First Date: An Absolutely Jaw-Dropping Psychological Thriller

Good thriller that keeps you hooked until the very end. The last few pages make it totally worth it!

Oh. My. Gawd. Talk about toxic relationships! This is the book you want your friend who always picks the wrong guy to read. Definitely want your daughter or sister to read if they are starting out on the finding the right one path, (actually guys could probably learn some red flags off it too. Psychotic isn’t reserved for one sex.). It shows so many red flags! I was the friend who always picks the wrong guy, (though not at Hannah’s level). I was reading it and thinking of my exes and which flags I could clearly see in the book that I missed or ignored in life. Then came the twist! And again at the end. *My eyes can’t get much bigger.* I had to finish the second half of the book in one reading. All I can say is trust no one. Get a dog or cat. Haha. Now I’m off to see if I have any of the authors other books. I believe I had a couple in my TBR. I’m moving those up the stack.In case you are wondering I deducted half a star for slow start and half a star for the absolute ending, which I won’t give away here, but it had one thing I dislike. Still, I say read it. Get it from the library or borrow from a friend if you are unsure if it’s your cup of tea.

This book was a slow read but I enjoyed it. The twist that ended up Happening was just what this book needed. I wanted to like the characters more but I just couldn’t. It took awhile to pick up which is I why I removed a star.

Book had potential...but it was repetitious and I found myself skimming. Characters had potential. .but were superficial.Not sure what to make of the plot twist at the end....where did it leave the psyche of the main character?

First of all, this novel should have been titled HANNAH THE GULLIBLE. Hannah's profile certainly didn't fit for a socialworker, needy and indecisive. Everyone around her could control her, so all of the characters were suspect. Alex was so obvious I early on decided he was not totally psycho and ended up being collateral damage. Jas was another suspect who was needy but not psycho. But Harry was such a flighty coworker, I didn't begin to suspect him til he showed up so conveniently and swiftly in Devon. I am happy that Hannah got saved from herself in the end.

Great book! Had me going! Freaky jaw dropping ending! Can’t wait to read more of Sue Watson. On to my next read!

Solid 4.5/5!The ending of this book was absolutely perfect. The beginning started off slow, and it was hard to like Hannah's character at times...how can someone ignore so many red flags? But man, once the pieces fell together I was so impressed.This story follows Hannah and Alex from their first date on. Everything seems perfect, but can it be TOO perfect? The story picked up around 40% and from there I couldn't put it down. I was so pleased by the ending and how everything just came together to give you the perfect psychological thriller. When you can't guess the ending, you know it's a good book!I'd highly recommend this read.Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don't normally write reviews, but this book I could not put down. I had an idea about the ending, but it was still a huge surprise 😮. The read is easy and it kept my interest the entire time. I loved this book. I'm a big fan of Sue Watson now.

Oh! The Perils Of The Dating Apps…Hannah Weston, is thirty-six years old, just out of a meaningless relationship, feeling the anxiety of her biological click ticking.Raised through the foster care system, she LONGS for a family.She alway felt she would have a handsome husband, a beautiful home, three gorgeous kids, and… a Labrador dog by the time she reach the age she is, but through her demanding job as a social worker ( a job she loves ) and wasting several years in a boring relationship with the hapless Tom, she is MORE than pleased when she is matched with the the good looking Alex Higham,It’s crazy how they just click on everything the like, on first night they meet.From 90’s music ( Oasis ). Even down to the Labrador dogSo, suffice to say, things move pretty quickly after this initial meeting.Alex is the perfect boyfriend, caring, attentive, thoughtful, not to mention his stunning state of the art, tastefully decorated, beautiful home.Yep.Thinks are going swimmingly for this loved up couple…Until!They don’t anymore.As Alex’s caring, attentive behaviour slowly turns into obsessive stalking.As his behaviour becomes more irrational, Not only Hannah, but her work colleagues become more concerned about her safety.Hannah, in her desperation to be loving relationship for the first time ever, ignores all the red flags.Even when her office colleagues, who have all bared witness to her dating disaster’s, tell her if their concerns.As the relationship continues, and more, and more strange things keep happening, it only takes one night of Hannah witnessing Alex going completely off the rails to cause her to question every aspect of their relationship.Then one weekend in a sweet Devon cottage for all Hannah’s suspicions to come to the fore.This is the second book I read in a row by Sue, where we have had a smart, professional, female lead, who tends to take things other characters tell her“ on face value “In the Sister-In-Law, Clare was also willing to take things people told her as truthsAs for Hannah, I found her to be frustratingly annoying at her ability to take everything she was told by Alex as gospel, so infatuated with him she was.I think part of her behaviour was due to her desperation to have a family unit due to her upbringing ( which the authors cover towards the end )Hannah is always so concerned about overthinking situations in her life.When the one situation she SHOULD be overthinking is her relationship with the controlling Alex.However, it’s amazing what a few kind words spoken by a good looking guy, a beautiful home, and great SEX will do.Through all of Alex’s creepy behaviour, Hannah just reasons it away…Perhaps I was just overly tried, perhaps I was overthinking, perhaps I was just being paranoid.Over and over again ignoring the red flags.So, yeah, this book is a big lesson in frustration.It was a little slow in the beginning as Hannah and Alex’s perfect union was fleshed out, so it took a while for the doubts to start forming and things to pick up.However, once they did, …Vroom…They took off at a rate of knots.The part if the story I had issues with, noble as they were, were the inside look into Hannah’s work, and the whole side story about Chloe.Something exciting would be about to happen, then, there would be a pause, a teaser if you will, while Hannah went off to deal with Chloe.When THAT wasn’t getting in the way of the narrative, we would have Hannah’s character re-establishing some of her traumatic childhood moments.All noble in their own way, but, yeah a little annoying when you just wanted things to hurry up and get going back to her and Alex.But nothing prepared me for the twist at the end…Complete with the author throwing in a red herringFour stars

Addictive, couldn't put it down at one point, good twist at the end too x as a social worker and psychological thriller addict this was a good read if a little far from reality at times, will definitely read more from the author 👍

Disclaimer: This review is full of spoilers. Proceed with caution.One of those very few 5-star reads with a desperately unlikable protagonist. Hannah is the dumbest character in the entire story, precisely because she thinks she's the smartest. It's understandable when you're sixteen and fail to identify the obvious red flags in a relationship. When you're like, "Ohh, he's so possessive, it's so cute!" Or, "Ohh, he wants to be with me all the freaking time, he must love me so much!" Or, "Ohh, the only reason why my best friend doesn't like my boyfriend is because she's single and just jealous of me."All that is understandable (although still stupid) when you're sixteen and "in love".But when you're thirty-six and still fail to recognize the same evident red flags screaming at your freaking face, you're just hopelessly dumb with a brain the size of a pea.That's what Hannah is. She thinks Alex is the epitome of perfection right from their first date, and chooses to remain in denial the whole time just so she doesn't have to "be lonely". My God, you're an adult, learn to love yourself! And just because SHE is someone who could never feel content without a man, she thinks her best friend Jas felt the same way. She thinks everytime Jas points out how toxic Alex is being, it is just Jas being jealous and insecure. Why, Jas? Why? Why pick such ungrateful friends? The Jas'es of the world deserve much better than crappy friends like Hannah.I mean, Hannah is so crappy that she CONFRONTS Alex with the photo of him stalking her, which can literally get her killed at the moment, given she is completely alone with him in a house that is locked up with no keys in sight. I mean, are you kidding me? And as if that wasn't enough, she keeps trying to CONVINCE him that he should turn himself in for the murder. Dude, what the f*** are you doing trying to convince a murderer to do the "right thing" instead of calling the police, how dumb ARE you? I mean, I've read lengthier books than this one but I couldn't take a second more of how empty-headed Hannah could be! I mean, the story just goes on, and on, and on, with Hannah being the dumbest human being from one page to the other.However, I loved how evil Harry turns out to be in the end. Sorry. Had already warned about the spoilers. He really had me through the entire book! Tells a LOT about how most of the time the predator is someone you already know (and are friends with). That's perhaps the only reason I've been tempted to give this read a five star. Also the psychology behind being with the wrong person because you don't want to end up alone. C'mon, if you want to be in a toxic relationship, make that clear to your people who actually try to make sure you're safe, so that they can stop wasting their time and leave you to your fate.

Very unpredictable, loved beginning to end, very surprising twist at the end

Loved this. There were so many twists and turns and red herrings. I did suss out the outcome but there was another twist to catch me out. Great read.