20190228_130008.jpgWelcome to my stop on the Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward blog tour sponsored by TLC Book Tours! Thanks to TLC for the invitation!

About the Book:

In the most explosive and twisted psychological thriller since The Woman in the Window, a beautiful marriage turns beautifully bad.

Things that make me scared: When Charlie cries. Hospitals and lakes. When Ian drinks vodka in the basement. ISIS. When Ian gets angry… That something is really, really wrong with me.

Maddie and Ian’s romance began with a chance encounter at a party overseas; he was serving in the British army and she was a travel writer visiting her best friend, Jo. Now almost two decades later, married with a beautiful son, Charlie, they are living the perfect suburban life in Middle America. But when a camping accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending writing therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian’s PTSD; her concerns for the safety of their young son, Charlie; and the couple’s tangled and tumultuous past with Jo.

From the Balkans to England, Iraq to Manhattan, and finally to an ordinary family home in Kansas, sixteen years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion culminate in The Day of the Killing, when a frantic 911 call summons the police to the scene of a shocking crime.

My Thoughts:

Maddie and Ian meet each other overseas when he’s in the British army, and she’s a travel writer visiting a friend, Jo.

Almost twenty years later, they have a son named Charlie and are living the American dream together. 

There’s a camping accident, which leaves its mark on Maddie emotionally, and she seeks therapy. In those sessions, she reveals Ian’s PTSD symptoms, her worries over Charlie’s safety, as well as the complicated past she and Ian have with Jo. 

Then, “The Day of the Killing” happens where a 911 call brings the police to the house. Who is the victim, and who is responsible for the murder? 

Beautiful Bad is a slow burning suspenseful read with several surprising twists. I was invested in these characters and gripped by this story. Secrets, Lies, friends, and murder. Without giving anything away, I think the title could not be more apt. 

Overall, Beautiful Bad is a new thriller on the block and one not to be missed!

I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own. 

About the Author:

Annie’s sophomore novel and first psychological thriller BEAUTIFUL BAD will be published by Harper Collins/Park Row books in March, 2019.

Annie received a BA in English Lit with an emphasis in Creative Writing from UCLA and an MFA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute. While studying at AFI, she sold her first short screenplay to MTV/ BFCS Productions. Starring Adam Scott, STRANGE HABIT became a Grand Jury Award Winner at the Aspen Film Festival and a Sundance Festival Official Selection.

After film school, Annie moved to Eastern Europe to work for Fodor Travel Guides, covering regions of Spain and Bulgaria. She remained in Bulgaria for five years spanning a civilian uprising and government overthrow. The novel THE MAKING OF JUNE, which Annie wrote with the Bulgarian revolution and Balkan crisis as its backdrop was sold to Penguin Putnam and published to critical acclaim in 2002.

During Annie’s five years in the Balkans she received a Fulbright Scholarship, taught at the University of Sofia, and script doctored eight screenplays for Nu-Image, an Israeli/American film company that produced a number of projects in Bulgaria for the SyFy Channel. She was later the recipient of an Escape to Create artist residency.

She lives in Kansas City, Kansas with her family.

Have you read Beautiful Bad, or is it on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR