A little novella for a little book blog! Some of you may be wondering what a novella is, and it defined as a short novel or a long short story; which is notably rather lovely! In this mesmeric prequel to Pamela Crane’s best-selling psychological thriller “The Admirer’s Secret,” Hollywood icon Allen Michaels reveals the gory secrets of his mysterious past. When love leaves him battered and broke, how far is too far to avenge the promise of “till death do us part”? Unleash Allen’s hidden demons in this darkly riveting novella as he takes justice into his own demented hands…

This is a punchy story with a twist and is the prequel to Crane’s popular thriller ‘The Admirer’s secret.’ However this little book holds up on it’s own as a short bedtime read! We know it is going to be a knockout when the book starts with the line ‘I knew she had to die, but how I’d get away with killing her was a question I didn’t have the answer to.’ Powerful eh? The book follows Allen Michaels, who startlingly finds out that his wife Susan is pregnant. However this news is not entirely good news. Although Michaels is extremely excited about being a father, how can he not be? Susan is about to change that when she later comes home and unrelentingly slams down a separation agreement settlement on the kitchen work surface; she is leaving him, with her baby, and to plunge the knife a little deeper, for another man. As Allen’s life seemingly crumbles around him, no longer than two weeks later Susan disappears. Yes, disappears! Allen abducts his now ex-wife bounds her wrists and feet in his second home; a tiny bungalow nestled in the Angeles National Forest. Leaving Susan with tiny amounts of food and water he leaves her. Days pass and Susan is almost unconscious; with her throat burning, her stomach aching and her lips cracking she breaks free and calls Brett, her new lover. Will he come to save her, will Susan escape, and could Allen really kill another human being? All will be revealed! (If you read the book!)

The main positive of the book is in the twist; it is unrelenting and a sudden shock. The book is short and snappy and therefore leads you down a tumbling path, which builds, and builds before finally showing it’s last card; a very interesting and surprising twist! The book is well written, with a good understanding of how to draw the reader in! There are unfortunately a number of negatives; firstly and I don’t know whether this is due to the length of the book Crane is unable to develop the characters succinctly. This means that although the twist and the events are traumatising and unexpected we as a reader do not feel a large emotional tug or pull due to our lack of empathy as we have little or no information about the characters as a whole. Although this is noticeably due to the book being a novella, leading into the book following Allen Michaels it would have been nice to have a little more description. Without it it means that the events are very suddenly placed upon us which means we are reader don’t react as strongly. However, this is a good little read and definitely persuades you to get Crane’s second book. So, if you want something, short, but definitely not sweet! Give this a read and let me know what you think!