Everyone wants a good neighbour, but what if he is the total opposite?

Synopsis

From the stranger in the car, to the madman at her door…

The day my path crossed with Simon Fox I thought I’d already lost everything but then he ran me off the road with his flash car and belittling jibes.
The men in my life had undermined me for too long.
Enough was enough.
Fuelled by alcohol and the desire to get even, I decided a spot of petty vandalism would make me feel a whole lot better.
Wrong. Very wrong…
I hadn’t realised that Simon Fox was not a man to be messed with.
He showed me just how much I still had left to lose.
Soon I was battling for my home, family and life.

My review

Saying that Kay is having an easy time would be a lie. Not only has her husband left her, their twins seem to prefer spending time with him instead of her.
All her hope is set on getting a promotion at work, but alas… the position went to a younger man, with absolutely not the experience Kay has.
So when a jerk practically ran her off the road, and after some wine, Kay decides to at least get back to one of the people who did her wrong.
Revenge tasted so good, and vandalising a little bit that car wouldn’t cause any real harm.
But not according the owner of the car, Simon Fox… because suddenly Kay finds out that there is so much more left to lose…

I found this a very disturbing story on so many different levels…

We have Kay and her husband Jonathan who decides to leave her. Okay, there are many married couples that decide to break up. But in this case, Kay was totally oblivious that there was something wrong. Even if they didn’t have the happiest of marriages, normal people would talk about it and not just leave out of the blue.
But what bothered me the most, was Jonathan’s pettiness… He has left Kay alone, is winning the children over and pushes Kay to sell the house. But does he really have to be such a d*ck and by almost literally laughing at her in her face?
Obviously, Jonathan was not my favourite character, and the more I read in this book, the more my dislike for him grew.

Also at work isn’t Kay having a blast… she is surrounded by men. Normally that wouldn’t be a bad thing, but the kind of men that she is working with…
I also have some banter with my male colleagues, but in my personal case, it honestly is all meant as a joke. But Kay’s colleagues are being sexist, giving inappropriate remarks and those are not all that innocent.
And even when her promotion goes to someone else, less capable, Kay keeps her head up high. But even then, after an avoidable error, Kay is suddenly the scapegoat…

So when the last straw is Simon Fox running her off the road, I could understand that Kay had enough of everything and everyone. Of course, what she did was wrong, but I saw where she came from. Lesson here: doing things after having several wines is never a good idea! And the amount that Kay ingested, maybe made me worry a little bit…
But Simon’s behaviour and actions gave me goose bumps all over the place! I hope I never meet a Simon myself or at least if I do, I will be on his good side!

My feelings thought the whole story were not kind towards the male population, as the majority of them showed us their worst side.
But on the other hand, there were people who showed us their best side too, even from the male side of the population!
And these acts of kindness and care restored my faith in humanity.
The twins, who preferred to be with their father, made some realizations, and stood up, not only for each other, but also for Kay.
Then there was also Kay’s best friend, who stood by Kay’s side no matter what.
And let’s not forget about the other victims of Simon’s pettiness and schemes…
These kind of people shows that the wrongdoings can be undone.

When I started reading this book, I knew that things would escalate. But I was a bit terrified how far things were going and how some things were entwined.
I kept turning page after page, because I wanted to know how things would evolve, unequivocally for the worse.
Even if I felt that there were some minor plot holes, and some behaviour was a bit over the top, I still felt terrified while reading.
And while the bad may seem to have the upper hand, not giving up is the most important thing, because no matter how dark things will get, somehow, somewhere and sometime, the good will prevail.