How To Play Dead by Jacqueline Ward

          3.5 Stars

I found that I enjoyed this book less and less as it went on.  Initially it was engrossing and absorbing and I was thoroughly enjoying it.  Unfortunately, it becomes incredibly repetitious and I was left feeling like there were a good 100 pages of filler thrown in that were no doubt meant to underline the dichotomy between Ria's professional life and her personal life but which left me wanting the author to just get on with it already.

The idea is a good one and the novel definitely deals with the topic of domestic abuse in a strong way.  However, I felt like it only paid lip service to the terror felt by the victims and that they were there only as a platform to showcase how incredible Ria is.  As we learn more about her past I hate to admit it but I did find myself thinking "yes, and..."  Whilst her experience was no doubt traumatic and would have had a lasting and indelible effect on who she became as an adult it did mean that the "power" of her position now became somewhat undermined as she seemed to equate that experience with the years of terror that her clients have been subjected too, especially Sheila.

The insertion of Tanya's story was a good foil for the work Safe Me does but the true identity of Tanya was not a surprise and from the first time she speaks up, via her diary entries, the reader knows she is intimately connected to Ria.  That sort of spoils the reveal around halfway through and also reveals who the stalker is and why it is happening now so many years down the line.  I was also disappointed that the debt aspect became glossed over as that just doesn't go away but continues to impact your life long after you have managed to claw your way out of it.

Taken as a whole it is a strong story and there is a decent amount of tension built up - mainly via Jim's intimidation of Sally and the staff.  Overall, it was a reasonable enough thriller but it did leave me feeling oddly unsatisfied with the ending and the conclusions that the author invites you to draw felt somehow like cracks were being wallpapered over.

As you can see from the rating I have given the book it wasn't a disaster, indeed I perceived it as slightly better than average on completion.  In retrospect I think I have been over generous and a solid 3 would have been fairer.