God Tamara was scary, I really enjoyed the characterization of the main three characters and I think my enjoyment of the book was based on the characterization. Overall this was a great mystery

Tamara is the newest star at SAID, a design firm owned by Dom. Unfortunately, she got the job by killing off the man who originally held the position. That’s just the beginning…

Tamara sets out to patiently and systematically (she keeps a checklist app on her phone) set her plan in motion – which seems to be to “steal” Dom from his wife, Stacey by proving that she is mentally ill. Tamara steals Stacey’s car keys, poisons her children and frames Stacey, plants empty pill packets under Stacey’s bed. And the list goes on.

This is not a slow burner, you can feel the intensity grow with each page turn, and yet we never really know what Tamara’s end game is (which really upped the thrill for me). Ruin Stacey? Steal Dom?

Right up until the last few chapters, when the author so perfectly explains the reasons behind Tamara’s scheming do we really know what was going on. The timing and the way Tamara’s past was revealed was GENIUS and I twist I absolutely did not expect!

This book had me captured from the first chapter. You always should read I Want You Gone by the same author. Another book that will capture from the first chapter and end with a twist you won’t see coming.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Deserve to die is a psychological thriller that will draw you in from it's chilling outset. You will be so frustrated as the reader who has seen everything when everyone is taken in by Tamara, especially when she wreaks her revenge on Stacey.

Luckily Stacey is emotionally stronger than even she realises and with a friend is able to get to the bottom of what is driving Tamara.

Whilst I was relieved I found the ending a little bit weak and convenient but overall a great read.

My thanks to netgalley and the publishers

"Deserve to Die" was a fabulous read that had me totally gripped from the start. With a fantastic plot-line and brilliant characters, this was a superb thriller that kept me guessing "the why" throughout. This amazing novel by Miranda Rijks should certainly not be missed. A magnificent read and well worth five stars!

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Inkubator Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Dominic and Stacy Nicholson seem to have it all, they are a successful loving couple bringing up their two children. Stacy writes and illustrates children’s books while Dominic is a Managing Director.

When Dominic’s employee Dylan is found in his bath following an overdose and slitting his wrists, his nearest and dearest are horrified as they did not have a clue that he was struggling with work and his life.

Dylan’s job is up for grabs and along comes Tamara, beautiful and very talented, but she is there for her own agenda which includes making Dominic’s family suffer!!

Told from both Stacy and Tamara’s points of view, they both have their own secrets. We know who the baddie is from the start but not the why. This is written in a very clever way that keeps the suspense going through the book and does not slow down in its intensity. My heart nearly burst out of my chest at one point, it’s a roller coaster of a ride exhilarating and thrilling at the same time.

This is such a great book. I was hooked completely from the first page and was in its spell until the last .There are lots of twists along the way and I did found myself screaming at times as I was desperate for Stacy to realise what was happening to her and her family.

A must read book. I cannot recommend this enough!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

This is my first book by this author, Miranda Rijks and definitely won't be my last! This book is a can't put down domestic suspense thriller. I loved everything about the book, and couldn't put it down until the climax ending! Definitely a must read. Definitely a 5 Star book!

Loved this book! Kept me guessing until the end. Excellent writing and dialogue, and a very unusual plot. After reading a number of mediocre books, this was a wonderful surprise. Highly recommend!

When you know the who, the prey, but not the why.... OMG!! For me my anxiety skyrockets and the adrenaline rushes in so quickly that I actually become nauseated and have to stop reading. Can you imagine?!

So I picked up this beauty a few days before it’s release and finished on the day it released.

The Nicholson family is about to experience the nightmare of their lives. Tamara has her psychotic sights on one of them in particular but she doesn’t care who she has to hurt... or kill to reach her target.

The characters are beautifully and realistically written. Conversations are done well and don’t feel trite or use language that doesn’t match up with the character speaking. I found it easy to love everyone except Tamara.

The story is riveting, it’s very fast paced and twisty. Just when you’ve survived one crazy curve here comes the next.

The only reason this book didn’t receive that final star was because the why was kind of lame and considering the author’s immense talent I feel she could have come up with something a bit better.

This was fantastic and I will definitely try another.

Thank you to NG and the publishers for allowing me the pleasure of this stunning read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! When I started reading it I was sucked in and didn't want to stop reading it. It's a great read and I really recommend it

Thoroughly enjoyed it. The book has absorbing narrative and plenty of twists to keep the reader interested. There are a few plot loopholes but they don't get in the way of enjoying the book. Domestic thrillers fans will find it a quick read.

This book was very well written. Nice and easy to read and flowed well. Had me on the edge of my seat. Wondering which way it was going to go. Great mystery can’t beat it.

Stacy has it all, gorgeous husband, adorable kids and a career that is starting to take off.
Tamara wants to ruin it all, is Stacy going crazy, did she really try to hurt herself? Why can't she remember things.
Why does Tamara hate her so much?
Just a few of the questions you will be asking yourself with this thriller.

Definitely add this to your TBR pile.

Dom and Stacey have a pretty great life, 2 kids a house and Dom has a successful company while Stacy is a stay at home mom and popular children’s book writer and illustrator.

One day Dom’s associate is found dead in his house. It is a suicide. After the funeral Dom hires Tamara who comes with glowing recommendations. Tamara is a star employee gaining points fast.

Tamara has one thing on her mind and that is to destroy Dom & Stacey’s life together.

Good read. Lots of twists. Would recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley.com

I've read mixed reviews on this book but I definitely enjoyed it. So many twists that kept me guessing. It's a little different from other books I've read but have seen the plot millions of times. The difference is the writing. It pulls you into the story and you never want it to end. Really good book.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Deserve to Die is a captivating story that grabbed my attention from the first page. The characters are well developed and believable, and I could sympathize with them.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

2.5 stars. To be fair, this is a story that has been told many, many times, not just in books but also in movies, and any author taking up this particular domestic thriller plot has an uphill slog. Miranda Rijks tells a good story, for which I add a whole extra star, but apart from that the book was on the disappointing end of the scale. Absolutely nothing happened that wasn't predictable -- except perhaps the fact that there wasn't an epilogue <spoiler>where we find Tamara is alive</spoiler>. Moreover, I had to leave my disbelief in the next room, given the number of coincidences and lucky breaks. Basically, the character of Tamara was the villain version of Mary Sue, and the universe consipired to make things go her way. She was "beautiful", flat stomach and all, great dresser, resourceful, intelligent, excellent at a job she knew nothing about, lucky, etc.

There were quite a few mentions of how some people (the older kid Ivy, Jeff at the firm, etc.) were not taken in by Tamara and found her suspicious -- that would have been an interesting thread to have picked up, but it wasn't. (On the other hand, "Pinkapop's Adventures" sounded awful!) The ending too lacked punch, with Tamara's entire back story info-dump grinding the excitement to a halt.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

It's not often that you get to know the bad gal on page 1 and her prime victim by about page 7 but want to keep going until the end anyway. This is one of those occasions. Tamara has an aim in life and will do anything, single minedly (if there is such a word), to achieve it. She seduces and murders poor Dylan but makes it look like suicide, in order to get his job. His boss Dom is then targetted for seduction - but what else -, followed by his wife, Stacey - not for seduction but revenge. Tamara is oh so clever, subtle and patient and you have no sympathy with her at all. You just want to know why. Stacey is in a happy marriage, has normal rumbustious kids, works from home as a children's writer and illustrator but has a short history of mental illness. She's a bit too much the opposite of Tamara but does draw sympathy from the reader. So we have somewhat stereotypical characters but the writing and twists and turns of the story go beyond that - possible the inferred "comfort" that all will (might?) come out right at the end. As with other novels by this author, it is a tingly good read - Ms Rijks goes on getting better. Thanks to NetGalley and Inkubator Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

YES!! After reading that first chapter I was hooked. This was an utterly gripping, dark and suspenseful psychological thriller. The writing was brilliant and the story was clever and full of plenty of twists and turns. Told through the two points of view of Stacey and Tamara, Tamara was one of the most conniving, evil, two-faced women I have ever read about and I loved every minute of it! I Can't wait to see what Miranda Rijks does next. Without a doubt 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I want to thank netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I felt that this book was really well written but I wasn't completely sold on the plot. I would've preferred a more complex storyline as this felt straightforward. However, the characterisation was strong and I'd still like to read more by this author in the future.

If there’s one thing this Ginger Book Geek likes, it’s discovering new authors. Miranda Rijks is certainly a new author to me. Judging by how much I enjoyed reading ‘Deserve To Die’, I will most definitely be reading more of her books. I absolutely loved reading ‘Deserve To Die’ but more about that in a bit.
I loved the characters in this book. The three main characters are a married couple called Dom & Stacey and the mysterious Tamara. I can’t say that I especially warmed to any of them but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. That said, I can honestly say that I found Tamara to be truly chilling. She is a pretty young woman, who is used to getting what she wants and she doesn’t care what she has to do to get what she wants. She is a woman with a plan and she will crush those that stand in her way or leave their lives irreparably damaged. Tamara is the sort of character I would cross the road to avoid and I would make the sign of the cross in front of her because she is evil.
This book starts in a memorable way that grabbed my attention from the start and after that I couldn’t help but become addicted to the story. I just had to keep reading to find out how the story panned out, to discover who ended the story in one piece and to see if Tamara and her plan were successful. I must be a bit sadistic because part of me wanted to see Tamara stopped in her tracks and the other part of me wanted her to succeed. I lost all track of time whilst reading this book. I made the fatal mistake of starting to read the book shortly before going to bed and when I looked up to see how much I had read, I was stunned to realise that I had been reading for over three hours. In the end I had to force myself to switch the light off to get some sleep but I was so excited about starting to read the book again a few hours later that I couldn’t get to sleep!! The pages turned over increasingly quickly as my desperation to find out what happened soared. Reading ‘Deserve To Die’ was most definitely a pleasure and not a chore.
‘Deserve To Die’ is exceedingly well written. Miranda draws you into the story with an event that is going to stay fresh in my mind for a long time to come. She certainly grabbed my attention and once she had my attention she wouldn’t let it go. She kept my attention by keeping the story fresh and by dangling enough bait in front of my nose to ensure that I kept turning the pages. There were shocks and surprises over every page. The story is written in chapters from the points of view of Stacey and of Tamara.
Reading ‘Deserve To Die’ was very much like being on one hell of a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with more twists and turns than you would find on a Snakes & Ladders board. There were several times where I almost had to read through my fingers as I feared what was going to happen next. This book had the ability to make my heart rate sky rocket, my blood pressure soar and send my anxiety levels through the roof.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Deserve To Die’ and I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I can’t wait to read what Miranda comes up with next. Here’s hoping that we don’t have too long to wait. Whilst I wait for her next book I will be catching up with her other books just as soon as I can. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.