Reckless: This year's most sexually charged and shocking thriller

Thoroughly enjoyed this page turner. What a lot of fun. Perfect escape for summer holiday or rainy afternoon. It's sexy, thrilling as well as funny and touching. Great read.

"Infidelity changes people. They're no longer the person they thought they were, and that can be unsettling" (p.148). Hmm. So, I think a little bit like a mysterious lover, this book has lied to me a bit. Because this book is not really what I thought it was going to be. "Reckless" has been marketed as a sexy thriller with an illicit affair at its heart. Well, it does have an affair within the tale, but in the end it wasn't all that sexy, unless you find a middle-aged woman moaning about her lack of sex at all sexy. The premise of this book sounded OK; Kirsten has been with Mark for well over 20 years. Although Kirsten loves him, and doesn't want to leave him, she is also hungering for a rekindling of their physical relationship. Age, children, jobs, family commitments, have all seemingly contributed to that side of their relationship declining. So, after a chance encounter with an old school friend, she comes across the solution: she can join a group, who only meet up for 'no-strings' sex. This way, it is claimed, her marriage can be saved. The only problem, the man that she ends up fulfilling this need with wants more than she does. This book had a lot of potential. Sadly, like Kirsten's attempts to seduce her husband again, it all is a little disappointing; more of a half-hearted fumbling than a climatic encounter. Despite the subject matter, there isn't a lot of sex in this book (so if you come to it for that, you will be disappointed). This means that the affair goes from being the occasional meeting, to the man going all freaky, seemingly in the space of a few minutes, rather than there being a build up of tension as Zac's true colours finally come to light. Kirsten really frustrated me, to be honest. She is an intelligent woman, with a lot to lose both in her personal life, and in her professional life, but she disregards all the advice that she is given from the very beginning. And, because we don't get to see the affair really explode into something, the reasons why she would break these rules and let her guard down just doesn't make any sense. This, along with the lack of proper tension building, meant that I found this read to only ever be OK at best. Things were resolved just far too quickly, and the ending came across as a little bit too twee.

This is marketed as an erotic thriller but it's not. I should have known I'd be disappointed because most books these days are mis-marketed, I expect to get them in the bestsellers charts, which of course worked. However it has a great premise and the story was compelling. The excitement tapered off towards the end though and became predictable, but the conclusion was tied up neatly. All in all its a good psychological thriller which definitely reminded me of Apple Tree Yard, not.si much the Girl on The Train though. I'm not sure why it was boasted to. It's a good read and I'd like to see what the author comes up with next. But if, like I was, you're looking for a thrilling sex-fest. This isn't the book for you.

Just finished this great debut novel so will start by saying it should be required summer reading and top of everyone's holiday booklist. It's turbo charged in every way - sexy, funny, shocking and just a bit clever in the best possible sense. The author has nailed so many truths about middle aged women - how they think, feel and speak. It is a great portrait of a marriage and charts some of the ups and downs of parenting, weaving together a tight, edgy narrative that doesn't disappoint. The characters are so defined and well drawn you feel you know them all and it makes you care right to the end. It is a page turner in the truest sense of the word. Brilliant!