The Dangerous Kind by Deborah O’Connor #BookReview @deboc77 @BonnierZaffre @ThePigeonholeHQ

Author: Deborah O’Connor

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Format: Hardcover 448 pages

Release Date:  16 May 2019 

Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre

I read this book in ‘staves’ released daily via The Pigeonhole. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Blurb

One in 100 of us is a ‘potentially dangerous person’ – someone likely to commit a violent crime. We all know them: these charmers, liars and manipulators. The ones who send prickles up the back of our neck. These people hide in plain sight, they can be teachers, doctors, holding positions of trust, of power. 

Jessamine Gooch makes a living tracking the 1 in 100. Each week she broadcasts a radio show that examines brutal offences, asking if more could have been done to identify and prevent their perpetrators.

But when she agrees to investigate a missing person case involving a young mother, she is drawn into a web of danger that will ultimately lead to the upper echelons of power, and threaten the safety of her own family.

What if the people we trust are the ones we should fear?

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My Thoughts

This book is pitched for fans of ‘Anatomy of a Scandal’ which is originally what enticed me to read this book. I’m not sure I would peg ‘The Dangerous Kind’ in the same pitch as ‘Anatomy of a Scandal’ which for me was a legal thriller as there is no courtroom action in this read. The concept of ‘dangerous people’ however, in and of itself was enough to make me interested. 

We follow the story primarily from Jessamine’s point of view with flash back chapters to 2003 and Rowena’s account of what happened during that time. Jessamine is a radio presenter for the BBC and when one day she is randomly approached outside by a woman who’s friend mysteriously disappeared Jessamine’s interest is spiked and she starts looking into the unsolved case. 

Reading Rowena’s chapters was hard, from Rowena’s tender age she doesn’t appreciate that what is happening to her is wrong on so many levels. It’s absolutely sickening that young and vulnerable people are taken advantage of in this way. It doesn’t become apparent until some way through the book how Rowena and Jessamine’s stories actually fit together but rest assured, everything comes to light towards the end of the book. 

I absolutely love books that flick between the past and present and as a reader you have no idea how these two timelines fit together. I think this set up for writing when written well works on so many levels and the author worked these two storylines brilliantly. I really enjoyed how the author drew me into these characters and made me invested in what happens to them. There was no question of a doubt that I would read this book to conclusion to find out the answers to the many questions I had whilst reading. 

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About the Author

Deborah O’Connor is a writer and TV producer. Born and bred in the North-East of England, in 2010 she completed the Faber Academy novel writing course. She lives in London with her husband and daughter. You can follow her on twitter @deboc77. She has not worked at the BBC.

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