Sometimes books just catch your eye, and make you want to read them as soon as possible. Roz Nay’s debut thriller, Our Little Secret, was one such book for me back in 2018 or 2019. Its premise sounded incredibly interesting, its cover caught my eye and I’d heard pretty good things about it. I borrowed it from the library, read through the story and found it enjoyable. Was it great? No, but it was good and certainly above average.
When I was browsing NetGalley last year, another book by Roz Nay appeared. Entitled Hurry Home, it promised another thrilling read and also had a premise that piqued my interest. I requested it, was approved and then had things get in the way of reading it until now. I’d planned to get to it sooner, but didn’t, and I feel bad about that.
Instead of reading the unfinished ePub version of this novel, I ended up borrowing the trade paperback from my local library and read it over the course of several days. The story within hooked me a bit from the start, and made me wonder how things would end up. Unfortunately, as is sometimes the case, what I predicted partway through ended up being the true ending, leaving me slightly disappointed. That said, this was still an enjoyable and solid read.
Hurry Home is the story of two sisters with a troubled past. There’s the good sister, Alexandra Van Ness, and her snowboarding model of a boyfriend, Chase, who live in a skiing town in Colorado. Then there’s Ruth, the bad sister, who has had a rough life since being exiled out of the family. She left with a mean-spirited, drug using ass, which seemed to be yet another of her terrible decisions.
Fast-forward to the present and Alex is relaxing at home when Ruth appears at her door. Pregnant and harried, the older sister asks for help and a place to stay, which her sibling begrudgingly agrees to. Alex is now a child protection worker, whereas Ruth hasn’t got much going in her favour. She’s run away from a troubled lifestyle and situation, and may be in trouble herself. As is often the case, though, her lips are pretty much sealed.
As you’ve surely already surmised, this is a tale of two feuding sisters who don’t particularly like or believe one another. They share a troubled past, have problems being honest with one another, and don’t necessarily like being in one another’s presence. Ruth’s secrets threaten Alex’s cozy life, as does her job which she cares about a lot.
There’s nothing bad about this sophomore effort, but the truth is that there’s also little originality in it. Nothing about this story popped out to me as being unique or downright memorable, as it was mostly cobbled together from different genre tropes. It does a solid job of being a familiar thriller with a couple interesting changes in direction, but it won’t set your world on fire. At least that was my finding.
Roz Nay is a solid writer and an author I like, but neither of her books have wowed me as of yet. I’d have to give the edge to Our Little Secret over Hurry Home, but both are solid and enjoyable, and deserve around a 3-3.5/5 stars on GoodReads in my opinion. They’re good reads for nice weather, when you’re sitting out in the sun or at the beach, but I’d rather read something by Harlan Coben.
Don’t let this review deter you from reading Hurry Home by Roz Nay, because it may come off more negatively than I’d hoped. Just don’t go in expecting a standout and unforgettable experience.
This review is based on a book that we were provided with. Thank you to NetGalley and its publisher for approving us. Receiving a free copy did not alter our opinion.