The Boyfriend by Kerry Wilkinson
Published: June 16, 2022
Bookouture
Pages: 334
Genre: Thriller
KKECReads Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.
Kerry Wilkinson is originally from the county of Somerset; Kerry spent way too long living in the north of England, picking up words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel.’ When he’s short of ideas, he rides his bike, hikes up something, or bakes cakes. When he’s not, he writes it all down.
Trembling with shock, Jodie picks up the old T-shirt. She hasn’t seen it for twenty years. Her boyfriend had been wearing it – her Ben – the day he went missing. The last time anyone saw him alive.
After her dad’s funeral, all Jodie wants is to clear out her childhood home as quickly as possible and get back to life with her son. But a terrifying discovery changes everything she knew about her kind, loving father.
Her boyfriend Ben went missing when they were just teenagers. His parents still stare out the window desperately waiting for him to come home. So how did the T-shirt he was wearing when Jodie saw him walk away from their last date end up in her father’s attic?
The search for answers leads Jodie to an old family friend who knows all her father’s secrets. She can’t shake his questions about her older brother, and the real reason their dad left everything to Jodie, not him. But when a stranger begins to follow her around their little town, and a deadly fire breaks out in her home, it’s clear someone will do anything to stop Jodie finding the truth about Ben’s disappearance. Has Jodie unknowingly put her own son in terrible danger?
“In one way, nothing had changed. Except… everything had.”
Jodie has known tragedy since she was a teenager. Her boyfriend, Ben, disappeared when she was 16, and his body was never found. When Jodie’s dad dies suddenly, she is stuck in a whirlwind. When she discovers something hidden in the attic, the past comes flooding to the present, and Jodie is caught between the truth and the love she had for the ab she thought her father was.
HOLY BUCKETS. The last sentence of the first chapter was enough to give me whiplash. I was immediately hooked. I could not put this book down.
The plot was a rollercoaster. A lot of back and forth, should I or shouldn’t I, and as things take a turn- they suddenly plummet to the ground at breakneck speed.
I enjoyed the characters. I also appreciated the difficult position Jodie was in. It was represented well, and the emotional turmoil was palpable.
There were so many moments in this book that I wanted to scream… it was the ultimate choice that would leave no winners. This novel will leave you questioning whether karma was delivered or tragedy befell Jodie Parker yet again.
Extremely emotional, intricately twisted, and devastating, this novel is classic Kerry at his best. If you are looking for a writer that will leave you speechless, look no further.