3.5 stars rounded up.

Alice Henderson receives a chilling phone call on a Wednesday morning at her journalist job. “I am going to use cheese wire on you.” The caller is anonymous and using a voice changing app on his phone. Alice hangs up thinking it’s a hoax, but when something happens the next Wednesday, Alice begins to think this is more than just a prank. She thinks she has a stalker. When things start escalating each Wednesday and Alice’s mother becomes a target as well, Alice’s boyfriend, Tom, hires private investigator, Matthew Hill, to assist with the case. What does the stalker have against Alice? Is it something from one of the articles she’s written or something from her past?

I Will Make You Pay by Teresa Driscoll alternates between the present time and the past. In the past, we are told the story of a young boy who lives with his grandmother. He loves his grandmother very much, but one night a week she has to leave him alone so she can go to her job. Things happen to this boy when his grandmother is at work, bad things. These chapters kept me engrossed. I really wanted to know what happened to the boy.

This book threw out a lot of red herrings and had a lot of twists along the way. I kept thinking I knew who the stalker was and then something would make me completely change my mind. Towards the end, something happened that made me think it was someone, and that turned out to be right, but I was still intrigued to see how the story would end.

I thought the book was very well written and kept me wanting to read more. The characters were relatable and Driscoll created a suspense throughout. There was a storyline that was thrown in towards the end about a charity that I do not think was necessary for the book which is why I rated this book 3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Full of suspense I really enjoyed this thriller. Loved the writing style & would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Journalist Alice Henderson is being stalked by a creep, but only on Wednesdays. She claims to have no idea who, why or what she could have done to attract this most unwelcome attention, but this gripping psychological thriller soon throws lots of suspects and red herrings in the reader's direction.

The plot is engrossing, all the characters real and fully developed, and the writing is superb. I particularly appreciated the 'him' chapters in which we learn the background (but not the identity) of the stalker from the age of five, and initially feel sympathy for him. He is a classic case of how prolonged childhood abuse can lead to an adult's distorted thoughts and actions, with tragic results.

I guessed the 'why' of the stalking just after half way through the book, but the 'who' eluded me until the big reveal near the end. The book is something of an emotional roller-coaster - there are creepy and genuinely scary bits (including a nasty encounter on a train), yet Alice and her sister Leanne's love for their mother shone through, especially towards the end of the book.

Thoroughly recommended, and I'm very glad I read it.

A taut thriller examining the devastation that stalking can cause to someone's life. I did feel at times that there were too many threads to the story but it is still good read.
My thank to netgalley, the author and publisher for this book.

Alice is a news reporter on a local newspaper. She lives her job and is good at it. Our of nowhere she has a stalker, someone threatening her with violence. Alice is lucky to have a strong support network including her sister and boyfriend to help her through.

I swear, I will never look at Wednesday's the same way. I loved how the novel alternated from past to present to give a full picture of the whole story and all the characters. I gasped several times while reading this well written suspenseful novel.

This is a pretty good stalker type novel that builds in suspense and has some twisty detours in the plot.

I really enjoyed reading this thriller by Teresa Driscoll. I was in suspense the whole time and kept wondering what direction this was going in. There were a lot of unexpected twists and turns to connect all of the pieces.

This was really a 3.5!

Things I liked:

1. The person whodunit! Granted, I am a reader who does not try to figure out endings & really just like to enjoy the ride, but I actually gasped. I did not fall for the red herring, but I did think it was going to be a different approach, so it was a surprise to Alice AND me!

2. I thought the PI & police involvement were done well. That, coupled with some scenes that really captured Alice’s fear really showed how difficult cases like these are for both the victim, their family/friends, and those who are trying to assist legally, which may or may not be possible.

3. Alternating perspectives: I love when I get both sides of a story! It gives such unique insight into how everything is occurring and how things have gotten to that point.


Things I didn’t care for:

1. Alternating perspectives. I think this could have been very effective if it had just been Alice and stalker. The extra sections didn’t add a lot to the plot or character development but did take away pages from the 2 main subjects.

2. By the end, the connection was there & I liked the ‘who’. I just didn’t care for the how. Only a small part of the backstory that I was invested in for the majority of the book seemed to have an influence on the ending. I would have preferred more information on how the stalker went from where we first met them to where we are now. I love a developed character, but this one felt underdeveloped just with an interesting history.

All in all, I wanted to keep reading to see what was going to happen, so I think that makes it a success.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Teresa Driscoll for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I really enjoyed this book. The characters were very well written and the plot had plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing right up until the end! Well done! I definitely recommend this book. I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

A psychological thriller with unpredictable twists and a great ending. My thanks to Net Galley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I Will Make You Pay - Teresa Driscoll
I loved this book!
Alice is being stalked and terrorised every Wednesday and the police and her private detective are working hard to find the culprit. Alice definitely pays for the past in more ways the one and the other events occurring in her life add another layer of emotion to the plot that I really related to.

Within the first chapter I was hooked and the fast pace and changing of characters from chapter to chapter kept the story flowing nicely.

EXCERPT: True panic is rising now. Sometimes, at night, I struggle to breathe through my nose - especially during the hay fever season. I start to feel this deep, deep dread. What if my nose gets blocked now? If I can't breathe through my nose, I will simply suffocate. I will die. I look around this bleak and terrible space and imagine that this is where everything could end for me. I can feel my breathing quicken with my panicked thoughts and I tell myself that I have to find a way to calm myself. Have to keep my nose clear. You have to breathe, Alice.

And that is when he appears from an adjoining room. He's dressed all in black. Black trousers. Black jumper. Black gloves and some kind of black balaclava.

And this is when I realise that what I thought was fear before, was nothing of the sort. All those weeks - afraid of my stalker? That wasn't real fear.

I let out this strange animal noise, stifled through the gag as the dark figure sits on the high-backed chair across the room from me.

This is what real fear is.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Every Wednesday, like clockwork, the terror returns.

It seems like an ordinary Wednesday, until the phone rings. A mysterious caller with a chilling threat. Journalist Alice Henderson hangs up, ready to dismiss it as a hoax against the newspaper. But the next Wednesday, the stalker makes another move—and it becomes clear that this is all about Alice.

Someone wants her to suffer, but for what? Her articles have made her a popular local champion—could it be her past rather than her work that’s put her life in danger? Alice is determined not to give in to fear, but with the police investigation at a dead end, her boyfriend insists on hiring private investigator Matthew Hill.

With every passing Wednesday the warnings escalate, until it’s not only Alice but also her family in the stalker’s sights. As her tormentor closes in, can Alice uncover what she’s being punished for before the terrifying threats become an unthinkable reality?

MY THOUGHTS: I was all over the place with I Will Make You Pay....until the end. I just could not figure out who the stalker was. I had my suspicions, which wavered, but I WAS WRONG!

I Will Make You Pay is a bit of a slow burner to begin with, and it is not until Alice's past was revealed that I began to get really interested.

There were a couple of things that didn't quite 'gel' for me, however it was still a good read.

But the thing that interested me most was Teresa Driscoll's notes at the end of the book. I Will Make You Pay is based on three threatening phone calls she received when she was first starting out as a young journalist. Those calls came one week apart, each on the same day of the week. Thankfully her 'stalker' apologised. Alice's is not so kind. He has a score to settle.....

3.75 stars

THE AUTHOR: Teresa Driscoll - a former BBC TV news presenter- is now an international #1 bestselling author of psychological suspense. She also writes women's fiction. During her long career as a journalist, Teresa worked for newspapers, magazines and television, including 15 years presenting the BBC TV news programme Spotlight. Covering crime for so long, she was deeply moved by the haunting impact on the relatives, the friends and the witnesses and it is those ripples she explores now in her darker fiction.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK via NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC of I Will Make You Pay by Teresa Driscoll for review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system, please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon and my webpage

This all felt very.. unrealistic. Not necessarily the whole stalker thing. But the characters, their actions, their INTERACTIONS, their motivations, the dialogue.

There’s lots of irrelevant stuff going on too. It felt like a first novel, not one from someone who has been writing for a bit already.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
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This book had me hooked from the very beginning! What would you do if you had a stalker? We’ve heard of it happening but to actually experience it is another thing all together. That’s the dilemma that Alice faces.
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Every Wednesday, like clockwork, she experiences a new terror, courtesy of her stalker. Despite being a journalist she can’t think of anything she’s written that would spark this madness. When the police can’t seem to help her Alice’s boyfriend decides to hire a private investigator. With the attacks escalating, can Alice uncover why she is being punished before it’s too late??
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I really enjoyed this author’s writing and how each page pulled me in further. There were times where I thought I figured out who it was only to be surprised at the ending. I’d definitely recommend adding this one to your TBR list friends!!

My second book by Teresa Driscoll and a good read. It is interesting to note that Teresa based this story on an experience of stalking that she experienced - it explains why her sense of panic and her dread as each Wednesday comes round is so well portrayed. Alice is quite a complex character with a history that has shaped her and a deep and reciprocal love for her mother. The plot kept me guessing right up to the end and moved with good pace.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Teresa Driscoll/Amazon Publishing UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

From the synopsis: It seems like an ordinary Wednesday, until the phone rings. A mysterious caller with a chilling threat. Journalist Alice Henderson hangs up, ready to dismiss it as a hoax against the newspaper. But the next Wednesday, the stalker makes another move—and it becomes clear that this is all about Alice.

The writing was good, the plot thickly constructed, but I felt no sense of urgency to Alice's stalking case. Perhaps because I felt little connection to the character of Alice. I was more connected to the private investigator Matthew Hill than the main character. As for Alice's stalker, the motivations were kind of basic. The explanations of the stalker's childhood and how it twisted him, just felt...out of place? Or slightly disconnected from the story? Honestly, I felt there was no need for that kind of storyline as it just didn't add to the over all plot in my opinion.
A middle of the road, three star read.

Journalist Alice Henderson is sitting in her cubicle when she receives a phone call. A threatening phone call that alludes to her being cut with a cheese wire. The voice has been altered and the call is personal that it frightens Alice. Who would do this and why? She cannot find a connection to the threat. When her attorney boyfriend/finance Tom insists that they hire a private Investigator as the London police seem to lack resources, the threat only heightens and Wednesday seem to be the link for the stalker. The investigation leads to a past that Alice would soon forget but does it link it to her stalker. Alice not only worries for herself, she begins to wonder if her mother and sister are in danger.

The narration is done in 3 voices. The voice of the stalker in his childhood, Alice, and Matthew her private investigator. Each voice brings its own tension and climax until Alice comes face to face with who wishes her dead.

I had a connection problem with the plot and Alice. I am not sure motive for Alice demise was enough for the stalker. The stalker had taken his time and was intentional in every step in the destruction of Alice. All in all it was a hard buy for me.

A Special Thank you to Amazon Publishing and Netgalley for ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

Alice Henderson is a journalist working for a small local paper. It seems like an ordinary Wednesday at the office...until she receives a phone call from an anonymous caller making a specific and disturbing threat. Initially keen to dismiss it as a hoax call, Alice is blindsided when she is contacted again the following Wednesday. As the threats and disturbing occurrences continue to pile up, Alice and her boyfriend Tom hire a private detective to try to help them figure out who is making the threats and why. But when Alice's own secrets come to light as a result, it seems that maybe the answers lie in Alice's past. Can she find them before her stalker carries out his final threat and silences Alice for good? 

I have to say, I really enjoyed this tense and well-paced novel. I felt every sympathy for Alice, and frustrated by the limitations of the police who, despite their best efforts, are unable to do much to prevent the stalker's intimidation tactics. The story is a split narrative with one half narrated by Alice, and the other by a child being raised by his grandmother. I'm pretty good at working out a twist by now, but I was genuinely stumped by the connection between the two stories, and loved the reveal when it finally came - I found it original, clever, and believable. A twist can make or break a thriller for me, and I was so pleased that this enjoyable thriller wasn't spoiled by a cop-out or lacklustre ending. 

Believable characters, a great narrative, and nifty twists - this is another brilliant story from Teresa Driscoll, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what she does next. 

Thank you to NetGalley, who provided me with a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I Will Make You Pay is more drama than thriller, although the chapters from Him do get creepy at times. That said, I became more emotionally invested in what we can only assume is our stalker as we learn about his childhood and the reasons behind his hatred of Wednesday's as well as his determination to make Alice pay. As far as puzzling out the identity of the stalker, that's entirely too easy despite a couple of decent red herrings. In fact, I was really hoping for it to be one of the red herrings so the whole thing wouldn't be so glaringly obvious. As with any story of this type, we have to have the required investigator presence, and this one gives us two. The problem is that for the life of me, I can't figure out the purpose in either Matthew Hill or Melanie Sanders. They don't actually solve anything and are just so much filler as far as I could tell. Sadly, this could've been a solid thriller, it certainly had the potential, it just didn't quite get there.