This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR
Genevieve is enjoying every moment of her new life on the barge that she bought with her hard earned savings. Months before she walked away from her two jobs, salesperson by day and pole dancer at the Barclay Club by night. Dylan, a minder from the club, gave Genevieve a mysterious package and paid her to hide it somewhere safe. He also gave her a mobile phone and told her never to call him, but to wait for him to make contact with her when he would let her know what to do next. She’s losing patience and is beginning to feel uneasy about the package stashed in a box with a false bottom that she’s marked Kitchen Utensils.
Since leaving London behind to work on the refurbishment of her new home, she’s slowly begins to move on from everything that happened in her past. One night, she invites some friends, old and new to a party, but after they’ve all gone she’s woken by a thumping sound on the side of her boat. Going out to investigate, she discovers the murdered body of one of the other lap dancers from club. It’s then that Genevieve suspects that her past is catching up with her and she has no idea what to do about it.
The book expertly leads you through Genevieve’s present dilemma alternating with chapters that take you back to the past as you slowly weave together what happened to get her mixed up with the shady and dangerous dealings of the underworld. It's written in the first person and I loved how Genevieve is very matter of fact about how exciting she finds lap dancing, the importance of being the best dancer in the club and how honest she is about how far she’s willing to go to earn the money she needs to buy her boat. She's bold and takes chances, but she's too confident for her own good and although she seems fairly tough, she's also naïve in assuming she can handle the situation she’s being drawn into.
Dylan has a tough exterior and although he shows no emotion when he has to watch Genevieve perform there's a growing suspicion as you read on that maybe he cares more for her than he's letting on. The contrast between Genevieve’s present peaceful lifestyle on the boat against her previous life working for a sleazy manager in the day and the men she tries to manipulate in the club at night continues throughout the book. It's hard to know who she should be wary of and who she should trust. Elizabeth Haynes cleverly brings the past and present together drawing the reader to the dramatic conclusion that was so fast-paced I literally didn’t want to put the book down.
This is Elizabeth Haynes second novel. I haven’t read her debut novel, Into The Darkest Corner, which was Amazon’s Best Book of the Year for 2011, but I’m going to have to now.
A dark thriller with a cleverly constructed plot.
9/10
Revenge of the Tide is published on 15th March by Myriad Editions and I'd like to thank them for sending me a review copy.
You can find our more about Elizabeth Haynes and her other book on her website.