The Fear is the fifth psychological thriller written by C L Taylor to date and having read all of them I think this new one is just as addictive and compelling as the previous ones. I quickly read this book as I found the story both convincing and addictive with every parent’s nightmare of child grooming and abduction horrifying.

Lou Wandsworth who groomed at the age of just 14 years by her trusted karate teacher and family friend Mike Hughes, ends up in France believing that their love will make up for the disappointing life she leads with her alcoholic father. However Mike is not the protector Lou thought but is a disgusting predator who ends up controlling and dangerous.

Years later Lou still damaged from the event cannot shake Mike’s actions from her life and when she discovers that another girl Chloe has fallen under his manipulative spell she knows she must do everything in her power to stop history from repeating itself.

The plot is terrifying with scenes that are quite disturbing at times. Yet as the storyline is current this novel will stay with me as reports of child grooming are featured by the media. It is not a read just centred on revenge it has so much more depth. A 5 star rating and a must read if you are hooked on this genre.



My thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy. This is my own honest opinion.

Yes, there’s been plenty of books about older men grooming young children.
Yes, you may have read them all, or, fed up now of the same old pattern of writing.

WRONG in this instance! This one written by C. L. Taylor takes this from a different angle with a huge twist making this more of a thriller read.

A teacher (Mike) progressively has his interested eye on Louise.
Mike is a family friend of her Fathers which made me shudder.
Louise finds the attention given to her from Mike at the tender age of 13 a very attractive feature in him.....he “gets” her like no other person does. Least of all her parents. He spends time listening to her, making her feel good about herself. She’s not the most prettiest sought after friend in her school.

When Mike decides to take her on a trip, it’s a permanent trip.
She’s now on her own with Mike.
Mike isn’t the guy she knew and trusted and we, as the reader get insight to how he’s treating her.

What I’ve never considered in true stories we hear about such as this, is, the effect it has on the child once she is older and has more knowledge and experience of life.

The effect on Louise is tantermount to this thrilling captivating story.

Mike is still not forgotten, he’s there, he’s doing it again.

Louise is many many years older now.

I was hunkered over my seat breathing in every word, every action, every chilling move and hanging on every sentence that the author wrote when I was pushed, yes pushed within this situation that Louise made.

I feared for Louise that she would do something stupid.

A situation that is known to readers because there have been factual events sadly like this.

The concept taken on by the author and turning this into a nail biting gasping reading book just proves to me why I stalk (oops I mean “follow”) this authors work eagerly awaiting her next book.

This is an author that never fails to give me a great read.

My thanks to Avon books and to the author.

I've read all CL Taylor's books and this one doesn't disappoint.

A fast paced book but personally I wasn’t keen on the subject matter. I found a lot of it quite disturbing.
My personal feelings on it haven’t affected the review.

The Fear By C. L. Taylor
C. L. Taylor is one of my favourite authors and I was delighted to receive an ARC of her new book The Fear. I was hooked by this story from the first page. An excellent thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. I did not want to put it down. Louise was groomed and abducted by an older man when she was a teenager. This has affected her life and relationships. Eighteen years later she goes home to settle her fathers affairs after his death and finds that her abductor has started grooming another teenage girl. Louise has to stop this quickly at all costs. I would like to thank NetGalley and Avon Books UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review

I loved this book! Devoured it in one day, as I simply couldn't put it down. I have read all books by this author, and this was my favourite so far.

It's completely gripping and so tense, but it keeps you hooked from the very start. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys thrillers.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. A real page gripper that I read in just 2 sittings.
Fast becoming one of my favourite authors.

The Fear
Wow what a read. This is the first book I’ve read by C.L.Taylor but I will definitely be downloading her previous books. The Fear had me gripped from the first page and didn’t let go until the end. I absolutely love this authors style of writing. Never a dull moment in this and plenty of twists throughout as Lou goes back to her childhood home to sort it out after her father dies. She decides to confront the man who groomed her when she was a 14 year old girl only to find to her horror that he is at it again with 13 year old Chloe. Desperate to stop him from damaging Chloe’s life as he did hers she sets about bringing this monster the justice he didn’t get 18 years ago. Highly recommended.

Oh my god this is a an amazing book that will grip you at the start and it wont let you down.
This is a book with so many emotional points to the story you really feel for all the girls and ladies that are involved in this book.
When Louise was just fourteen years old she is groomed by Mike who is a paedophile and she thought he was in love with her and made her all these false promises. Being a fourteen year old she does not realise what kind of person Mike really is.
Mike takes Louise to France where he is really rough with her and she ends up so scared of him. Thankfully she manages to get away from him and returns to her family.
Years later Louise still has relationship problems and decides to confront Mike about what he did to her.
Louise finds Mike and finds out that he is grooming another little girl a thirteen year old called Chloe. Nobody believes Louise but that does not stop her trying to protect Chloe and put her own demons to bed.
Then there is Wendy, Mike’s Ex-wfe, who blames Louise for putting Mike in prison because she was going to have IVF treatment she blames Louise for everything and wants revenge.
As the book goes on Wendy gets to see what kind of person Mike really is and that it wasn't Louise's fault.
I don't want to give the ending away but all three ladies eventually get their revenge on Mike.
This is a book that's full of emotions and covers the story brilliantly.
If I could give it more than 5 stars I would.

She's gone and done it again. I took my time with this cracker as I didnt want it to end. Absolutely brilliant, gripping, breath holding with a little bit of frustration. Although this covers a very difficult subject of child grooming it's been written in a way that really makes you sit and think. How do people get away with this and how prevalent is it?
A must read especially if you are a fan of Cally Taylor.

Well this was disturbing! REminded me of that case on the television fairly recently of when a teacher and his pupil ran off to France and were caught at the ferry terminal. I realise these things happen but you don't often think of how it affects the girl when she's grown up and can see the situation for what it was. Infatuation and childish love can be all encompassing so it 's painful to read of a woman who hates to think back to this powerful love as she can now see what it really was. Then for that man to come back into her life. It's disturbing but made me realise just what the news stories never tell you and what it would feel like to have that knowledge but to not be able to persuade the next victim of what might happen. A Cally Taylor classic

Really enjoyed this , even though the subject matter was a little disturbing . The story is told from three women Lou who had an inappropriate relationship with her karate teacher when she was 14 , Wendy his ex wife and Chloe who Louise finds to her dismay is being groomed the same way she was 18 years ago . She realises that he hasn't changed his ways and is still as dangerous as ever . She tries to help Chloe with not much success and as the novel progresses the three womens stories collide with a bang and a great climax to the book . Thank you for the opportunity to read this I would certainly recommend it .

All I can say is wow. The fabulous Ms Taylor has done it again.

You will have to suspend some belief that anyone could get themselves quite into the mess and madness that the main character Lou finds herself in, however when your childhood has been stolen by a pedophile who grooms you and then abducts you your head might be in a mess, and you may not be thinking too clearly.

Knowing that Lou has been groomed and abducted by the odious Mike, you can imagine how she feels when she sees that he has started to do the same to another vulnerable little girl, Chloe, in their home town.

This book is very much 'edge of your seat' writing, as we have come to expect of Cally Taylor. Beautifully written but with a hard edge.. Highly recommended, but give yourself time to binge read it - you wont want to put it down.

Thank you NetGalley, Avon Books UK and C.L. Taylor for my ARC of ‘The Fear’ in return for my honest review. C.L. Taylor is an author I have read and enjoyed before so I was delighted to get a copy.

The novel centres around child grooming and the abuse of Lou by Mike, without pulling any punches. The description of what happened felt real and sometimes almost unbearable to read. Lou returns to her home town when her father dies and finds herself embroiled in Mike’s new ‘venture’. She wants to confront him and tell him how he has ruined her life and future relationships but it all goes horribly wrong.

Wendy, his wife when everything happened originally is an exceptional character within the storyline. At times I felt it was farcical but overall I enjoyed and smiled at the ending.

Recommended.

This story is totally gripping and breathtaking . One story from 4 different points of views . Amazing story and brilliant characters

Phenomenal. Another surefire winner from CL Taylor. Brilliantly plotted, so you'll never get to grips with where it's going til you get there. Read it a matter of hours.

Another brilliant psychological thriller from C L Taylor which explores the effects of grooming by a dangerous controlling peodaphile who will stop at nothing to satisfy his depraved needs. The book spans two decades, it is well written and must have been well researched as it is truly believable. It did leave me feeling frustrated in parts but that's what this type of book is all about. I have read the other books by this author and although I have loved them this one is definitely my favourite. Thank you for the opportunity to read the ARC

A very quick and gripping read.
Unrealistic in parts but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment.
Some great character work, especially with the character of Wendy.
Also was nice to read a different style of thriller. Very addictive read.

When I saw this book was available, I grabbed it fast! One of my favourite authors, C.L. Taylor's name is synonymous with a great read; a great read that will not only keep you up turning the pages, but will also keep you up with its disturbing subject matter. In this case Taylor has excelled herself with the twists and turns of a complex plot; Lou Wandsworth was groomed as a child by her much older karate instructor Mike, resulting in an abusive relationship that ended disastrously. Lou, deeply scarred by the incident, returns home many years later to clear her dead father's home only to find that Mike is up to his old tricks again; young, insecure and living in an unstable family unit, Chloe at 13 is starved of affection, desperate for attention and easy prey for Mike who is a trusted family friend. Lou is horrified and desperate to stop the abusive relationship she sets off a sequence of events that will end in violence.
Like all the books I have read by C L Taylor I could not put this one down! An easy five star read!

I'm a huge fan of C.L Taylor, so I was incredibly excited to get the chance to read this early, after pining over tweets she'd written about it. I'd recently read "The Treatment", which I was in awe of, but this was even better. It's gripping, will shock you and I was left gobsmacked at the ending. Really fantastically written, great characters and overall my favourite C.L Taylor book! (Until her next one probably!)