check out other books by author.

I’m glad I read author’s note in the end. All kid’s stories in this book were her own creation and I’m off to check author’s website where there is more info on them.

Overall, it was tense, gripping, and clever psychological thriller with brilliant plot and characters. I highly recommend this book.

Book Links: Goodreads | Amazon.com

Let’s discuss!

What do you think about the book and my review? Have you read this book already or any book by the same author before? Are you going to add it to TBR?
Which psychological thriller you like most or which one has most terrifying villain?