I Am Here To Kill You by Chris Westlake
Charming. Charismatic. Beautiful.
And deadly?
The members of a local support group in a sleepy welsh town are captivated by the new arrival, Sheena Strachan. Each member of the group has a reason for attending. Some hide dark, sinister secrets, and for others it is the highlight of their week.
But what are Sheena's motives for attending?
The group's leader, Rose, unexpectedly stops attending meetings. She goes into hiding, and quickly becomes an outcast. And then she is arrested for her estranged husband's murder.
Did Sheena really have no involvement in his killing?
With Sheena at the helm, the group goes from strength to strength, both in numbers and commitment. But their behaviour is changing. No story is to leave the room. They trust nobody. Men are the enemy. The residents of the previously peaceful town start turning against each other.
Was this Sheena's plan all along?
One mystery, however, stands out more than all the others.
Who is here to kill who…?
I AM HERE TO KILL YOU is a compelling psychological thriller that explores the potential power and devastation of manipulation.
About the author.
After completing a Creative Writing course in 2010, Chris Westlake's short story, Welsh Lessons, was awarded 1st place in the Global Short Story Award (not bad for the first writing competition he had entered). He followed this up with 1st place in the Stringybark Erotic Fiction Award and 2nd place in the HASSRA Literary Award.
Chris has written three novels. 30 DAYS IN JUNE is his first crime thriller. He is currently writing his second thriller, on schedule to be completed in 2020. He is determined to write many, many more - his main regret is that he didn't start writing earlier.
Chris considers himself to be a developing author. He is always looking to improve, to make his next novel even better than the last. He is continuously experimenting with different styles, different genres.
You can contact Chris at chriswestlakeauthor@hotmail.co.uk . He would love to hear from you.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisWestlake2
Website: www.chriswestlakeauthor.co.uk
Review
I spent most of my time reading this thinking I was very confused and didn’t really know what was going on, but I think this is the point of this book. The author is manipulating the reader as much as the characters are manipulating each other! I enjoyed the plot though in the end as everything did come together with a satisfying conclusion.
Sheena moves to a small village in rural Wales and joins a support group for women who have suffered trauma in their lives at some point, whether that be the loss of a family member or domestic abuse. Many of the members have deep secrets but Rose the leader puts them at ease. However, Rose soon stops attending the meetings and is accused of murdering her estranged husband. Rose believes that Sheena is involved somehow. Sheena takes the helm at the group and soon it begins to feel cult-like and scary. People are manipulated - both the women in the group but also their husbands.
The plot comes from a few different characters viewpoints and that helped to move the narrative onwards. It allowed the reader to get into each character’s mindset. All I'm going to say is poor Bernard. I think he was my favourite character which is weird as normally I'm all about strong females. But the only genuine one was Rose for me.
I did feel this was a book of two halves as the pacing was quite slow in the beginning and then suddenly once you reach the barn dance everything occurred. I was hoping that the ‘master manipulator’ was going to get their comeuppance differently. I also didn't realise until I had finished the book that this was a sequel to ‘30 days in June’ which is quite relevant to this story. If I had read that one first I might have not felt as lost as I did at times. I would recommend reading them in order.
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3s506Ix
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2PgQLi8
