The cruellest game. The highest stakes. Only she can bring his family back alive …
Rose is the one that got away. She was the prey in a human trophy hunt organised by an elite secret organisation for super-rich clients seeking a unique thrill. She paid a terrible price. Every moment since she has been planning her revenge … And now her day has come.
Chris returns from his morning run to find his wife and children missing and a stranger in his kitchen.
He’s told to run.
If he’s caught and killed, his family go free. If he escapes, they die.
Rose is the only one who can help him, but Rose only has her sights on one conclusion. For her, Chris is bait. But The Trail have not forgotten the woman who tried to outwit them.
The Trail want Rose. The hunters want Chris’s corpse. Rose wants revenge, and Chris just wants his family back.
The hunt is on …
Dark bleatings, everyone! I’m excited to talk about this book today. So don’t come at me with “But it’s a thriller, not a horror!” Yes, I realise that, and no, I’m not acknowledging it. To me, the concept and the execution of this story just screams horror to me. It’s one of the worst things I can think of, actually, to come home from a nice run to find some stranger in the kitchen, who then informs me that the lives of my kidnapped spouse and children hinge on me being hunted. That’s all in the first few pages.
What. A. Book.
I was on the edge of my seat for the whole thing. We sort of have two protagonists, who go their separate ways, and I loved alternating between them. Structurally speaking, this is such a great device because two main characters means twice the story, twice the tension, twice the context, etc. Going back and forth really kept the pacing up. And they were such great, contrasting people. We have Rose, a seasoned, trained, elite killer on a revenge mission. And then we have Chris, the poor git whose life was totally normal until this madness was thrust upon him. We also sometimes get to be in the head of one of his daughters, who suspects that she can’t quite take the word of the horrible bitch that’s keeping her captive.
It’s such a great time, this book. I think I enjoyed being with Chris the most, because he was he most relatable, and I was always scared for him. He spends most of the story running – literally – and we quickly learn that it’s not just the hunters who are a threat, but the landscape he’s using to flee, and his own body. Honestly, reading his journey made me feel exhausted!
Everything comes together in such a great way, and I LOVED the way that Lebbon fed in each detail. There’s so much mystery about what’s happening, why, who’s doing it, etc, so many questions. Something that I always find that Lebbon is great it as feeding in answers gradually, and in satisfying ways. He’s subtle in his storytelling, and never treats readers like idiots that can’t work things out for themselves. He gives you enough to get the cogs in your head turning, but elusive enough that you can’t just smash through working it all out too early.
This is an awesome read, and one I’d recommend to fans of thrillers, fast-paced action, commentaries on financial privilege and the sinister nature of class warfare, and real-world horror scenarios. Also, bonus points because it’s set in Wales… do you know how rare that is?!
If you’d like to get your own copy or check out the author, there are some links for you below:
Happy Goat Horror 
Leave a comment