“A twisty, jet-fueled thriller… Don’t miss it!” – Lisa GardnerPacked with the electrifying pacing and pulse-pounding suspense of Harlan Coben and Lisa Gardner, a thrilling debut about a mother desperate to find the connections between her missing husband and a deadly stalker who knows too much about her own dark family history.Driving home one rainy night, Cassie Larkin sees a man and woman … history.
Driving home one rainy night, Cassie Larkin sees a man and woman fighting on the side of the road. After calling 911, she makes a split-second decision that will throw her suburban life into chaos. Against the dispatcher’s advice, she gets out of her minivan and confronts the attacker. That’s when he turns on her and spits out a chilling ultimatum: “Let her die, and I’ll let you live.”
A veterinarian trained to heal, Cassie can’t let the woman die. But while she’s examining the unconscious victim, the attacker steals her car. Now he has her name. Her address. And he knows about her children. Though they warn her to be careful, the police assure her that the perpetrator won’t get near her. Cassie isn’t so sure.
The next day—Halloween—her husband disappears while trick-or-treating with their six-year-old daughter. Are these disturbing events a coincidence or the beginning of a horrifying nightmare? Her husband has been growing distant—is it possible he’s become involved with another woman? Is Cassie’s confrontation with the road-side attacker connected to her husband’s disappearance? With these questions swirling in her mind Cassie can trust no one, maybe not even herself. The only thing she knows for sure is that she can’t sit back while the people she loves are in danger.
As she desperately searches for answers, Cassie discovers that nothing is as random as it seems, and that she is more than willing to fight—to go to the most terrifying extremes—to save her family.
more
The kind of twisty, jet-fueled thriller that explodes on page one and has you happily abandoning work, sleep, and life as you race to the stunning end. Don’t miss it!
A sensational debut — compelling, hypnotic, full of suspense and quiet menace. Don’t miss it!
Relentlessly heart-pounding, immensely creepy, and so riveting I skipped my always-anticipated Sunday nap, NO BAD DEED is the very definition of a thriller. The story begins when Cassie Larkin is driving home from work and sees a man and woman fighting on the side of the road, with the man growing increasingly violent. Ignoring the 911 operator’s directions to stay in her car, Cassie is compelled to get out and help. But in saving the woman’s life, it seems she’s put her own in danger. When the man takes off in Cassie’s car, he now has access to her address and information about her husband and kids—which it seems he uses when Cassie’s husband goes missing the next day. From there, the twists and turns of this story are CONSTANT, and every chapter becomes more chilling than the last. There are scenes in this book that I know I will never forget, images that will haunt me for a long time, and I can’t stress enough how difficult it is to put this one down. Not only that, but the final reveal is so INTERESTING and so unexpected that it made me want to reread the book all over again with the new information in mind. At the same time, I literally jumped into my husband’s lap after I finished reading, because I was still so scared by the absolute psychopath that Chavez has brilliantly crafted in this book. The emotional themes—impact of trauma, alienation within a partnership, finding strength you didn’t know you had—are powerful as well, and beautifully integrated into those terrifying scenes. If you’re a thriller lover, I HIGHLY recommend this book—and I recommend you make sure you have a good chunk of time you can devote to it, because it will be torture to step away from it.
Heather Chavez’s debut novel starts at a sprint and never lets up, twisting its way to an exhilarating, you’ll-never-guess-it ending.
Chavez’s breathless page-turner will have every aspiring Good Samaritan thinking maybe they should let the NEXT guy help.
The first chapter yanks you and doesn’t let go. I think I loved most the dynamics of family in this novel though. The realistic portrayal of marriage and how fragile it can sometimes be, the dynamics of Cassie’s two children and how a mother’s love is tested to protect them. Impossible choices. Twisted motivations. Reveal after reveal of secrets. My heart was pounding on more than a few occasions on wondering what was about to happen next! Can’t recommend this read enough. Loved it!
Chavez’s debut novel grabs you from the first sentence and never lets go. This edge-of-the-seat page turner will have your heart pounding until the very end. It’ll make you think twice about being a good Samaritan.
“No Bad Deed” starts with traumatic event. In a first person narrative, Cassie Larkin talks to readers and describes the trauma she encountered on her way home. She tells herself to stay in the minivan as the 911 operator suggests, but she does not. Then her car is gone along with her purse, identification, address, everything. This sets the gripping tone for the entire book.
Chavez created a complex character; Larkin is a dedicated veterinarian and reminds readers how toxic chocolate is for dogs. Larkin tells readers what she wants us to know. She tells us what she says to people but some of what she says might not be true. She spends a lot of time thinking of past events, and she leaves gaps in the narrative that are filled in later. She is troubled by chaotic events that unfold around her and confused by contradictions she cannot understand.
The story takes readers down a path that is sometimes hard to fathom, but Larkin’s distress is certainly palpable and intense. Larkin admits that she has secrets and has told lies, and readers are left to separate the truth from her lies. The uncertainty increases page after page, and readers are compelled to turn the pages as one layer of trauma is piled upon another, and then that startling end.
I received a review copy of “No Bad Deed” from Heather Chavez and HarperCollins Publishers. It is gripping, traumatic, and compelling page after page.
A treacherous game of cat and mouse and a frantic race against time until the final explosive twist. Chavez has crafted the perfect thriller.
Twisty, timely and absolutely terrifying, Heather Chavez’ No Bad Deed is a propulsive thriller that grabbed me from the very first page and didn’t let go. A terrifically suspenseful read.
Driving home from her veterinary clinic, Cassie sees a man and woman fighting on the side of the road. She calls 911 but also gets out of her vehicle. Things go bad, and the man escapes with her vehicle and purse – he now has her name, address, and information about husband and kids. Then Cassies husband disappears.
No Bad Deed has a strong opening followed by a slow burn mystery. The plot is far more intricate than it initially appears. Cassie is different than what we often see in women characters, which is an interesting change. What I’ve said is rather vague, but I don’t want to give anything that would be a spoiler. I’d recommend No Bad Deed for fans of suspense.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own.
NO BAD DEED by Heather Chavez is an action packed thriller. The story mainly takes place in Santa Rosa, California. The protagonist, Cassie Larkin is on her way home from work when she sees a man and woman fighting on the side of the road. After calling 911, Cassie decides to try to help the woman. The attacker takes off in Cassie’s vehicle with her purse so he now knows who she is and where she lives. This leads to a very twisted and suspenseful few days for Cassie and her family and friends.
Cassie is definitely a compelling character that a reader can root for. She had very distinct flaws and virtues. But her goals were clear and her motivations seemed believable, with well-drawn and appropriate emotions. The secondary characters were less developed but still enhanced the story. There are several themes explored in the book including family, friendship, murder, child abuse, marriage fidelity, domestic violence and much more.
The prose was well-written, engrossing, absorbing, and vividly descriptive. The plot was suspenseful, clever, shocking, intense and riveting. The ending was dramatic and made me pause, reflect, and contemplate. Overall, I was drawn into the book with the first paragraph and I was fully engaged in this tangled crime thriller.
This was a fantastic debut novel by an author I hope releases another book soon. If you like thrillers with lots of twists, turns and action, you may enjoy this book as much as I did.
Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow and Heather Chavez for an ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
Heart pounding and heart aching. This one is a page turner, that burns rapid as it intensifies. You’re interest in the characters will become obsessive and you will continue to flip the pages to Lear how they will end up. One hell of a debut novel!
I never could buy into the characters. I made it halfway through the book and decided I just didn’t care. That is just me…so give it a try. It has an original storyline.
I enjoyed reading this book but the best part was the ending that I did not see coming! Spoiler alert: You’ll be pretty certain that you know who is causing all of the mayhem with an occasional “maybe it’s this character” but you’re wrong.
Fast paced. Hard to put down. I’d highly recommend. You won’t be disappointed.
I had to read this book twice because I could barely breathe the first time I read it. I needed the story to slow down. So I could breathe. Even after I knew the ending, I flew through this book the second time, thankfully picking up a few choice bits I’d missed the first time around.
Not that the story’s too fast. It’s just the right speed of fast that gets your heart racing and your emotions flailing.
No Bad Deed is Heather Chavez’s debut, yet you will swear she’s been writing high-voltage tension her entire life. Her characters are well-developed, her plots and twists and turns will keep you flipping through the pages until you reach the very end. I loved this book!
No Bad Deed is a debut novel that twists and turns. While there was an occasional moment or two in which I had to suspend my belief a little too far, the story was compelling and easy to read. Great book.
All the true crime I consume already made me pause at the idea of helping strangers on the side of the road, and NO BAD DEED reinforced that hesitation in the Bay Area. This book was full of twists and some decades-old revelations, just the way I like my thrillers. As Stephen King said, reading is a strange kind of telepathy, and I so enjoyed stepping into the world that debut author Chavez created.
A vet with 2 children and a loving husband. But the husband is not as loving as everyone thought. Very good book.