Review: The Regret by Dan Malakin

Released: 13th August 2019

Publisher: Bloodhound Books

Genre: Psychological thriller

Blurb:

What if someone wanted to ruin your life?

Rachel Stone’s world was destroyed by a stalker, Alan Griffin. After he went to prison, she rebuilt her life.

Now she has a three-year-old daughter and is in a new relationship. But someone is stalking her again. Her phone, her emails and her social media are hacked.

Rachel believes it’s Griffin, out of prison and looking for revenge. She needs to find him and make him leave her alone. But as Rachel is drawn into a hunt, she realises that something even more horrific is happening - something that will make her confront the childhood that has lingered inside her like a ghost, and will force her to face the truth about her new life.

Is Griffin the one ruining her life? Or is someone far more dangerous responsible?

What everyone is saying about The Regret:

'After having finished reading 'The Regret', I can think of only one word to describe the book ' brilliant'... right up there on my list of top 10 reads of 2019' - Ginger Book Geek

'OUTSTANDING! That's the short review/version and the word that came to my mind as I read the last word of this terrifyingly brilliant book!' - 'Book Mark' FB Group

'I am so impressed with this novel. Definitely a contender for my book of the year' - Keri Beevis (author of Dead Letter Day and The Darkness Beneath)

The Regret is a gripping and suspenseful psychological thriller which will keep you on the edge of your seat. If you are a fan of authors like Rachel Abbott, Cara Hunter and C.L. Taylor, you'll love this unmissable crime thriller.

My Thoughts:

The author of this novel was a subscriber to my blog who contacted me after enjoying some books on my recommendation. He offered to send me a copy for an honest review and I'm so glad that he did.

This story is very dark in places, with themes of stalking, eating disorders, drug misuse and dysfunctional family situations. I would suggest looking on Goodreads or similar at any trigger warnings, but if you like unsettling books that make you think, this is a great one.

The main narrative is Rachel, and the best way I can describe her is that she reminded me a lot of the main character from Girl on the Train. She is an unreliable narrator, and we learn more about her past trauma as we follow her. Interspersed with this are chapters from an unnamed individual, where stalking methods are discussed and demonstrated. This made me quite uncomfortable in places, but still compelled to keep reading as I was addicted from the first chapter to figure out what in the hell was actually going on.

I was engrossed and unsettled at most points through this, and to keep those feelings at the brim throughout the 311 pages is quite a feat. Reading the acknowledgements at the back, I was relieved to discover that the author found parts of this as hard to write as they have been to read. As I've said before with thrillers, they can make you question yourself for enjoying them. They can then of course make you wonder why they were written, how they were thought up. In an age where - sadly - stalking and hacking are fairly common, I found this novel eye opening as Dan goes into detail of how these things can happen. As a data security consultant, again I was interested to find out that this detail in the plot was obviously from a well experienced standpoint.

There are various well known authors whose books have made me feel similarly afterwards (BA Paris, Verity by Colleen Hoover, The Closer I Get by Paul Burston to name a mere few) so if you have read and enjoyed these, then this is one for your wish list. Thanks to Dan Malakin and Bloodhound Books for sending me a copy for an honest review.