From the first sentence I was drawn into this book! Lissa was bullied and had a not so great childhood. Tragedy strikes and secrets of her parents marriage come out leaving her mother needing round the clock care in a nursing facility. Lissa’s life is just full of trouble after trouble. She takes it upon herself to “solve” these problems. Eventually becoming a nurse herself and is very well respected in her profession. Lissa’s childhood trauma is the reason she believes that everyone has secrets and she wants to know what they are. She’ll stop at nothing and do whatever it takes to figure them out. I found myself feeling bad for Lissa because of how she had to go through life.

This book was well written and was enjoyable to read. The short chapters made it easy to read just one more before bed but also I didn’t want to put it down. I needed to know what was next! What was Lissa going to find? I didn’t see the end coming! I definitely will be reading more from Valerie Keogh!

The Nurse was such an entertaining thriller. The main character, Lissa, had a difficult childhood and she becomes fixated on people paying for things that they have done wrong. She is a very determined person, at times a bit too determined but she always looks for justice, whether it be legal or not. In her adult life, she finds herself starting a career as a nurse, which she quickly falls out of love with. She meets some intriguing and mysterious characters along the way, but not everything is how it seems.

I loved how this book went through the whole of Lissa’s life so the reader got the background to the story. It didn’t go through every part of her childhood but the parts that are relevant to the story so it was nice and concise. The book contained a lot of twists and the ending really shocked me. I had my guesses on how the book was going to end but it wasn’t like that! This book definitely kept me guessing.

The writing kept me engaged throughout the book and I found it was fast paced. It soon became a page turner for me and i was hooked after the first few chapters. I liked the short chapters and it made me eager to want to read more. I read this book in two sittings and in between the first and last, I couldn’t stop thinking about the book. I highly recommend this book and this author. I have read a few books by this author and I have never been disappointed. I am eager to read more!!

Another winning thriller from the pen of Keogh!

The Nurse was so good I finished it in less than twenty four hours. It's a story told in two parts and is the story of Lissa McColl. In the first half Lissa is a school girl and she's being bullied for her appearance. In the second adult Lissa is a nurse and...did you really think I was going to spoil it for you?

A cleverly plotted, addictive read that's packed full of twists and high on suspense.

Keogh certainly knows how to thrill her fans. I'm already chomping at the bit for her next read.

The Nurse is definitely a physcological thriller because even though I have finished reading it is still playing on my mind. The main character in this one is Lissa who we follow through her life. From the first sentence it drew me in and I could not stop reading although it draws out at a even pace I just had to keep reading too find out what would happen next and when the twist comes boy oh boy does it hit hard. I wasn't at all expecting that! The story is told in three parts and I enjoyed the short chapters making it feel like a quick read . In the end I felt great sympathy towards Lissa and can't help thinking about it. It didn't turn out how I was expecting but now that I have thought about it the ending is summed up perfectly.

My Review: What a page turner, I really enjoyed following Liss's story from an awkward 10 year old victim of playground bullying, that ignites the killer in her, and her journey getting away with evil plans and a life of heartache as the secrets and lies of her parents marriage are uncovered and leave her mother in a mental health facility. Liss's need to survive and support her mother drives her life. Loved it.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW


Review for 'The Nurse' by Valerie Keogh..


Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Valerie Keogh, Boldwood Books and Rachel's Random resources Tours.


Publication date 21st July 2023


This is the second book I have read by this author. I have also read 'The Librarian' which I would also highly recommend!!



This novel consists of 53 chapters set over 2 parts. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!



WHAT did I just read!!!! WOW!!! I mean seriously Wow!! I was NOT expecting that lot fair play!!! This has GOT to start with a MASSIVE WELL DONE VALERIE KEOGH!!!! Ooopps sorry, yes, needed a minute to get over that but I've just left you hanging there... Sorry.... Let me tell you more...



Firstly let's start off with the writing style, etc!! This book is an extremely well written book by this amazing author which had me hook line and sinker!!! It is so smoothly and fantastically written with vivid descriptions I completely forgot I was even reading a book a few times. The synopsis, title and cover really fit the storyline.



As you can tell I LOVED the storyline!!! I found it to be realistic, very fast paced and I read it in a day. I loved the setting and atmosphere and just well... Everything!!! Twists after shocks after turns!!! Arggghhh... Its so hard to NOT say anything about them as it will give too much away and spoil it for future readers but it definitely left me speechless over and over!!! I have read hundreds of psychological books and it gets harder and harder to keep my interest and to shock me but Valerie managed it hook, line and sinker Just brilliant fair play and all links in and wraps up perfectly!!! I cannot remember the last time I flew through a book so quickly. Each and every time I went to put it down to do something my fingers were itching to pick it back up as I just HAD to know what happened next!! Valerie's evocative writing skills ensures you are dragged deep into the storyline seeing everything that is happening and feeling the tension and suspense throughout. I was on the edge of my seat and biting my nails wondering what was going to happen next. My heart was in my throat throughout reading this fast paced, gripping and gritty psychological thriller! It is ram packed with twists, murder, tension, stress, suspense and everything you could ask for in a psychological thriller. I can't say more than that as I don't want to spoil it for future readers so if you want to know you'll have to grab yourself a copy!! You won't regret it!! Just like with the storyline the characters come to life with Valerie's fantastic writing skills. They are well rounded, complex, realistic and strong making them all the more believable. I loved how I felt exactly like Lissa did about some of the characters which just goes to show how quick we are to jump to conclusions and it shows that looks can most definitely be deceiving!! I won't go into more details as I don't want to risk giving anything away but Valerie has done an amazing job constructing an addictive and explosive psychological thriller with fantastic and varied characters that you just won't be able to put down!!


Congratulations Valerie on another explosive success!!! This is exactly why you are in my favourite author club!! Here's to many more successes 🥂!!!


Clear your schedules before picking this up as you will not be able to put it down!!! "


Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the first chapters of Valerie's 'The Librarian' which I have read myself and is just as addictive and gripping as this book!!!


Overall an absolutely page turning, addictive, gripping and explosive must read that will keep you addicted from the very start to the fantastic ending!!!




301 pages.


This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon, free with kindle unlimited and £9.99 in paperback which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!


Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.


Feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow me on my website or Facebook for more reviews.


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I have previously read The Widow and The Lodger by Valerie Keogh and really enjoyed them, so I was excited to hear she had a new book out – The Nurse.
The first line of the book is one of the most intriguing first lines I have ever read! You’re interested straight away and want to read on to find out more. It’s definitely a brilliant hook.
The main character here is Lissa McColl. In Part One of the book, you find out about her childhood and how she was bullied at school for her appearance. I don’t really want to say too much here, because I think readers will benefit from knowing as little as possible about the story. Suffice to say, it’s an intriguing one and you will have a mixture of feelings towards Lissa. She is sixteen by the end of Part One.
In Part Two, Lissa begins working as a staff nurse. Eight years later, she’s still in the same place, but then decides to work as an agency nurse and move back to Bathford.
The book is filled with menace and threat. In Part One, Lissa seems to have everything under control. Yet in Part Two, things don’t seem to be as straight-forward. She meets up with another nurse called Carol and they see each other a few times, though you wouldn’t necessarily call it a friendship. There’s also Lissa’s rather strange landlord.
All the way through, you’re trying to guess what’s going to happen. It’s certainly an exciting read to find out. Although Lissa is in many ways a bad person who does bad things, you can’t help but feel sorry for her. Once you know about her childhood and her family background and school life, you find yourself excusing her actions and sympathising with her. It’s very clever how the author draws you in this way, so you can see both sides.
It was very twisty-turny and I didn’t guess what was going to happen.

Absolute page turner! Having recently discovered Valerie Keogh I love her books! They definitely keep you hooked and the twists and turns are brilliant, I really recommend this you will not be disappointed!!

Lissa McColl has had an unhappy childhood and with good reason this sense of unease carries forward into her adult life. Filled with a painful anxiety Lissa negotiates the adult world with her usual sense of wariness, and even her job as a nurse only serves as a means of survival for Lissa and the one special person who depends on her. That Lissa carries her secrets close is an understatement but despite her many disturbing qualities I really rather liked her and all credit to the author for creating a softer side to what could so easily be seen as a monster.

I'm being deliberately vague as I'm scared of giving away any spoilers to this clever physiological suspense story except to say that, right from the start, it kept me on the edge of my seat. From the opening chapter when we are introduced to Lissa as she negotiates the pitfalls of primary school in her own unique style, to the exhaustion of her adult life as she works as an agency nurse for an organisation which sees her constantly flitting between adult nursing homes, there is never a moment when the story drops its pace of fails to deliver a killing blow.

Tight, clever and skillfully manipulated The Nurse kept me guessing until the very end of a story which abounds with constant surprises, wonderful red herrings and a serial killer to die for...

Loved this! Intensely readable and gripping. There’s something alarmingly likeable about the protagonist and you start to sympathise with her, despite the fact that she’s a murderer. She manages to justify plots to kill and you even find yourself rooting for her at the end. Extremely well written.

Thank you to @rachelsrandomresources for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the 4th book I’ve read by Valerie now and they just keep getting better. This was no exception and all the twists seemed to be over in the first few chapters, but they kept on coming!

Creepy, weird Lissa is the “star” of this one, and starts in her strange obsessions at an early age and continuing throughout her life.

She’s a loner, left alone after the loss of both parents in different ways. Working all the hours she can as a nurse and looking after her mum is what fills her days, until she makes a friend in Carol. I was a bit unsure of who she was, was she a face from the past or someone new? There was something strange about her from the first time they met and as it unfolds, I was still unsure.

A great psychological thriller as always, and another quick read as I couldn’t put it down.

The Nurse, what can I say? Exceptional writing from Valerie Keogh. It grabs you from beginning, holds your attention throughout then leaves you thinking “Blimey what have I just read? That was brilliant”

Lissa struck me as a very disturbed young woman who has a callous approach to life. If people, in her opinion hurt her or cause her to feel bad she just wipes them out. No qualms for Lissa, oh no she kills cold-heartedly and moves on. No bad feelings, she seems very cold and somewhat heartless but boy her character is written with a complexity that certainly makes you wonder why she is this way and how has she become so callous. Her mother though is the one exception, she definitely loves her mother deeply.

In all honesty if you love a great psychological, thought provoking, disturbing thriller the The Nurse is 100% for you. Superbly crafted characters that not only challenge your thinking they also create an emotional response that cuts deep. I loved The Nurse. Just an epic read.

The Nurse by Valerie Keogh is an absolutely marvellous contemporary psychological thriller that I just could not put down.
Valerie Keogh is a fantastic author who draws you into the world of The Nurse with her words. Whilst of questionable motives, the lead character is likable, realistic and elicits feelings of sympathy from the reader. I could recognize myself in her as a child, suffering at the hands of the school bully. We feel shock and horror at the event that left her alone at aged just sixteen.
The leading lady is a blend of vulnerable yet strong; empathetic and downright evil. She seems to have second sight into the character of people but at the crucial moment, it lets her down.
We see the devastation that loss leaves – a character is frozen in time; another sees his daughter everywhere he looks.
Our responses to characters are guided by Valerie Keogh’s marvellous pen. I found it surprising when I did a complete u-turn in my response to a character!
I was completely immersed in the world of The Nurse. It was a totally mesmerizing read, guaranteed to raise your heart rate and leave you with sweaty palms. I can thoroughly recommend it.
I received a free copy via Rachel’s Random Resources for a blog tour. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

I have to say I didn’t really care for this. I felt like it dragged and despite what other reviews were saying, I didn’t find Lissa likable at all. It got a little exciting about 90% through but then ended in an anti-climactic way that made me like Lissa even less. And why is it called The Nurse? Her profession had little to do with the main point.

This is by no means what I expected!! It is three parts, and the way I was misdirected was great! The little sting at the end was great and I really didn’t expect the story to go the way it did.

I was expecting more of a crazy story with Lissa and her way of life and whilst we did see her dark side it wasn’t her that we should be watching!!

I am worried about what happens after the end! Will it all be ok? Or is history going to repeat itself? To say that Lissa is slightly unhinged is an understatement lol.

I enjoyed the tale of cat and mouse that no one knew was being played. It was great to see characters unwittingly being watched and processed.

I thought the audiobook was brilliantly narrated by Rose Robinson! She played it so well with Lissa and her investigation, her unraveling, and then her dark side!! Jeez!!

The beginning was dark, very dark and I expected that to follow through but it did become a bit sepia as we carried on, not that it’s a bad thing, we need a little bit of light. But don’t get excited, this was not a sunshine book at all! It was a slow burn to an unexpected ending and one I want answers to after those words – The End!! I am still thinking about it now!

This was a fast, and gripping read that I found difficult to put down.
The main character of this book, Lissa, is something of an anti-hero. Being told in the opening line of this novel that she was just ten years old when she planned the murder of a fellow school pupil, the reader is left in no doubt as to where the book is heading. Regardless of her murdering credentials, I could not help but like her character.
The book has been well written, and there are sufficient twists and turns in the plot to keep the story interesting and make the book compelling. It was an easy read and the words flowed across the page. Ms. Keogh demonstrates how well she understands her character and thus draws the reader in through her excellent storytelling skills.

I hate to give this such low stars, but this book just didn’t catch my attention. I got high hopes in chapter 5, but then it just felt very bland. I kept reading in hopes that it would get a little more interesting, and it did once or twice then it just fizzled out again. And the end… the end was just abrupt. I felt like more could of been added to make a better ending. I was really hoping I would have enjoyed this.
Thank you NetGalley and BoldWood publishing for the ARC copy.

REVIEW- THE NURSE BY VALERIE KEOGH
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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This book was kinda okay, but I was expecting something different from what I wanted. I empathized with the FMC, but that doesn’t justify what she did. However, she was literally alone in the world, dead father, catatonic mother and she was really sad. But I didn't like the ending nor the fmc. However, I was still able to finish it in two days, so it's not all bad. You might like it better than I do.

This is a suspenseful and fast read. It kept me turning the pages wanting to know more but I admit it fell a little flat for me. This is a new author for me and I enjoyed her writing style so I will definitely read other books she has written. Thank you Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC in exchange for my review.

The book that cemented my adoration for author Valerie Keogh was The Trophy Wife, which I thought was excellent. Since then I have read a few more and have enjoyed each one. There is something about how she writes her main characters that is kind of dark and I like it.

The Nurse did not disappoint!

Bullied, overlooked and under-appreciated, Lissa McColl learns at an early age to do very bad things. As a nurse, she is respected and valued for the first time in her life. But Lissa hates her job and the selfish, rude and inconsiderate people she has to deal with. But being underestimated in this job had its advantages. Lissa can get close to people, find out their secrets… sometimes with deadly results…

This book will be published on July 21.