I’m going to say this right at the beginning of this blog. This is one of the best psychological thrillers I’ve ever read.
Kirsty Tucker is a Public Information Officer with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She has one of the toughest jobs in the prison, dealing with death row prisoners, and the press who want to talk to them as their execution approaches.
In her private life, she is a single mom bringing up her teenage son, Ryan, whilst looking after her ill father.
When Ryan gets into a fight at school Kirsty can’t believe what she sees. Her usually studious son has beat up one of the school jocks. When she finds out Ryan has been taking secret martial arts lessons she goes to confront the instructor.
The instructor is Lance. He’s attractive, fit, attentive and single. The obvious relationship soon blossoms and Kirsty and Lance become inseparable.
Everybody loves Lance, but what are his secrets and what type of person is he really.
Meanwhile Kirsty is developing an unusual friendship with a death row inmate, Clifton Harris-The Baby Killer. Nobody likes, or trusts, Clifton so why does Kirsty connect with him so well.
This plot is full of twists and turns. Not everybody is who they seem to be and, as a reader, I found my allegiances, and suspicions changing throughout the book.
Kirsty and her family are put in danger, she gets hurt, but who can she turn to.
How is she going to ensure the family’s safety, can she bring herself to deal out her own justice, or should she turn to somebody else.
There are very few books that have made me exclaim out loud, but there was at least twice when my wife looked across at me and asked me why I was shouting out loud.
The characters in this book are fascinating. I defy anybody to not connect with Kirsty.
There is no way I could see the way this book was going to end, there were times when I thought just end now why things are going well, there were others when I wanted it to keep going.
This book goes beyond the usual victim-revenge story. It covers the ethics of thought. Can a victim become an aggressor?? Will the normally law abiding, placid person, manage to take things into their own hands, and if they do, do they think they can live with the consequences, legal and moral?
Most authors would have been happy to end this book at an earlier stage of the story, but Hollie Overton has done a masterful job of continuing a story beyond where many would have placed the last full stop (period).
In the Acknowledgements Hollie Overton said writing this book challenged her in ways she’d never imagined. Well she met the challenge well and has produced one of the books of the year.
Clear the number one spots on all the book sales and download charts, The Walls is published this week.
Pages: 385
Publisher Digital: Cornerstone Digital
Publisher Hard Copy: Century-Penguin Random House
Available on Amazon: 10th August 2017.
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