Stop at Nothing by Tammy Cohen #review

Title: Stop at Nothing
Author: Tammy Cohen
Publisher: Transworld

[Synopsis]

A mother’s job is to keep her children safe.

Tess has always tried to be a good mother. Of course, there are things she wishes she’d done differently, but doesn’t everyone feel that way?

Then Emma, her youngest, is attacked on her way home from a party, plunging them into a living nightmare which only gets worse when the man responsible is set free
A mother’s job is to keep her children safe.

Tess has always tried to be a good mother. Of course, there are things she wishes she’d done differently, but doesn’t everyone feel that way?

Then Emma, her youngest, is attacked on her way home from a party, plunging them into a living nightmare which only gets worse when the man responsible is set free

But what if she fails?

So when Tess sees the attacker in the street near their home, she is forced to take matters into her own hands. But blinded by her need to protect her daughter at any cost, might she end up putting her family in even greater danger?

There’s nothing she wouldn’t do to make it right…

[Review]

Stop at Nothing is a gripping story which touches on a very important topic, It’s a suspenseful character development, exploring the need a parent feels to protect their child, and what this might lead to – with some surprises along the way!

When Tess’ daughter Emma is attacked on her way home one night, Tess is determined to do everything she can to help bring the attacker to justice. When they identify who they think the attacker was, but he’s still out on the streets, Tess becomes more and more obsessed with having him locked up behind bars so he can’t hurt her daughter anymore. Encouraged by Frances, a slightly older girl who saved Emma from further harm, Tess becomes more and more involved, meaning that alarm bells start to ring for the police; they make it clear that they want her to leave it to them to deal with, instead of taking things into her own hands.

As the reader, we see Tess’ determination cross the line into an obsession, and I could feel myself wanting to warn her – I knew she wasn’t doing herself any favours in the way she was behaving, but felt very sympathetic towards her regardless. In this way, Tess really is a conflicted character – she’s definitely behaved questionably in the past when dealing with the upsetting breakdown of her marriage, but there are some really interesting scenes where I felt like I really identified with Tess. I could see exactly why she was doing what she was doing – her frustration and anger at what Emma had gone through must be absolutely consuming – but from an outsider’s perspective I could also see why this would not show her in a great light with the police.

Some parts of the novel feel a bit slower than others, and I guessed some elements of the story from quite early on, but Stop at Nothing kept my attention throughout and I really wanted to see what would happen in the end. I won’t give much more away about the plot but I feel that Tammy Cohen has done a great job of making the reader see how easy it is to become obsessed with something (or someone), especially when it involves close family who might be in danger.

An absorbing, entertaining read with darker elements.

[Rating: 4/5]

Many thanks to Transworld for providing a copy of this novel, on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.

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