Sunday, May 13, 2018

Book Review: Our Kind of Cruelty


Author: Araminta Hall
Publication Date: May 8, 2018
Publisher: MCD Books

“This is simply one of the nastiest and most disturbing thrillers I’ve read in years. In short: I loved it, right down to the utterly chilling final line.” ―Gillian Flynn

“A perfect nightmare of a novel―as merciless a thriller as I’ve ever read. Astonishingly dark and sensationally accomplished.” ―A. J. Finn, author of The Woman in the Window

A spellbinding, darkly twisted novel about desire and obsession, and the complicated lines between truth and perception, Our Kind of Cruelty introduces Araminta Hall, a chilling new voice in psychological suspense.

This is a love story. Mike’s love story.

Mike Hayes fought his way out of a brutal childhood and into a quiet, if lonely, life before he met Verity Metcalf. V taught him about love, and in return, Mike has dedicated his life to making her happy. He’s found the perfect home, the perfect job; he’s sculpted himself into the physical ideal V has always wanted. He knows they’ll be blissfully happy together.

It doesn’t matter that she hasn’t been returning his e-mails or phone calls.

It doesn’t matter that she says she’s marrying Angus.

It’s all just part of the secret game they used to play. If Mike watches V closely, he’ll see the signs. If he keeps track of her every move, he’ll know just when to come to her rescue…





I don’t want to get into plot specifics because I want readers to enjoy this twisty, gripping psychological thriller for what it is: completely disturbing and captivating. The first part of the book seemed a bit slow to me, mostly following Mike’s, one of the main characters, inner dialogue. The second part of the book, however, picks up speed tremendously and readers are learning new secrets around every corner and with the flip of every page.

The writing is dark and tense and Mike’s inner monologue set the stage for suspense and intrigue. Hall writes an unreliable narrator just like Gillian Flynn – you feel like they are every day average people until you realize just how psychotic they really are.

“Everything is a game, V used to tell me; only stupid people forget that.”

“What constitutes the truth? Did it exist only in what we say to each other in flimsy puffs of air, often said without real thought? Or is it, as I suspect, more than that? No, surely it is the foundation of all we are. It is in our bones, in our being. It begs to be interpreted in order to reach its true potential.”

You only need to know what the synopsis says in order to want to read this one. Trust me, you will crave the answers and will be unable to put the book down. 2018 is really turning out to be the year of the psychological thriller! I have read so many amazing ones this year and this one just went to the top of the list!

***A free copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at MCD Books in exchange for my honest review***


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