Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward

☆☆☆☆
Kindle Edition, 400 pages
Expected publication: March 5th 2019 by HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing and Park Row
About the Book:
Maddie and Ian's romance began when he was serving in the British Army and she was a travel writer visiting her best friend Jo in Europe. Now sixteen years later, married with a beautiful son, Charlie, they are living the perfect suburban life in Middle America. But when an accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian's PTSD; her concerns for the safety of their young son Charlie; and the couple's tangled and tumultuous past with Jo. From the Balkans to England, Iraq to Manhattan, and finally to an ordinary family home in Kansas, the years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion culminate in The Day of the Killing, when a frantic 911 call summons the police to the scene of shocking crime. But what in this beautiful home has gone so terribly bad?

This book is hard for me to rate because while I did like it, it was much different than I had anticipated when I requested it. First and foremost, this book is described as a mystery/thriller novel. True, it is thrilling but I found it to also be a domestic drama.

The plot moves along at a nice pace with interesting side characters and the shadow of guilt throw in. There are coincidences and a few unlikely details but they do not overly distract from the story. I was constantly compelled to continue reading and quite taken with Maddie's plight. Maddie was a unique and fascinating main character.

In terms of the story line, I liked it. I liked how the author used a lot of suspense leading up to the truth and then throwing readers a major curve ball. This was an unexpected surprise that left me feeling satisfied, a little sad, but overall pleased because it's unique. I found that much of the story was pretty depressing, war torn coutries, PTSD etc. But this roller-coaster of a book is going to turn out much different than you anticipate when going in. I enjoy a good suspenseful novel and Beautiful Bad delivered.

The characters are well written and make sense for the overall story, but readers will have a hard time connecting until everything comes together. The ending is unique, unexpected, and satisfying and the atmosphere is perfect. I would recommend it to those who like twisty psychological novels of suspense and even though it was kind of all over the place the writing and story deserve four stars.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing, Park Row and Annie Ward for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

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