*4 1/2 Stars*

ARC kindly received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting read with great characters. Shows you what some people have to go through during their lives and all of the lies that affect other people.

I really enjoyed Lesley Kara's impressive debut novel, The Rumour. The quality of the writing was excellent and the characters felt real. Set in Flinstead, a small English seaside town, it quickly became an addictive fast-paced read.

A rumour that infamous child killer Sally McGowan is living in Flinstead rapidly gains momentum. Fingers are pointed and accusations made. In 1969, when aged 10, McGowan stabbed a 5-year-old boy to death. She was sentenced for manslaughter and sent to a secure children's home where she remained until 1981. With a new identity and the chance to restart her life, was it possible she had settled anonymously in this small town by the sea?

Although not for everyone due to its subject matter of child murder (and quite understandably so), those who do give this book a go will, I'm sure, be suitably impressed. The crime isn't glorified. The perpetrator has been punished and rehabilitated. The reader is told how and why it happened and the devastating lasting effects on both families.

I enjoyed all the red herrings and twists. Yes, some were a little unbelievable but they added to the excitement nonetheless. Would I want to read more books by this author? You bet your cotton socks I would!

My thanks to Lesley Kara, Random House UK, Transworld Digital and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

One word, unputdownable!!! Superb, kept me guessing right until the end, will definitely be recommending this book

I literally burned through this book in a few days. Once I got going I HAD to know who Sally McGowen was..... and I totally didn't see the answer coming at all.

This is a very well written book with full and believable characters. My only one issue was what would be the chanced of Sally and Maria ending up in the same small town? That is the only part of the plat that I felt was a tiny bit weak but it is a minor quibble in much bigger picture of excellent writing. If you like physiological thrillers then this is absolutely the book for you.

Oh and very VERY final twist was deliciously chilling!

Joanna has just moved back to her hometown to be near her mum and to give her son Alfie a new start at a school where he won't be bullied. However Alfie and Joanna are finding it hard to settle in and in the playground one day while trying to talk to other mothers for Alfies benefit she repeats a rumour she heard. From here, everyone is twisting the rumour and soon there are severe consequences to be had.
A slow burner of a book, it seemed to pick up a bit about half way through and then I couldn't put it down. I was quick turning the pages until the very last page.
Many thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book for my honest review.

This book blew me away . It grabbed me right from the start. I didn't want to put it down. I cant wait to read more of Lesleys books.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam Press and the author, Lesley Kara, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Rumour in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
This book offered a very interesting premise, so I was very excited at the prospect of reading it. It is a debut novel that really blew me away.
I thought the storyline was really well written with engaging characters. I was hooked from the outset and definitely did not see the end coming. This is my type of thriller. I read this book in one sitting.
Definitely well worth a read.

The Rumour is a book that will completely draw you in. From reading other reviews on Goodreads I cannot believe that this is only a debut novel, it was so well written and completely hooked me from the very beginning.

Joanna has moved back to her childhood town and finds that she doesn't really fit in. That is until she happens to mention in passing a rumour that she heard in order to impress the school's mummy clique. An apparent child killer has moved to the local vicinity and is being protected by a new identity. What this book explores so well is how a rumour can quickly spiral out of control and start to ruin people's lives.

I was suspecting everyone for the majority of the book and when the killer was revealed I was so completely shocked! I cannot fault the book at all.

I would highly recommend this book to everyone.

This debut novel by Lesley Kara had me hooked from the start.

Someone has a secret, but it’s not who you think!

There’s a tense undercurrent right from the beginning of the book. As the story unfolds snippets of the secret come to the surface. I found myself second guessing every other character, thinking it was them with the secret.

The story starts off slowly, despite the tense undercurrent that was present right at the start of the book. The main character is introduced along with the secondary characters, many of them leaving their mark on the reader as the secret is revealed.

The secret is that a child killer is supposedly living alongside the residents of the seaside town of Flintstead. When Joanna, the main character, hears this she sets off on a quest to find out as much as she can about who the person is that harbours this awful secret; who is it that has been given a new identity and allowed to live among them?

Joanna becomes obsessed with the rumour that she helps to spread, as well as the story of the child killer who was given a new identity. Everywhere she goes in her daily life she wonders if the people she interacts with are the notorious child killer.

The book will have you hooked right from the start. I couldn’t put it down once I started reading it. I thought I knew who the child killer was, then the story took a twist down a different path and I was sure it was another person. I had no idea it was the person who is revealed to be the killer until much later in the book.

The book is very cleverly written, the writer interjects the real killer’s thoughts every now and then but you really don’t get a sense of who this person is for quite some time.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The fast paced rhythm of the story kept me invested right until the end.

I highly recommend this book. It’s a brilliant debut novel

This was an unexpectedly enticing tale about how a split second decision can ruin your life, how rumours and gossip, however well-meaning, can have drastic effects on others.

Going by the blurb, I knew I was in for a treat with this book. It’s exactly the kind of twisty thriller that sucks the reader in and won’t let go.

But I got more than I expected with this story. A lot more! Well crafted and red herrings all over the place, it kept me guessing right up until the reveal. If you enjoy the mystery/thriller/suspense genre, then this book is for you!

Thank you to Lesley Kara, Random House UK Transworld, and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is really well written and so easy to get in to. It keeps you guessing and I definitely didn't guess who the child killer was. There were so many 'suspects' to choose from.
It also highlights the repercussions of what can happen in a small village when a rumour gets started.

Highly recommend it and look forward to the author's next one.

I had heard good things about this book, but when I started reading it, I thought it was going to be really predictable. Wow how wrong was I! After guessing wrongly at least three times through the book, I still didn't guess correctly.
This book was well written with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. A story of witness protection, rumours that get out of hand, a great read.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an advance ARC.

The Rumour explores what happens when a rumour sweeps a small community. Apparently, according to the gossips at the school gates, a child murderer is living in the small community under a new identity.

Joanna has moved back to her childhood seaside town to give her child the type of life she can’t give him in London. But, if there is a child murderer living in the community then who is it? And how do we find out?

I closed the novel at the end not realising I was holding my breath for the last few chapters. This novel blew me away and I can’t believe it’s a debut.

Easy 5 stars.

This is a cautionary tale of the dangers of idle chatter. Joanna is the central character of this book, she has recently moved back to her childhood town from London, and for various reasons is keen to make friends and ingratiate herself (and therefore her son) into the dominant group of school mums. Overhearing them talking about the news that there is possibly a notorious child killer living amongst them, she sees her opportunity and lets slip a juicy piece of gossip that fuels the rumour mill and unleashes a series of events that no-one could have predicted.
The actual reveal of whether the rumour is true or false was interesting, but where I felt Lesley Kara really succeeded was in telling the story of small town England where paranoia and prejudice fan the flames of the rumour. Where no-one really knows their neighbour, anyone who doesn't fit the social norm is cruelly ostracised when the rumour mill kicks in and where mob mentality is quickly evoked on the back of a story based purely on assumption.
This is a fantastic debut and I look forward to reading what Lesley Kara writes next.

My thanks go to the publishers and New Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review

A captivating story that Explores what can happen to a child killer under police protection. I was kept guessing about the identity of the child killer and found this an interesting read. Through the eyes of Joey, a mother of a young boy, we suspect several of the characters and see how rumours can flourish in a small town.

I enjoyed this book, showing how dangerous a rumour can be!! Keeps you guessing through the whole story as to who committed the crime years ago!! Really good story, and a clever twist. Thank you

Wow! This was quite the story. - based on a rumour casually given out at the school gate. Joanna has recently moved back to her home town and wants to be accepted in the school mum/book club crowd so lights the fire under this bit of scandal. Be careful what you say - the consequences can be huge... The story runs away then with lots of wonderful suspects, accusations flying everywhere and a clever twist. This was a fast paced, well written, original story. I loved it.

Joanna and her young son Alfie move to Flinstead, to move out of London, to be near Joanna's mother. For a better life for Alfie.

Joanna is the new mum at the school gate, she needs to make friends. So she mentions something that she has heard.....

There is a child killer living in Flinstead.

How does Joanna know? It is only a rumour?

Isn't it?

Then why is she suddenly being followed by someone on Twitter that seems to be adding truth to this rumour?

Joanna's almost off the cuff remark, sets a chain of events that makes everyone doubt everyone else.

But is the rumour true?

This book asks lots of questions:

Can a child killer become a reformed adult? Who is really the victim, when the killer released can be given a whole new life and protected? Does the public need to know where these criminals are? What if you are wrongly accused of being that killer? How does that affect a town, a person? So many questions - but does the book have the answers or do we as readers make our own conclusions.

This is an interesting debut novel and difficult to write a review of, because you could perhaps give something away, start a rumour about a possible plot line and outcome and then the books is ruined for all.

It has twists and turns and emotions running right through it, that you can feel yourself caught up in the gossip, though I confess I made the correct assumption but still I had to see what happened, I wanted those various questions answered  - right up to the final line........

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Lucy Banks
@LucyBanksWriter
No worries I hope you had a nice day xx
Sep 19, 2018, 9:38 AM
Hi Lucy this is my latest no rush whenever you have time.
Our House Louise Candlish
4.5 out of 5.

Waterstones Book of the Month this book was everywhere on social media, so I thought I would give it a go.
The story starts with Fi returning to her exclusive house in London and finds that there is a new couple moving in and they are convinced that they have bought it legally from Fi and husband Bram.
Fi and her husband are separated but living together for the sake of the children, Fi has been away for the weekend with a new man and comes home to find out that her husband and her children Harry and Leo are nowhere to be seen and her home sold.
The book then is written from the point of view of Fiona who is retelling her story to a crime podcast and Bram who is writing his story from his exile.
I liked how the book was set out and how it was recounted from Bram’s side, which uncovers adultery, deceit, death and blackmail and violence which has meant Bram feels that he has no alternative but to run away from his family for good.
I felt sorry for Bram as he isn’t really a bad person he just loses his way and ends up on a path of self-destruction although at the time he doesn’t realise it.
The book takes a dramatic turn with Fi uncovering the depths of Bram’s action and also how she has been deceived on many levels.
I found it quite sad It was cleverly written and really kept me guessing all the way through and the ending is shocking.
If you love a fast-paced thriller you will love this.
Sep 23, 2018, 2:02 PM
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Sep 23, 2018, 2:04 PM
Lucy Banks
Cool! I’ll do my best to get this one up tomorrow xxx
Sep 23, 2018, 5:19 PM
Great no problem whenever you get to it. Xx
Sep 23, 2018, 5:33 PM
Lucy Banks
Hi Karen - the review's now up!
Sep 24, 2018, 9:06 AM
Thank you :)
Sep 24, 2018, 9:09 AM
Hi Lucy Really struggled to write this one without giving away the ending.
The Rumour Lesley Kara 5 stars
This is a review of a book that is out in December. I received a copy from NetGalley in return for a fair review.

The book begins with a huddle of mums picking up their children in a school playground. Joanna is a new parent at the school and overhears the group discussing that there is possibly a woman called Sally McGowan who killed a child when she was a child herself now living in Flinstead under a new identity.
Joanna and her son Alfie have moved back to Flinstead a small seaside town, where Joanna grew up. Alfie is struggling to fit in with the other children.
So to try to fit in Joanna tells her book group about the rumour she has heard in the playground and this begins a series of events that changes the lives of some of the residents of this small town forever.
Joanna ‘s partner is a journalist and becomes interested in the story of Sally McGowan and Joanna finds herself becoming more drawn into the rumour.
It’s a great debut novel and I loved the way the book leads the reader down one path but then would go off in a completely different direction.
I felt the premise of the story was very realistic and it was very believable how small rumours can grow into having a huge impact on many different groups of people, some with devastating results.
The author kept me guessing all the way through the book and had a great twist at the end. I would say it is one of the best thrillers I have read this year.

Brilliant. This is a superb debut novel. I am sitting in shock with chills down my spine. The characters are really good and believable. There are so many twists and surprises in the plot. This is a very well written page turner. It is amazing what a rumour can lead to. I would definitely recommend this book. I hope Lesley Kara keeps writing.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.