What Are You Made Of: Revenge Runs Deep by Pat Young @py321_young @BOTBSPublicity #BlogTour

I am honored and really happy to close the blog tour for Revenge Runs Deep by Pat Young. I have reviewed several of Pat’s books and they are a delight for the brain, the perfect material to make you think!

Thank you to Sarah Hardy at Books on the Bright Side for inviting me to be part of this blog tour and providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Revenge Runs Deep
Author: Pat Young
Date of publication: 2019
Format: e-copy
Number of pages: 326

I love serial killers. I devour toxic relationships stories. But one thing pushes my buttons. Bullies. Taking advantage of your power to poison other people’s lives in the worst way is despicable. They say bullying is a sign of weakness, that those people hide their fears in the harsh words they speak and awful actions they take. Some are small bullies, trying to impress a crowd, some seem rotten to the core. How do you handle them?

Killers? Jail. Toxic relationships? Read the books and hope to never ask yourself the question. But bullies? Can they stop? Can you make them stop?

Pat Young is very skilled. In this novel, she builds a replica of our world filled with flawed but doing-their-best people. Hard workers, people with values, characters it is easy to connect to. Protagonists at the mercy of a dragon. A freaking nasty dragon who brought the worst in me. I cursed. I wished him things I wouldn’t dream on my neighbors (and believe me, I don’t like them very much). Thomas Smearton is the perfect example of everything I hate in a man. He is manipulative belittles employees, puts his needs and goals first, and threads on everyone’s head. I was a pit of fire, a huge ball of rage while reading just how easily he could ruin Joe, Marty, or Sean’s days, weeks, and lives. Part of this violent reaction was the result of me having been a bullying victim when I was younger, but most of all came from the author’s brilliant portrayal of a true villain. The real kind of villains walking our sidewalks and breathing our air. No need for trolls or fantastic beasts when you have bullies. Just like you don’t need a murderer for blood to stain the carpet.

Revenge Runs Deep doesn’t give bullying a face for the sake of it. No, Pat Young explores human reactions to it. How strong do you need to be to overcome it? What do the scars it leaves look like?

If given the opportunity to have the upper hand, what would YOU do to the person responsible for your misery?

Fascinating in its dissection of the range of emotions bullying triggers, Revenge Runs Deep is not a lesson, and if there is a clear bad guy versus good guys battle, the reality of it runs deeper than this. Even deeper than revenge? 😉

There is no clear answer to the best way to answer bullying, especially when the aftermath brings desperation, or even death. Can a religious faith save the day? Is repenting enough? Can an upbringing be an excuse for being a *insert insult here*. In case you hadn’t noticed, this novel had me conjuring up lots of swear words! But it also had me thinking ‘Do I want revenge for what was done to me?’ ‘Can I stoop so low that I’d find myself being just as mean to get the satisfaction of seeing the culprit suffer the way I did?’ It was not an easy read, but it truly became an addictive one as this bunch of people gathered their strength to look for a way to bring some justice back to this world. But does revenge rhymes with closure?

Revenge Runs Deep is a complex and enthralling novel about how far we can be pushed before we reach the breaking point.

Grab your copy!

But Pat never intended to be a writer. Then a story got inside her head, demanding to be told. She is fascinated by what happens when someone suddenly disappears and all her books have that theme.

Pat loves meeting readers and has been on the programme at Bloody Scotland and Tidelines. She is really excited about appearing at this year’s Boswell Book Festival at Dumfries House in May where she plans to launch her fourth psychological thriller Revenge Runs Deep.