The Fear

The Fear by C. L. Taylor

Published by Avon 

March 2018

Sometimes your first love won’t let you go…

When Lou Wandsworth ran away to France with her teacher Mike Hughes, she thought he was the love of her life. But Mike wasn’t what he seemed and he left her life in pieces.

Now 32, Lou discovers that he is involved with teenager Chloe Meadows. Determined to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself, she returns home to confront him for the damage he’s caused.

But Mike is a predator of the worst kind, and as Lou tries to bring him to justice, it’s clear that she could once again become his prey…

Lou Wandsworth is about to return to her family home  in Malvern after the death of her father.  It's a home she has actively avoided returning to since she left it with her mother following her dramatic escape to France with her married older lover Mike when she was only 13 years old.  Mike still lives in the area and Lou knows that at some point she needs to face up to him and let the past finally go.  However after tracking Mike down at work she discovers him kissing a teenager and knows that the past is repeating itself.  Lou knows what Mike is capable of, and will do anything she can to prevent the same thing happening to Chloe Meadows.

The story is told from the perspective of teenager Lou and of her experience with Mike when they were in France, and also from her now as a recovering adult.  We also see the story through the eyes of Chloe and of her feelings for Mike.  Involved in the story too are Lou's on/off boyfriend Ben and Chloe's parents who are friends with Mike.  We also meet Wendy, a 50-something woman who also lives in Malvern and has an unhealthy relationship with Lou.  She stalks her on facebook under a pseudonym and contacts her friends.  Wendy is very interested in Lou, but the two have never met, until Wendy arranges a meeting with Lou at her workplace.  

The story takes lots of twists and turns and yes, at times some of it may seem a little implausible but then it is fiction and sometimes you have to suspend disbelief and go with the flow of a narrative.  I thought that Cally Taylor told a good story here and she keeps you turning the pages right to the shock ending.

Happy Reading

Miss Chapters x