I found this an intriguing story, where 14 year old Lou has a massive crush on her karate teacher Mike who, unbeknown to her at the time, is grooming her. The storyline in parts is a bit far fetched and implausible, however Lou’s mission to save Chloe from the same fate and the twists and turns it takes make for gripping reading.

When Lou was 14, she ran away to France with Mike, her karate teacher, she thought she was in love with him but he showed his true colours and she escaped his clutches.

Lou is now 31, she has struggled to maintain a meaningful relationship and when her dad dies she returns home to confront the man that ruined her life. She discovers Mike has chosen another venerable teenager to groom and she needs to put a stop to him.

A fast paced gritty thriller which is full of suspense with several twists and an excellent ending.

The Fear is the first book I've read by C L Taylor and it certainly won't be the last. It's a fast paced tale of manipulation, abduction and control. But who's being controlled and who's the controller? Lou runs away to France with her teacher, Mike. Years later, her life has been shaped by past events and history starts to repeat itself.

The plotting is superb; fast paced, intricate and with so many twists, it's difficult to know how it's going to end. At one point, I actually jumped, the surprise in the storyline was totally unexpected. If you enjoy suspense, this a blistering drama that plays out on the page just like a film. It's complex and haunting, very difficult to put down and I demolished it in a couple of sittings.

My thanks to Avon, publisher, for a review copy via Netgalley.

Lou was fourteen when she fell in love with Mike, her Karate Instructor. When he took her on a romantic weekend to France, she began to realise that his understanding of their ‘relationship’ was very different to hers. Now, in her thirties, damaged and still unable to maintain a lasting relationship with any man, she returns to Malvern after the death of her estranged father to put her family home on the market.
When Lou discovers that even after all these years Mike is still grooming young girls, she knows she must do something.
There are many psych thrillers on the market, but there are things which mark The Fear out from the rest. C. L. Taylor approaches the main part of the plot, where the story of the relationship between Mike and Lou is established, from an unusual and thought-provoking angle.
She takes the time to dismiss any doubts about the acceptability of any liaison between child and adult and succeeds in portraying both Mike’s deceitfulness and the vulnerability of a teenage girl.
It is sometimes difficult in a novel to have to employ a fall-back position of ‘they must be round the bend’ to explain the behaviour of a character, but in the case of Mike’s ex-wife, even if you need to do this, you must admit that she has every reason to be.
The Fear also sports a pacey and unusual conclusion.
Well worth a read, I will be reading more of C.L.Taylor’s books
My thanks to Netgalley UK and Avon Books UK

I enjoyed The Fear by CL Taylor. It’s an enjoyable thriller that kept me enthralled from the first page. It’s well written, pacy and unputdownable. It tackles a tough subject but flows with ease and has a lovely twist in the plot line. I can definitely recommend this book and look forward to the authors next book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

Absolutely exceptional read. This book is a blend between what can and, sadly, does horrifically happen in real life, and a very dark fiction. The author combines our worst fears, both for ourselves and our children, together to create the story of a lifelong horror that a young girl must grow up and live with, until it meets her face to face again, years later.

As the two worlds collide together once again, we find details, memories and people start to unfold. We get to meet those whom were in the past and those affecting the current, as well as getting to know how people and ideas have changed.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know and understand the main character. It was interesting and very exciting, albeit dangerous, how she tackled the situation, and I really liked the twist the author put in, with regards to some of the characters from the past and present. You will definitely be kept on your toes. Plus, that ending!!! Wow.

Overall, and exceptional read and one I highly recommend for thriller lovers.

This is the 7th book I have read by Cally Taylor and I can honestly say I have loved everyone of them. This is a psychological thriller that really does get you hooked very early and the suspense just keeps going.
Lou Wandsworth is a teenager with an awful home life and few friends so when her teacher Mike Hughes shows her the affection and the attention she craves for she cannot resist. Mike grooms Lou and following the start of a relationship he takes her to France to start a life together. Once they are in France Mike's personality changes and he keeps Lou locked in the bedroom. She quickly becomes scarred of Mike and seeks freedom.
The book is full of suspense, twists and turns and guaranteed to keep you reading on and on to the very end. Great read.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Avon Books UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

CL Taylor is definitely up there as one of my favourite authors. The Fear, her latest book lives up to this. A really compelling and horrific story of grooming. Her description of Mike, the teacher, cleverly brings this vile man to life. I felt like I needed my hands over my eyes with the creepiness of this but then wouldn't be able to read the book! Despite the unsavoury subject this is an amazing read.

The Fear by CL TayloR
I enjoyed reading the promotion material about The Fear and looked forward to my copy from Netgalley. It was certainly fast paced and the concept was a good one but I think this novel let itself down in too many places by being too far-fetched.
I got the feeling that the years in which this contemporary thriller was set were manipulated to skim over things that would get in the way of the plot - paedophile registers, decent wifi in country areas, better tracking of mobile phones. There wasn't a sense of the decades other than these drawbacks and they certainly aided an unrealistic plot.
Considering there was a known paedophile involved, the police were unbelievably hopeless!
After I raced through to find how all the ends tied up, the highly anticipated ending didn't ring true at all . I enjoyed the story in parts but wouldn't hurry to read another.

This is the first novel I have read by this author and it won’t be the last. It gripped me from the first page right up to the end. It was a rollercoaster ride with excellent characterisations.

Anyone who wants to read a thriller which keeps you enthralled this is the one for you.

Love this authors books and couldnt wait to read The Fear. I was not disappointed by this intense and gritty story. C L Taylor grabs your attention from the beginning and walks you along a knife edge throughout! I liked the fact that she has taken a story that you could see on the news but has twisted and tangled it into a dark and shocking but highly oruginal bestseller. I loved it and cant wait for her next book.

WOW. This has to be one of the most anticipated books of 2018 and it is bloody brilliant! A must read.

When Lou Wandsworth ran away to France with her teacher Mike Hughes, she thought he was the love of her life. But Mike wasn't what he seemed and he left her life in pieces.

Now 32, Lou discovers that he is involved with teenager Chloe Meadows. Determined to make sure history doesn't repeat itself, she returns home to confront him for the damage he's caused.

But Mike is a predator of the worst kind, and as Lou tries to bring him to justice, it's clear that she could once again become his prey...

A massive portrait of obsessive love and psychological manipulation, this book gets under the skin from the outset and won't let you go until you've gasped at THAT ending. This is Taylor's best book yet.'

The Fear will be released 22nd of March 2018. A must read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an advance copy for a fair and honest review.

What a brilliant book! Poor Lou hasn't been able to commit to a relationship since being in a relationship with Mike, a man much older than herself, when she was 14. After the death of her father she moves back to her home town to confront Mike and tell him how much his actions have affected her life, but she is horrified to find out he is currently pursuing another girl Chloe. Determined for history not to repeat itself, she decides she has to intervene and events soon get out of her control.
This book is really cleverly written, when we find out just what kind of man Mike is and the ordeal Lou suffered when she was young, we understand the extent of 'The Fear'. The complacency and selfishness of the parents of the young girls was astounding too, none of them realised how their daughters were being groomed. The subtle blaming of the girls and 'oh they asked for it' and 'they chased the poor man' attitudes were very realistic and frightening.
Really enjoyed this book, would certainly recommend.

The Fear is C.L Taylor's latest psychological thriller but it didn't grab me as much as others have done. When teenage Lou falls for family friend, Mike, she doesn't realise that she is being groomed. It is only after he persuades her to go away to France for the weekend that she realises that he has other motives in mind.

Eighteen years later, after Mike completes a prison sentence, Louise returns home to deal with her late father's affairs and discovers Mike is up to his old tricks. How can she prevent another innocent young girl's life from being destroyed as her own has been?

The concept of The Fear is good but I felt the book was rather rushed and lacked depth in characterisation. Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the opportunity to read and review the book. I am sure C.L. Taylor's regular readers will not be disappointed.

So now I understand what all the fuss is about - this is a brilliant story! I have read all CL Taylor's books and I think they just get better and better. This was such an entertaining read, with so many twists and turns that I had no idea how it could possibly end well. I felt connected to all three POVs, which is not an easy thing to achieve and they all had their flaws, but there was interesting character development as the story progressed. To say I was completely engrossed would be an understatement. This is pacey and chilling and... Wow, just wow!

An unusual story from the point of view of a girl/ woman who was groomed and abused who then tries to prevent it from happening again. A very unexpected twist at the end.

4.5 Stars

There is a lot of fear in this book, and the majority of it all stems from the fear of one person, some is decades old, and some is fresh, but what it all has in common is that it is entirely justified. Oddly enough though I didn't feel any fear myself while reading this!

The Fear is a gripping look which deals with an uncomfortable subject matter, dealt with in a sensitive manner. The story is told from the view points of three ladies all which have the same man in common.

For Lou, they ran away together to France when she was just 14, Chloe appears to be seeing him currently and she is only 13, and then there is Wendy who I never really took to, and stuck me as a bit odd, up until I realised how she fitted into the story at which point she becomes far more interesting.

There are some twists and turns that although I wasn't gasping at, I didn't see coming, and they came at just the right pace to keep you on the edge of your seat as you were reading this.

The Fear had a different feel to it the authors previous books, it didn't quite get under my skin in the same way but the writing was still fabulous, and the story was certainly different to other books in the genre. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Fear and found myself completely absorbed by the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Once I started this book I could not put it down and read it in a matter of hours.

Chilling and captivating it will leave you wanting to keep reading in a frantic bid to get to its climax.

You hear so many stories on the news and social media of children being groomed or coerced into running away with adults but I have never before stopped to think about how it may affect them in later life or those around them.

Eighteen years ago Louise was groomed by someone she trusted. She didn’t know she was being groomed she thought he loved her and her him. It has badly affected her and her ability to have a normal loving relationship.

I am not going to reveal any further details of the storyline as I think that you will enjoy it best going into it ‘cold’. It is told from various characters points of view and is fast paced almost from the very first chapter. There was more than occasion where I gasped out loud!!

Overall a fantastic read!!! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I found The Fear really unsettling – as I had expected it to be – and really well-written. I don’t know why, but I really like reading psychological thrillers where the lead character loses their control and is merely swept along by events, even though they make me very uncomfortable and tend to stay with me. This book was no exception as Lou, although starting out with a plan to confront Mike, very quickly turned back into the groomed 14-year-old that she used to be.

What makes this book so uncomfortable is that Mike is the villain, and yet he is a normal bloke. There’s no indication outside of his dealings with Lou and Chloe to suggest that he is a paedophile, and so when Lou tries to warn people, no-one believes her. I suppose as a society we like to think that we could spot a paedophile a mile away, but this book is a wake up call in that regard!

This is the first book I’ve read by C. L. Taylor, but I was lucky enough to meet her at YALC 2017 and have a signed copy of The Treatment, her first YA book, to read – I’ll definitely be starting on that soon as her writing is superb, conveying domestic drama and suspense in a way that makes it compulsive reading.

Manipulation, grooming and revenge. Who is the liar? A colourful cocktail which is fast paced and credible with characters spinning into each other so you never quite know what they are going to do next. It has a streak of craziness running throughout and I loved it. Who will win out in the end? Is Mike as bad as some seem to think or is he an innocent caught up in a teenager’s romantic fantasy?