‘Don’t Tell Teacher’ by Suzy K. Quinn
Genre: Psychological Thriller/ Mystery/ Suspense
Published: June 2019, HQ Stories
Swathi’s Rating: 4.5/5
So excited to be sharing my thoughts on this psychological thriller I had the chance to read! It’s definitely a 5 Star read as it BLEW my mind away and can’t wait to read more from the author. Before I start raving more about the book, enjoy the blurb!
Plot:
The book of the year! According to me. 😉 Enjoy your summer hols reading this book, and fear your child returning to school when you finish it … pic.twitter.com/DauKXPqh29
— SuzyKQuinn #1 Author (@SuzyKQuinn) July 11, 2019
School should have been the safest place…
For Lizzie Riley, switching her six-year-old son Tom to the local academy school marks a fresh start, post-divorce. With its excellent reputation, Lizzie knows it’ll be a safe space away from home.
But there’s something strange happening at school. Parents are forbidden from entering the grounds, and there are bars across the classroom windows.
Why is Tom coming home exhausted, unable to remember his day? What are the strange marks on his arm? And why do the children seem afraid to talk?
Lizzie is descending into every parent’s worst nightmare: her little boy is in danger. But will she be able to protect him before it’s too late?
Swathi’s Thoughts:
‘Don’t Tell Teacher’ is an addictive thriller that begins with Lizzie, who has just divorced her abusive, dangerous husband Olly with her 6 year old son Tom. With the help of Social Services, she’s now settled in a nice home, nice locality and a very nice school for Tom. The Steelfield Academy is known to be the best school in the neighborhood, but it seems quite strange to have barred windows and locked gates, and a headmaster who runs the school almost close to a prison. It has excellent academic results, but why does Tom gets home all tired and exhausted with puncture marks on his body? Is there something happening in the school or is Tom with the bad company of kids?
Narrated from the PoV’s of Lizzie and Social worker Kate, Suzy Quinn keeps her readers right where she wants us to be. The story also reveals Lizzie’s version of how she met Olly in a camp when they were both young. Olly, a strikingly handsome snowboarder who fell in love with a simple girl who aspires to be nurse someday. Soon they are together, their relationship from relaxed to strained, until Olly meets with an accident and loses his chance at the Olympics. Devastated at staying home, he begins taking it out on Lizzie who soon discovers she’s pregnant! The domestic abuse however grows with Olly’s desperation to heal and only gets worse after little Tom’s birth. Soon, Olly is arrested with a restraining order and Lizzie gets full custody over Tom and they move out to a new town.
Meanwhile, Kate’s version shows us the hardships faced by a social worker with very limited resources, and little time to spend on kids, and abused woman who needs immediate care and aid. Kate is determined at work and she’d sacrifice even her perfect life to do her job perfectly.
The chapters are short and the pace is quick, driving us right through the pages. It’s the brilliant storytelling of the author that makes her reader to believe what she says, and never lets a break to guess how it’s gonna end! Just wait until you reach the end. You’d feel your pulse racing all the way through the last chapter!
Suzy is now on my watch list of authors, and can’t wait to read more from her writing. Many thanks to HQ for my early copy. Totally enjoyed and highly recommended! All opinions are solely mine.
Meet the Author:
Suzy K Quinn is a British fiction author, and writes in three different genres: psychological thriller, comedy and romance.
She was first published by Hachette in 2010 with her debut novel Glass Geishas (now Night Girls), then self-published a romance series, the Ivy Lessons, which became an international bestseller and a #1 Kindle romance bestseller in the US and UK.
After her second daughter was born in 2013, she self-published the Bad Mother’s Diary series, which also went on to become a #1 Kindle romantic comedy bestseller.
Suzy K Quinn’s novels have been translated into 7 languages and her books have sold over ¾ million copies worldwide.
Suzy lives in Wivenhoe, Essex, with her husband Demi and two daughters, and travels to Mexico every year to write and study Mayan story telling.
Suzy loves her family, friends and readers, but when pushed to add more to the list, she also loves travelling, food and alcohol.
www.suzykquinn.com
www.facebook.com/suzykquinn
Twitter: @suzykquinn
