An explosive, compulsive, read-in-one-sitting psychological thriller that had me totally engrossed throughout.
Ruth Clarkson is the school secretary. She is a very over protective mother and fights all of her son's battles for him. Sam is riddled with anxiety but you have to ask how much of it is circumstance and how much of it is brought about living with Ruth, who isn't exactly the most stable of parents.
The plot is tense, with paranoia abounding and plenty of dreadful decisions made, mostly by Ruth. She had a one night stand some months ago with a guy who spun her a line about being single. Imagine her horror then when she discovers purely by chance and in a very public place - the school gates- that Rob is indeed married with 2 girls at the school. To make matters worse Rob is married to the very influential head of the PTA Janine.
From here-on-in, Ruth makes so many mistakes, so many morally questionable decisions to fight her corner and in the name of love for her son.
The book had me gasping and screaming out loud, appalled at her instability but also at times with huge empathy for the predicament she finds herself in. Desperate people do desperate things and Ruth simply does not know when to stop.
Is the hate campaign and the nasty rumours about the school secretary really happening or is Ruth mentally ill?
How far would you go to protect your child?
A great read the whole way through with a tremendous and shocking ending.
I can't recommend this book enough.
Thank you to Zoe Lea, the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

A page-turning and deeply compulsive psychological thriller about a school secretary and how dangerous it can be to make enemies at the school gates. This is a well written story, full of suspense and intrigue. Definitely worth a read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Little Brown Book Group UK and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When Ruth had a one night stand with Rob she did not know he was married. She then discovers that his wife, Janine, is the head of the PTA at the school where not only her son attends, but she is the school secretary.

What follows is a story that had me glued to the pages. I loved how it involved the form of texts and postings on Facebook. The red herrings dropped along the way were fabulous and meant that I did not trust one single character.

I am still in shock at how jealousy and rivalry which began at the school gates eventually ended with a MURDER!

The ending was shocking but so apt.

I loved this book - it was a twisty story about a mother’s love for her child and the lengths she’d go to protect him - but with a dark undercurrent. Recommended.

I really loved this book!! It kept me gripped right until the end. I did have a slight inkling half way through who could be to blame, but it didn’t diminish how it still kept me enthralled. Thank you to Netgalley and the author/publisher for the advance copy, I would definitely recommend!

When single mum Ruth had a brief fling with Rob, she's mortified to discover that he lied to her, because he's married. Worst still, he's the husband of Janine, head of the PTA at primary school where Ruth works as secretary, and when the truth of their fling is discovered, Ruth suddenly has a lot of enemies. Ruth has an eight year old son, Sam who struggles at school with bullies and anxiety.

This is a good thriller that's got a lot happening in it. The story follows Ruth as she seeks revenge. It's unbelievable what Ruth has to go through. All she wants to do is protect her son and give him a decent life. This is a cleverly crafted and fast paced book. I didn't like any of the characters. There's plenty of twists in this gripping read. The Last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK and the author Zoe Lea for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book held my interest from start to finish and I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a fast-paced, gripping read. School secretary, Ruth, mother of eight year old Sam, falls out with a group of mothers at the school. Ruth’s life spirals and she has a huge amount to deal with, including an ex who thinks he knows what’s best for Sam (and it’s not Ruth) so it’s not surprising that she suffers from anxiety but what is really going on? Ruth is an unreliable narrator in many ways and I often cringed about how far she would go in a situation but the story is compelling and I couldn’t stop reading. It made me think about how far people go to protect their children. I didn’t know which characters to trust and the ending was tense and unexpected.

I really struggled with this book and I think it's because I really didn't like Ruth at all!! The lengths she goes to try and stop her son being bullied is embarrassing and I cringed at all her actions

I loved this soooo much! Yes, there is an element of needing to suspend disbelief to really get into it, but if you can get into a mindset of not questioning too deeply what's going on, you'll discover a highly enjoyable thriller in which an unreliable, unstable protagonist makes increasingly poor decisions while desperately scrabbling to keep their life on track.

Someone has died. Someone has killed them, but we don't know either of the identities until the end. For once, I didn't guess who did it, which made this even more fun and I raced through it in one sitting so I could find out what happened.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

A change on the who done it and I must admit I didn't realise who was to blame until the end but the story was well put together and really relatable. Paranoia strikes and lives are at risk. Great book and would recommend.

Well this book kept me enthralled from beginning to end. What you will only do for your child, and how dangerous the internet and texting can be. Once said or written it can never be taken back. A single mistake, having a one night fling, then finding out the fling was with the husband of one of the mums at the school where she is secretary. The havoc caused by this one mistake that leads to murder. Great read. Thank you for my copy, loved every minute of it.

As a single mother with a highly sensitive 8-year-old son and a very tight financial situation, Ruth already has a lot to carry. When one morning she comes across Rob in front of the school where she works as a secretary, she cannot believe what she sees: the man who pretended to be single when she spent a night with him obviously is happily married with kids. Ruth is furious and so is Janine, Rob’s wife, when she realises what she is witnessing. Ruth made her biggest enemy with Janine, the one woman in the community who is great at networking and friends with everybody. The same day, the school gets a letter demanding Ruth’s lay-off because of how she behaved in front of children. But this is only the beginning of a totally nasty fight.

Zoe Lea’s novel is a real page turner. It is unbelievable what happens to Ruth who seems to be a caring mother who’d do anything for her boy and who only tries to live a decent life after the divorce. Nobody wants to believe her and everything is simply turned around making her appear to be to aggressor. The most awful thing is that you get the impression that money and power are more important than the truth and that those who are already at the end of the food chain hardly have a chance to be heard and taken seriously.

A fast paced novel that was hard to put down. I was hooked immediately and liked the development of the events, a downward spiral which once set in motion couldn’t be stopped anymore. With each chapter, Ruth’s actions became more drastic since she was pushed more and more in a corner and like a threatened animal, did not see another way out of the menacing situation. Yet, her character is not too obvious, I started questioning her more and more towards the end which, actually, I totally liked since I couldn’t be too sure about what to believe anymore.

All in all, very entertaining and enjoyable.

I lost track of the amount of times I rolled my eyes and shouted at the characters through this book. The whole thing was a bit implausible to me. But, then I got over myself, accepted a few things as just the way there were, and sat back and enjoyed the ride. A splash of entertaining fiction that heaps layers and layers of beautifully dysfunctional behaviour onto some very larger than life characters, all the way through...
So... we meet single mum Ruth. She had a one night stand a while back, and is shocked one day when she spies Rob, the other half of that event, dropping his kids off at the school where she works as a secretary. Not only that, he has his wife in tow. But he told her he was single. She's mortified. And very very angry. A spat ensues that also involves his wife and the throwing of a mobile phone. And then whispers start going round as the school gate gossipers see what has happened. And then the worse is revealed. Ruth has picked the wrong woman to do wrong to. Janine is head of the PTA and a big fish in the school financially wise... she has a lot of weight there and throws it round with sweet abandon. Never mind that Ruth was also wronged and that Rob should be the bad guy in all of this... And so begins a rather slippery spiral for Ruth as she is targetted by hate filled vitriol, so much that it threatens everything she has ever worked hard for, including her son Sam...
As I said, this is a bit "suspend belief all ye who enter here" but, if you can get over that, which I managed to do, and read it for what it is, it actually turns out to be very cleverly plotted and executed. Characters are larger than life occasionally dipping into the realm of caricature but, again, just accept and move on. Apart from Sam, I really don't think there's a character I liked in the whole cast! But then, it's that kind of book and, even if I didn't like them, they definitely all brought out some emotional reaction from me, albeit it mostly on the negative spectrum. Even Ruth, the wounded victim in all this annoyed the heck out of me along the way.
Honestly, if you do stick with it, the ending, when it eventually all unravels, is well worth the rather bumpy journey. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I was enthralled by this book and couldn’t put it down. It wasn’t a comfortable read, there was a lot of frustration and anxiety brought on by the actions of the main character. However, it was definitely worth pushing through those feelings for a satisfying thriller.

To be honest I was unsure how to rate this one as it gave me totally mixed emotions.

The overall storyline was fast paced, intriguing and had me gripped from the start BUT there is one simple line in the middle of it all (regarding footwear) that let it all down as it pretty much gave it all away! (No spoilers)

There are a few chapters at the end of the book that will leave you on the edge of your seat and you wont be able to put it down.

Fantastically written and full of suspense which is exactly what you want from a physiological thriller.

It's definitely one I'll be recommending on!

3.5*

A big thank you to Netgalley, The Little Brown Book Group & Zoe Lea for the ARC,

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Tense chilling kept me reading late into the night.Psychological thriller at its best.Will be reading and recommending this author,The characters were well drWn come alive Ruth was really interesting well written.#netgalley#thesecretary.

I loved The Rumour by Lesley Kara, so when I was told I'd enjoy The Secretary if I liked The Rumour, I knew it was a book for me. This was dark, twisty, turny, fast paced, intriguing and overall a very enjoyable book! I loved Ruth, the main character, and found her and a couple other characters very relatable. Will definitely be recommending.

I really enjoyed this book and will give it a huge thumbs up. With a great story line and excellent main characters - I would highly recommend this book.

The book was quite electrifying and I got goosebumps while reading it. Ruth was the secretary to the principal at the school her 8 year old son was studying in. She saw a man Rob dropping his family and realized he was her one night stand who had ghosted her. He had lied. He was not single, he had a family. Stunned by the betrayal and an apology to his wife for the deed done, Ruth thought the matter was sorted. But the games were just beginning...

Threatening letters and notes, slashed tires, son being bullied with night terrors and panic attacks, her cake business being run to the ground, the ex fighting for the custody of their son, Ruth had reached her limits, with no support from anyone. Then she pushed back with all her might, using any means, legal or illegal.

My first book by Zoe Lea saw me reading this book with a horrified, fearful expression wondering what would be the end result. The book not only told me Ruth's story, but there were letters from the prison which befuddled me completely. Who was in the prison?

The writing kept me so twisted that I couldn't believe some of the things that were happening. The moms in the PTA were a scary lot, and they seemed to be baying for her blood. Absolutely shocking!! To the point, Ruth slept with a knife under the pillow. The way Zoe had written this story, I could feel myself standing next to Ruth watching it all happen.

Each chapter and each event including the drastic actions taken by Ruth chilled my soul. I could feel fear rising in me trying to stifle me. Who went too far in the story is something I would leave you to decide when you read the book.

I had no time to think about my niggles because each incident kept shocking me further. I was left speechless by the time I reached the end. How far would a mother go to protect her child? Far... Believe me, very, very far. After reading this book, I am of the opinion that she would go scarily far, using any means necessary. Whew!!

Ruth
A mother and woman scorned, many many times
Reckless, furious, intent on revenge and base in her ways of getting it
I LOVED HER, truly one of my favourite characters this year
Ruth is a school secretary and her son Sam attends her school, he is bullied and has anxiety, her ex is useless as a dad and life is a struggle, but she copes, just, until one Morning she sees a man she had a one night stand with dropping his kids off with his wife in tow, he told her he was single, she tells his wife this and the gloves are off and the knives are out, poor Ruth gets it all ways but what she gets, she gives and in the most fabulously terrible ways, I loved her reactions after doing something bad and she is just a bad bad, good woman 🤗
The story told in the ‘now’ tracks events as they happen and the ending is brutally brilliant
Pure reading joy and thanks Susan for recommending this truly fab psychological thrill a minute book

10/10
5 Stars