I am thrilled to be kicking off the new year with an amazing author interview as my first blog post. Welcome Abigail Osborne!
The Good Husband plot: A shopping trip on Black Friday shoppers leads to Elsie’s tragic death—and leaves Jack, her husband of thirty-seven years, devastated. Unable to cope with his grief, he flees to his childhood home to be with his father, an overbearing religious zealot who puts his faith before everything—even his son.
Jack’s father convinces him that Elsie had not died in vain. Her life was sacrificed to give Jack the strength he needs for his mission: to rid the world of greed. Embittered by his loss, Jack soon sets out to punish the depraved and eradicate the sinners from the world. The greedy killed his wife, and now they must pay. But how far is Jack willing to go to fulfil God’s plan—and how many innocent people will die?
Bobs and Books honest review:
Not even sure where I begin with this review- absolute wowies!
With the then/now timeline I was completely hooked from the off and intrigued about the complicated father/son relationship.
This maintained pace and intrigue throughout and I was racing to the end to work out the ending. Goodness me that did not disappoint. Compelling characters. This is dark so not for the faint hearted, but if you like your stories dark, this is the one for you.
Addictive.
Interview:
Hi Abbie, wowies what a heart thumping read your book is! I nearly missed my train stop on my commute home I was so hooked. What drew you to explore a father/son relationship?
I'm not sure what drew me to a father/son relationship. It wasn't really a conscious decision, I just started writing and this strict, religious father appeared. I then started to do research into Jack's father's generation. I found I was fascinated by this generation who had extremely strict rules that are heavily influenced by religion. Doing my research I found it interesting to see how the words in the bible can be twisted to suit any situation. The relationship between Jack and his father was an opportunity to look at that and explore it in more depth.
There are some dark scenes in this read, but as a reader they draw you in to the family dynamic- I can only imagine that these must have been difficult to write? How did you feel confident you were pitching it at the right level for readers, and to protect yourself as a writer? There are dark scenes in this book and I have to confess I absolutely loved writing them. The adrenaline rush I got from writing these life or death scenes did make me worry about myself. But that's the life of a crime/thriller writer, I suppose. You have to enjoy embodying the darker side of life. I love reading books where things are dark and twisty and so that is what I enjoy writing. I do know that some of my readers have found it a lot darker than my second book, Save Her. I would say this is a dark thriller compared to Save Her which is more of a psychological thriller. But I loved writing the Good Husband. For once, when writing this book, I was writing for myself. I was lost in the story and not thinking about the reader and just getting the story down. I am really proud of this book as it is the first time I wrote and felt like I knew what I was doing. The dark side of life is fascinating to me. I understand that it might be too dark for some people but it works for the story I was writing and fortunately, there have been a lot of people that are as dark and twisty as me that have enjoyed it.
Ooh yes its brilliant! Part 1 heavily features a then and now dual timeline, both of which are compelling. How important to you did it feel to tell the reader the backstory earlier on in the novel rather than later?
I wanted the reader to understand Jack's motivations. So it was really important that I gave the reader the facts and a complete understanding of his history, especially his relationship with Elsie. That way they would be able to understand his motivations and feel really invested in him. The love story between Elsie and Jack completely absorbed me. You know those old couples you see on a bench, holding hands and you just know they are still besotted with each other all these years later. That's what I wanted to depict with Elsie and Jack. But I wanted to take it further and the power of that love on a person and how devastating it can be when we lose that love. It was an emotional and powerful thing to write and I'll never forget these characters.
Without spoilers, the ending blew me away! When you started writing the novel was it always headed that way or did it come to you later?
Thank you, I am so so proud of the ending. So far no one has guessed the ending which is quite hard to do in a thriller. Did I know how it would end - no. I never know how my books are going to end. I write by the seat of my pants and make it up as I go along. I find it impossible to plot my books as I have ADHD and I don't think in a methodical way. I have several trains of thought so I'm constantly switching chapters and having new ideas. I also need to write how I'm feeling at that time. I am always surprised by my endings as when I write, it is a stream of consciousness and I don't really know what word I'm going to type next. But I love that and wouldn't change it.
Sounds great! Are you able to share what we might be able to see next from you?
Well, I have recently been signed by an agent and she is currently submitting my next book to publishers. So I'm just in limbo at the moment - wish me luck! I can tell you it will be another psychological thriller and is less dark than the Good Husband.
OOH fingers crossed and good luck! Thanks for answering my questions.
The Good Husband is available now. The Good Husband eBook : Osborne, Abigail: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
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