A new week, a new month, and a review to welcome them!

I would like to thank Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be part of this tour and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Am I Guilty?
Author: Jackie Kabler
Publisher: Killer Reads
Date of publication: 19 April 2019
Format: e-copy
Source: NetGalley
Number of pages: 304

Everyone thinks I did it…maybe I did.

Everyone thinks I did it…maybe I did.

Yes, I read this book.

I never thought it would happen to me…

Yet I felt my stomach churn and my blood run cold.

 

We are scared of so many things. Spiders, earthquakes. But the real thing we should be scared of is ourselves.

Am I Guilty?

I am. I am terribly guilty to have enjoyed this novel so much! I am guilty of having ridiculously loved disliking one character after the other. I am guilty of having had a blast at watching multiple lives unravel. I am guilty of having loved such a wicked psychological thriller! I’m guilty and happy about it! Oh, and now I’m totally convinced I should become a nun and hide in a monastery!!!!

Thea is inside the eye of a hurricane. Around her, life is swirling but all she can do is stand there and watch it pass. When we meet her, she is walking outside. People stare at her. Talk. My chest tightened when I read the first chapter, still unaware of the reason behind such behavior. The author doesn’t beat around the bush, but she doesn’t draw you the elephant in the room. It doesn’t take long to understand something horrendous happened. To everyone’s eyes, she is responsible. We get snippets of the events through different eyes: Flora, her ex personal assistant, Annabelle, who hired Flora after the fact and has been in Thea’s mom circle without them ever getting so close, Thea, whose voice stirred everything in me. Guilt is like shackles attached to her ankles, dragging her down. Always down.

So what went wrong??? Saying I was impatient to know the truth would be a euphemism! Jackie Kabler’s clever way to ensure the reader connects to each protagonist before revealing the big secret that is not a secret reminded me of a woman dropping candy behind her in the park, luring me away from the sun, the ‘safe’ world, to transport me to hell. A hell created by us, human beings. It worked. I ate all the candy. I kept changing my mind. I thought I had it all figured out, I doubted myself. Then I got run over by THE BIG BAD EVENT.

It is often said that it takes a second to change the world. After having read this book, I say it takes actions, big and small, aggravating until the last brick makes everything tumble down!

Am I Guilty is a sentence I associate with everyone in this story. We all have skeletons in our closet but here, you get a full cemetary!!!! Oh my God! Everyone is guilty, everyone looks suspicious, and everyone adds grains of sand to create a whole that engulfs two families.

No, I won’t tell you what happened. Nor will I tell you what happens. Not because I am a sadistic reviewer, but because in the end, you don’t get addicted to this book for its plot, but for the amazing analysis of what our emotions lead us to do. Appearances play a part, pity showed up, so did contempt. I was swaying all the way. Could I trust a mother who sounded as if she were trying to find excuses for her actions? Could I blame a woman for being nosey when I was totally nosey myself, intruding in their lives to get my dose of shivers and thrills? Would the husbands escape my angry eye?

Am I Guilty? is a brilliant and heart-rending novel hiding a devious face. You will think you’ve guessed who and why. Maybe you will. I didn’t. I had part of the story, but too engrossed and too involved in the web of lies and deceit, I was blind to the real evil.

Definitely character-driven and unconditionally tense, Am I Guilty? is the right read for you if you’re looking for an exciting and powerful domestic thriller!

Grab your copy now! Amazon