Beautiful Bad - Annie Ward

Mystery/Thriller

Rating: 6/10

Gripping, thrilling, terrifying, clever, scintillating. You can’t judge a book by its cover, especially if it declares it’s going to any of these things. This book is none of these things.

While the storyline is intriguing, connecting with any of these characters just wasn’t happening. They are mired in too much backstory and the “twists” feel forced.

The book does accomplish something not often seen in the deluge of domestic thrillers, the trouble in this relationship comes from PTSD. A very real issue that is handled with a delicacy that had me wishing the author had focused on a standard fiction offering rather than forcing it into the tropes of this genre.

Footnote: The author based the love triangle in this story on real life.  She married a man her best friend had once been in love with.  No one’s dead.  At least not yet.