Decoy - Scott Mariani

Reading Challenge Category: Short free book

Official Blurb:

A suspenseful, edge-of-seat thriller short story from the #1 Kindle and Top Ten Sunday times bestselling author, Scott Mariani
Deception can be deadly . . .
Kate, an attractive single parent, is in a desperate situation. Her young son Charlie suffers from a rare eye disease that will soon cause him to go blind unless he can receive the cutting-edge new treatment that's offered by just one private clinic in London. The cost is out of Kate's league and she needs to raise the cash - fast.
When her best friend suggests that she should find employment as a freelance female decoy, Kate initially rejects the idea. But realising what the potential earnings could mean for Charlie, she reluctantly goes to work, getting paid by female clients wanting to put the fidelity of their partners to the test. Business is good. It won't be long before Kate has the money she needs.
But after being hired by a wealthy new client to investigate a suspected cheating husband, Kate's world suddenly turns upside-down and she discovers too late that deception can have deadly consequences . .

My Thoughts:

So, I needed a short book to read and finish on the last day of the month. I was browsing the Kindle singles and saw this by Scott Mariani. I recognised the name as my mother-in-law is always raving about his books; she ‘luuuuurves his books’. So, I couldn’t pass this by; it seemed like the right one to choose to finish my month off.
The book starts quite slowly with Kate needing to raise cash fast to help her son Charlie. He needs an operation to save his sight. She decides to become a decoy by putting the fidelity of women’s men to the test. It goes well, to begin with, until it doesn’t!
This is where the book really picks up; it goes from slow-paced to full-on action and thriller within the blink of an eye. The tag line of it being a ‘suspenseful, edge-of-seat thriller’ is true to its word as this is precisely what you get!
For only a 70-page book, a lot happens, and it feels like a full-length thriller. Even when you think it is over, it isn’t.
Kate is a mercurial character, as she seemed quite dull on the surface, but she could really turn it on for the clients and switch persona easily. However, her actions towards the end were quite questionable, and a lot of the drama could have been avoided with one simple phone call. I suppose then there wouldn’t have been much of a book, though.
Overall, not a bad read for such a short book, and I will certainly be giving the Ben Hope series a go which are the books that my mother-in-law has read and raves about! This was a good teaser for this author’s writing.

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