The walls by Hollie Overton.
Single mom Kristy Tucker works as a press agent for the Texas Department of Corrections handling everything on death row from inmate interviews, to chronicling the last moments during an execution. Her job exposes Kristy to the worst of humanity and it's one that's beginning to take its toll.
A brilliant read. Great story and characters. 5*.

WARNING: Domestic violence.

Interesting to read about what it's like to be a prison public liaison officer. Why aren't more of them in crime fiction?

It's sad watching Kristy Tucker's journey from a strong single mother to a defeated spouse. But as she finds her feet again, we cheer her on. Her friendship with an inmate may seem strange, but he ultimately is her biggest supporter. She can handle abuse happening to her, but when her father and her son are threatened she knows life needs to change for the better. Her action plan may not be ideal, but realistically it's the only way to prevent Lance from harming Kristy's loved ones.

Hollie Overton's debut novel, BABY DOLL, had a great concept with uneven execution. But this sophomore novel gets things right, and it's so rewarding to watch an author improve.

I loved Hollie's first book Baby Doll, and found this just as intriguing, albeit uncomfortable at times, due to domestic violence. But it was a really great read!

Kirstie had a baby as a teenager and has bought up Ryan on her own with the help of her father Frank. Her work as a Public Information Officer for the Texas Department Of Criminal Justice sees her overseeing the deaths of the prisoners on death row and communicating between the press, staff and the prisoners, not Kirstie’s dream job!!

When she meets Ryan’s martial arts instructor Lance, there is an instant attraction and they are soon married. Sadly this is no fairytale, happily ever ending, as Kirsty is living on egg shells afraid to say or do something wrong as Lance is abusive verbally and physically.

When Lance starts threatening her father and son, Kirstie realises something must change before it’s too late. Is murder the only answer?Being surrounded by murderers at the prison, she knows how easily you can get caught. With careful planning, can she succeed?

I loved reading Clifton’s chapters, although he was on death row I did 100% believe he was innocent. I loved the friendship between Clifton and Kirstie, he saw straightaway something was wrong with her and was the only person she could confide in.

I have to say this story was hard to read and at times I was so angry that I wanted to stop reading .I was quite prepared to kill Lance myself!! For me this is a sign of a good author that I felt such a strong emotion from reading this book.

You had me hooked and I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

It was so shocking to realise that Kirsty was safer in the prison than she was at home. This was so fast paced and addictive, as well as giving an interesting take on the justice system and death penalty.

A thrilling psychological page-turner!

Well...thank you so much, Hollie Overton, for the most thrilling psychological page-turner! Immediately I was drawn into the plot and just couldn’t put it down.

From the outset we are introduced to the most loyal American family...single mum Kristy Tucker, her son Ryan, and her dad Pops. Kristy has the most demanding and dangerous job working with the most serious criminals on Death Row. Officially Kristy is a press officer for the Texas Department of Corrections.

The author takes us into the drudgery of frequently overseeing the executions of extremely violent men. It also raises the question of executing those who may be innocent. I enjoyed her relationship with one of the inmates, which added an extra layer to the story.

Having been single for seventeen years, it’s great to see that finally, Kristy finds love with Ryan’s martial arts instructor. Does everything work out? All I can say is Kristy’s resolve is tested to the bitter end and hopefully, the nature of her job will have taught her several lessons in survival.

Throughout ‘The Walls’ I found that the tension soared sky high right up to the excellent finale. I’ll certainly look out for more from Hollie Overton.

Galadriel.

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of this book to review.

The Walls - good, not great. I loved the relationship and chats between Clifton and Kristy. Also the relationship with her son, however i just did not enjoy the domestic violence relationship with Lance and the book just kind of bored me from there.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is absolutely fantastic

Meet Kristy a single Mum working a full time job and looking after her ailing father - she soon meets her son’s martial arts instructor and falls in love Lance is everything she ever wanted

It’s not long before things take a sinister turn

There are some parts of this book which make for really uncomfortable reading but it is brilliantly told

This is my book of the year so far I would recommend it to anyone

What a fantastic, thrilling, and fun book! Hollie Overton has a style of writing that I just cannot read enough of!

This is the latest book by Hollie Overton and whilst I didn't love her debut Baby Doll, I was intrigued to read this book.

A little slow to start, but then the pace increases and covers some really uncomfortable subjects.

a great psychological thriller from an author new to me. I enjoyed this book and will recommend to anyone

Thankyou to NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone Arrow and Hollie Overton for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Walls.
I thought the storyline was well thought out and fast paced with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader engrossed. I had to read this book in one sitting.
Well worth a read. Am looking forward to Ms Overton's next book..

There was so many twists and turns I could not put this book down. I never wanted it to end. I will definitely be reading baby doll. I was emotionally involved in the characters and this means to be that its a good book !!!

Wow. Again Hollie Overton has written an extremely good read. I was sat on the sidelines desperate to get into the action. Just like her last book there twists and turns that made it unputdownable I spent my weekend in a book that I wished could go on for ever. She has earned herself a place on my recommendations list. I can not wait till the next one comes out.

The Walls is the second book I have read by Hollie Overton, having read Baby Doll last year and I have to say although at the beginning I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it I ended up thinking it was better than the previous thriller. This does have sensitive issues of abuse and rape in it.
Kristy Tucker is a single mum bringing up her son whilst looking after her ailing father and holding down a tough job in a reporting office for prisoners on death row, so she has to watch them die and even though they are convicted murderers it doesn’t make the job any easier.
Kristy meets Lance through her son as he is his martial arts teacher and life gets easier as Lance takes care of her and her family, they get married and everything changes.
This is a story of a woman’s plight to be stronger than the battering her husband gives her almost daily and her struggles to maintain a normal life before and after.
I enjoyed this thriller and it made me read something I would not normally read regarding victims on death row.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House, Cornerstone, Arrow for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Even though I ended up buying my own physical copy of this book to read, I still would like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for also providing me with a copy to review.

This book follows single mother Kirsty Tucker who works as a press agent for the Texas Department of Corrections. She handles everything on death row from inmate interviews to recording the last moments during an execution. Her job exposes Kirsty to the worst of humanity and it's beginning to take its toll. When Kirsty meets Lance Dobson, she believes she's finally found her happy ending. She's wrong. She soon discovers that Lance is a monster. Forced to endure his verbal and physical abuse, Kirsty is serving her own life sentence - unless she's willing to take matters into her own hands......

I loved this author's first book, 'Baby Doll', and agreeing with the 'Sunday Mirror' - this book is every bit as gripping as her debut book! The whole book was a cleverly-written instense suspenseful thriller that had me addicted right from the beginning to end.

I completely related to the main character in this book. Through Hollie's terrific writting and story-telling, I felt every emotional that Kirsty was feeling. I felt her terror, her worry, her anger, her upset and above all her utter determination to ensure nothing harms the ones she loves. I had nothing but fear and empathy for this character and found myself desperately hoping for her to find a way out of her nightmare.

The Walls tells a very dark tale that was heart-stopping to read and was overall a truly stunningly clever book! I truly can't wait for Hollie Overton's next!

Really enjoyed this book. Lots of suspense with just the right amount of twists and turns thrown in. The characters were really well done and really made the story. The pace of the story was perfect and I loved how it all came together at the end.

I loved babydoll and this book had been on my tbr list for a long time.

The backdrop of continual ‘murder’ whilst going about you everyday life creates a brilliant atmosphere for the Texan setting of Kristy Tuckers story. Her fairy-tale prince turning into a monster creates a desperate environment – picking up the humiliation of the situation, the desire for it to not be true, but also allowing Kristy to use her knowledge of the system to her advantage.
I spent a large part of the book optimistically thinking I hope her Pops makes it through the book, and the baby killer really is innocent and is freed along with the hope she’d secretly take martial arts lessons. Looking back I’m glad Hollie didn’t grant all of my wishes!

This dark thriller kept me entertained right till the end. While it started a little slow I though it build up Kirsty’s characters so well. Kirsty is a single mum who meet and married her sons marshal arts instructor. After the marriage she relishes he is not what he seemed when they first met and she becomes terrified for her life.
The subject was hard to read at times but I felt it was written about in a very detailed and true manor.
There characters were written very well, many times I found myself getting tense and hated Kirsty’s husband more and more.
Overall a good read.

This was a bit of a slow burner for me however I’m glad I stuck with it.

The character of Clifton Harris was partly what encouraged me to complete this book as I was keen to discover his storyline.

Not my favourite book however I’m looking forward to reading Baby Doll now by Hollie Overton.