The Pact is a very easy quick to read book by Dawn Goodwin. The thriller is full of suspense, family dynamics, cheating, blackmail and friendship.
Maddie is newly separated from her husband Greg, after 20 years of marriage, he has an affair with his employee, Gemma that results in a baby. Maddie moves into a new flat and becomes friends with her upstairs neighbor Jade. Jade has a young son, Ben which draws Maddie in as she is desperate for a baby.
Jade is facing a custody battle with her ex, Mark. One night after too many wines Jade jokes that they should kill each other’s exes and a pact was made; I’ll kill yours if you kill mine. Jade takes the pact seriously while fragile Maddie thinks it’s a joke.
The majority of the novel is based around Maddie’s past; her life with her husband and their high school romance, her struggles with fertility and IVF, the deceit and betrayal from Greg yet still accommodating him while he lives in the house they once shared being a happy family she longed for. Maddie makes some questionable decisions due to her naivety whilst Jade has secrets and is sly and cunning when it comes to revenge and getting what she wants. Jade speaks of the pact casually when they catch up but Maddie continues to think that nothing will come of it.
I found the novel frustrating at times; usually the beginning of a thriller there is action, suspense and whodunit moments but nothing happens until the last few chapters where the pact comes to conclusion. The characters are bearable, Maddie seemed very needy and gullible whilst Jade had some get up and go even though she seemed crazy.
If you are after a non-brainer novel for a lazy day on the couch this is a book for you!
ISBN: 9781788549356 / https://headofzeus.com/books/9781788549356
Thank you B&L and Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read this book. A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club Members are reading it with us, and they will leave their feedback in the comments section below.
My love of books started at a very young age. My mum has always been a reader and encouraged me to read, buying me endless book from classic fairy tales advancing to the world of Enid Blyton, CS Lewis, Louisa May Alcott, Kathryn Kenny, Carolyn Keene, Francine Pascal. In my adult years the list of authors is endless and every room in my house is filled with books.
One of my favourite novels is Narnia which has always has a special place in my heart. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1978 and when I was given this book to read it let me escape to another world where I felt like I was in the book with all the characters, it wasfun and exciting to escape from reality and eased the ups and downs of the disease at such a young age.
In books nothing is impossible and there is endless potential and hundreds of places to explore or being taken to places that are only made up from the authors’ great minds, the past and future to navigate, characters lives you step into taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride or being scared out of your wits. I can experience things that I can’t in real life because they’re not possible or real. It challenges my perspective and mindset expanding my worldview.
I find joy, comfort and peace with books, many people may not get it, but I know bookworms like me truly understand. Reading makes my heart happy.