I am thrilled to be taking part in the Reckless blog tour. The stunning crime thriller debut from the writer of Spooks, Wallander and The Bill – the perfect summer read!
Published by Welbeck Publishing on 24th July 2021 as a paperback original at £8.99
SYNOPSIS:
You think you'll stay the same – you won't. Infidelity will change you forever. There can be no going back.
Kirsten Calloway knows she should be grateful. She has a stable marriage, decent job, and a wonderful teenage daughter. But she also has a raging libido that won't shut up, and a husband who'd rather go on a bike ride.
She bumps to an old friend at a school reunion who faces a similar problem. Dianne, though, has found the answer: a discreet agency which arranges casual sex for people just like them, people who want to keep their marriages but also scratch that itch.
Enter Zac: younger, handsome and everything Kirsten could hope for in bed. For a while, they seem to have it all. Kirsten even finds herself becoming a better wife and mother. But Zac wants more – a lot more, and he'll stop at nothing to get it.
Sexually charged, shocking and relatable, Reckless is a profound exploration of marriage, motherhood and desire.
MY THOUGHTS:
Having lived in South East London for the majority of my life, I was thrilled to find that the setting of this book was in familiar locations to me, making it feel even more realistic and completely drawing me in. I loved the police reports and interview updates that were scattered throughout the novel. This added a uniqueness to the book and allowed the reader to find out snippets of what was to come, whetting your appetite and intriguing you further.
The opening pages: a body has been found deceased on the railway line with no identification or distinguishing features. Then we meet Kirsten, a mother to a teenage daughter and wife to Mark. Their lives are stuck in a rut. Mark enjoys keeping fit and cooking but has little time or energy to spend intimate time with Kirsten, which is getting her down. Kirsten is dragged to a school reunion and meets Dianne, an old school friend. Dianne introduces Kirsten to an agency for people who are happily married and don't want to leave their partners but are looking for casual sex. This is where Kirsten meets Zac.
Kirsten's world is brightened immediately by her secret meetings with Zac and everything is going well until Zac's starts to show up unannounced, breaking the rules that were stipulated by the agency. With Zac's appearances occurring more frequently and the threat of being exposed Kisten has no choice but to end her relationship with Zac. Then Zac's body is found on the railway and the police are questioning her about this man. How much longer can she keep her relationship with Zac a secret and how did Zac end up dead? Suicide or murder?
Kirsten is a very interesting character and one who I couldn't help but feel for. Her life has never quite gone the way she planned and now in her forties is left with a gaping hole where something is missing. Her infidelity is out of character for her and although she has regrets about cheating on her long-term partner is actually enjoying life more, is more fulfilled. However, nothing last forever and she is aware she is on borrowed time before her whole world comes crashing down and she loses the things she holds dear to her - her family. The tension races through the book and builds as Zac's behaviour becomes more sporadic and unpredictable. The police reports and interviews with Kirsten creates an intensensity to the novel that left me holding my breath at times. I never could predict what would happen next which kept me fully engrossed and invested in the storyline. Reckless would make for one epic tv series.
Many thanks to Sophie at Midas Public Relations for inviting me on the tour and to Welbeck Publishing for my gifted copy. A truly fascinating read; racy, intriguing and unputdownable.
AUTHOR:
After spinning out his university career as long as possible, (York, Sorbonne, SUNY, Yale and a stint teaching at Beijing University), RJ McBrien returned to London to try and make it as a writer. Like many people, he owes his TV break to The Bill. He progressed to working on other people’s shows (Red Caps, Soldier Solider, Merlin, Atlantis, Wallander, Spooks and Britannia) as well as writing original pieces (Trust for ITV and The Debt for the BBC). After a brief foray into Hollywood script doctoring, he enrolled on the Faber Novel Writing course in 2018 and Reckless, his first novel, is the result.