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Beyond Fear

by Jaye Ford (Goodreads Author)

3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 · rating details · 112 ratings · 25 reviews

Imagine if your worst fears came true . . . again. At seventeen, Jodie Cramer survived a terrifying assault at the hands of three strangers. Her schoolmate Angie was not so lucky . . . Now thirty-five, Jodie is a teacher and mother of two - and her past is a horror she's buried deep. When she sets out for a weekend in the country with three friends, all she has in mind are...more

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Published March 1st 2011 by Random House Australia (first published January 1st 2011)

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Oct 13, 2011 Brenda rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: readers of suspense thrillers

Oh WOW!!!!! What an amazing book! Debut novel from Jaye Ford, a former journalist who lives in Lake Macquarie, NSW. The story of 4 women who have a girly weekend once a year, filled with laughter, fun, champagne, food and much more. But this year, things don't quite work out the way they planned!!! Jodie, who has a tragedy almost 20 years in her past, of which she has told no-one, Corrine, Hannah and Louise find their weekend starting badly with a car accident on a country road heading for the B&B...more

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Nov 24, 2011 Elizabeth Lhuede rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: australian-author, australian-women-writers, crime, friends-books

What could go wrong for four thirty-something girlfriends planning a weekend away from husbands and kids in the remote Australian countryside? Plenty! Walking the knife-edge between caution and paranoia, Ford's heroine, Jodie, appears gutsy and damaged by turns. Is she right and there's something seriously creepy about the visitors who turn up at their remote holiday house? Or has the trauma of her past finally caught up with her?

Beyond Fear is a book that grabbed me from the first page and neve...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 26, 2011 Tonile {My Cup and Chaucer} rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was fortunate enough to get an advance reading copy of this debut novel from former journalist and NSW local, Jaye Ford. The unofficial cover said that it was the most heart-stopping suspense novel from Random House, and although I can't 100% confirm that, it was one of the most brilliant books I've ever read. Rather than being an in depth police procedural, Beyond Fear is a quintessential thriller that focusses more on people than procedure and process. I've said in the past that a main chara...more I was fortunate enough to get an advance reading copy of this debut novel from former journalist and NSW local, Jaye Ford. The unofficial cover said that it was the most heart-stopping suspense novel from Random House, and although I can't 100% confirm that, it was one of the most brilliant books I've ever read. Rather than being an in depth police procedural, Beyond Fear is a quintessential thriller that focusses more on people than procedure and process. I've said in the past that a main character who has suffered previous trauma is more likeable and readers can relate to them more, and Ford has mastered that effortlessly.

We meet Jodie as she and her three friends, Corrine, Hannah and Louise, are taking their annual weekend away. They see it as a perfect opportunity for down time and a chance to relax from their busy lives as mothers, wives, and workers. It was Jodie's year to pick, and she has chosen a refurbished barn near Bald Hill in New South Wales. A tumultuous start to the weekend results in the ladies losing their car, and relying on local cop-turned-mechanic Matt for transport to town. The women are shaken, but it is Jodie who is completely distraught, and after an incident in the local pub, she is thoroughly rattled. Her friends do their best to be sympathetic, and as readers soon find out, the other women are completely unaware of Jodie's past - a past Jodie does her best to keep completely under wraps.

Jodie is clearly on edge, and as she grows more convinced something in not quite right at the barn, her friends become more distant and hostile towards her increasingly bizarre behaviour. Completely ostracised by her friends, Jodie becomes convinced she is losing her mind, convinced that maybe her devastating past has caused her to become a little unstable. She takes off from the barn, to cool down a little and try to settle her nerves. But her worst fears are confirmed when she returns to her friends and finds they are not alone.

I loved this book for many reasons, most of all because it is essentially a simple mystery tale. No complex forensic procedures, no grizzly murder scenes... Just a handful of complex characters, and an isolated barn in the middle of the night. It was a genuinely creepy read because you can put yourself completely in the position of Jodie. There have been times for all of us when we feel a little off, like something is not quite right. Beyond Fear recognises that, and shows that sometimes our gut instincts are right, no matter what our nearest and dearest think. I suppose it was creepier still because it is set in Australia, and it does not rely on elaborate serial killers to be more than terrifying.

If you're a fan of good crime and old-fashioned mysteries, I have no doubt you will love this book. It's strongest point is in its simplicity, and I will eagerly await Ford's next novel.(less)

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Apr 03, 2012 Helen McKenna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: aww2012-challenge, great-aussie-reads-challenge-2012, australian

Having recently read Jaye Ford's other book (Scared Yet?), I was really looking forward to reading this one and it definitely didn't disappoint. Once again the setting is in NSW, close to Newcastle - although this time it is a remote B&B in the middle of nowhere. This, of course, is a perfect setting for a thriller/suspense novel.

Four mothers set off for a weekend away from kids/husbands. Driving along a quiet, dark country road they are run off the road by another car - forcing them to stop...more Having recently read Jaye Ford's other book (Scared Yet?), I was really looking forward to reading this one and it definitely didn't disappoint. Once again the setting is in NSW, close to Newcastle - although this time it is a remote B&B in the middle of nowhere. This, of course, is a perfect setting for a thriller/suspense novel.

Four mothers set off for a weekend away from kids/husbands. Driving along a quiet, dark country road they are run off the road by another car - forcing them to stop and wait for help. While all the women are shaken by the ordeal, it is Jodie who is freaked out the most. Unknown to her friends she was a witness to a horrific crime years before and bears physical and emotional scars as a result.

The author sets the scene perfectly - you can literally feel yourself being in the same situation - pitch black, no phone reception and the myriad of night sounds echoing around you to create a truly eerie atmosphere. As scary as this is, it's not until the women arrive at the remote B&B barn they have rented that things get really freaky.

Not long after they arrive, suspicious things start happening. While Jodie is immediately on guard, the others think she is being paranoid and don't take her fears seriously. This ultimately leads to them being in a life-threatening situation, where they have to rely on each other to fight for their own survival.

You can't help but like Jodie, the main character. She is a damaged soul, who has built herself up physically and mentally to project a tough, strong and together image. Ultimately, however deep inside she is still a quivering mess after the incident in her teenage years that continues to haunt her.

The setting is fantastic - you really can picture the scene, both at the B&B and the small town nearby. The only downside, I thought was that the action scene went on a little too long. Because it is so edge of your set, it was exhausting to read (by the end). That's not to say it wasn't fantastically written, it was almost too suspenseful (if that makes sense?)

Overall another amazing book by Jaye Ford, guaranteed to have you jumping at shadows and avoiding dark country roads at all costs!(less)

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Oct 10, 2011 Amra Pajalic rated it 5 of 5 stars

I attended She Kilda on the weekend, a conference organised by Sisters in Crime and Jaye Ford was on a panel I attended. I wanted to read this book from the moment I saw the cover and read the blurb. I love stories of ordinary women in extraordinary situations who have to fight to forge their own destiny. The story centres on Jodie, a survivor of a brutal assault who has used her experience to empower herself and others in self defence training. When she and her three friends go on their annual...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Holly rated it 4 of 5 stars

This story begins with a very eerie premise. I think everyone has been in a place or driven along a back street that makes you feel creepy. This book brings up those feelings.
Written by a local author, it was easy for me to imagine the setting of this story as there is plenty of long, dark roads out the back of Lake Macquarie that match the ones travelled in this book.
The reader is introduced to the ‘two strangers’ early, leaving the suspense to all of the characters actions and the place they...more

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Apr 03, 2011 Jenny rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, women-s-fiction

This started well. Four mothers head off to the country for a girls' weekend in a renovated barn. One woman, Jodie, has a secret: she was assaulted as a teen and saw her best friend raped and killed. Ever since she's been haunted by the fact that she escaped instead of helping her friend. Before the women even reach the town of Bald Hill things go wrong. They're run off the road, left in the dark in the middle of nowhere and then Jodie has an encounter with a creepy bloke in the pub who, we lear...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Sue Caldwell rated it 3 of 5 stars

The story started well, characters were fun, four females who were very close friends, having a girlie weekend, which they do every year. The main character had a awful past, were she had to live with deep scars of being kidnapped, stabbed and leaving her friend behind when she had an opportunity to find help, her friend was murdered. As the story progressed, you find yourself emerged in the main characters world, and learnt that she was still fighting demons, and suffering from anxiety. I did a...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars

I normally don't read this genre because I'm a huge scaredy cat, so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It had me in right from the start. The tension kept me up way past my bedtime just so I could finish. There was no way I was going to sleep until I knew what was going to happen to all involved. How an annual weekend away with a group of girlfriends that should have been so much fun, time to get away and unwind,could go so horribly wrong is scary enough but the reality that this c...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Rachael Hewison rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller

Whilst living in Australia I’m trying to work my way through as many Australian authors as I can. I was recommended Ford’s book by an Australian goodreads member, which turned out to be an addicting thriller.
Ford launches the reader straight into the action describing a car crash in the first couple of pages with the characters still en route to their girly weekend away. More drama continues to follow them and Jodie, scarred from a terrifying past, is convinced that they are in some kind of dang...more

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Jan 23, 2012 Karen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: australian, crime, review-books

BEYOND FEAR is journalist Jaye Ford's first book, billed as an adrenaline-pumped suspense thriller. Which, if you're reading it with that aim in mind it absolutely is. The book starts out with one of those scenes that just make you know something bad's going to happen. Something very bad. Four thirty-something women are heading off for a regular girls' weekend away, champagne in hand, towards a remote, recently renovated barn deep in isolated country Australia. Jodie, the main character of the b...more BEYOND FEAR is journalist Jaye Ford's first book, billed as an adrenaline-pumped suspense thriller. Which, if you're reading it with that aim in mind it absolutely is. The book starts out with one of those scenes that just make you know something bad's going to happen. Something very bad. Four thirty-something women are heading off for a regular girls' weekend away, champagne in hand, towards a remote, recently renovated barn deep in isolated country Australia. Jodie, the main character of the book, is a woman with a secret from her best friends. So, when these woman are run off the road in the middle of nowhere by a mysterious ute, have to deal with a taxi that doesn't get to them, a tow truck driver with a past of his own and an encounter with a bloke already suspected of killing a young girl in the local pub, there could very well be more than a bit of doubt as they head off to their isolated holiday destination.

Part of the reason that the alarm sirens in the back of the brain weren't deafening at this point is possibly that none of the other women have quite the same sense of fear and worry that Jodie does. Okay in itself that got a bit odd, but Jodie is also the only person who has the encounter with our creepy bloke in the pub, Jodie is the one mostly talking to the tow-truck driver who seems to know a lot about what's going on, Jodie is the woman with the background. It's possible, unlikely granted, but possible that she may be overreacting...

Of course that's not going to be the case, and things in the isolated barn get rapidly worse and worse once our creep from the pub, Kane and his weirdo brother show up - taking the girls captive, bashing, terrorising, shooting and generally causing a lot of mayhem all, it seems, in pursuit of something from the past.

So at this point, the plot's starting to wobble badly. Having said that, the pace remains breakneck, and to be frank, it's written as quite a page turner. Which made the reading experience just a little bit odd. It could undoubtedly be a scary book, although somewhere around the middle of the thing, everything that could happen, seemed to have happened - well apart from the ultimate question of who would "win" Jodie and friends, or the bad guys. Everyone had stepped into their allotted roles and played out their main pieces to camera, Jodie was the brave heroine fighting her past demons, aware of the threat. Her friends all took their role of doubting Thomas, some even taking on walking wounded to make Jodie's life just that little more complicated. Our tow truck driver went from possible threat to white knight, and the two bad guys were ... inconceivably and oddly bad. Violent, extreme, uncontrolled and yet, somehow, what could have happened to four women in this position never quite got way too bad. Having said that, there were four of them, two bad guys and a lot of cooking with frying pans.... there was something in the back of my brain that kept saying, okay girls, let's look at the odds here....

In BEYOND FEAR's defence, the tension didn't waver, and if you ignored the flashing neon warning signs about plot points, it was, on the surface a reasonable thriller, although it did rely a little too heavily on the madder than mad, big bad lunatic for the threat which is most definitely not a personal favourite. Perhaps another one of those thrillers which is just the thing for people who want something fast-paced, where the good people win regardless of how much they are doubted, how the mad and bad get their just desserts, even if it is in the nick of time and after rather a lot of rushing around and bleeding on all sides. It may even appeal particularly to those who are comfortable with the idea that the isolation of rural existence means that there's just got to be a lot of nasty weirdos lurking behind the nearest gum tree.
(less)

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Sep 22, 2012 Vicki rated it 4 of 5 stars

I quite unexpectedly enjoyed this book. It was one of those ones that kept me up late at night with the thought of 'just one more chapter'.
It was full of twists and turns that kept me intruiged. Not the usual genre I read so was expecting to get bored and thought it would be a bit predictable but it was everything but.

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Jan 29, 2013 Jacq rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked it... but found some parts of the story unbelievable – jarring me out of the narrative and having to start again...Some parts too fast, others too slow – I’d recommend this for a dark and stormy night while you’re warm by the fire...

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Mar 07, 2013 Catty rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: rc-books, owned, detective-thriller-horror

Nečítalo sa to zle, ale na triler to bolo dosť slabé. Žiadne prekvapenia, všetko predvídateľné, prvá polovica dokonca strašne nudná. Tá druhá bola o dosť lepšia, takže celkový dojem ako-tak zachránila.

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May 11, 2012 Alita rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller-mystery

Loved it! The characters were believable and felt comfortable. A great read to keep you guessing where it is heading.

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Feb 25, 2012 Blue Eyed Vixen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller, challenge-aussie-authors-with-a-twi, feb-2012-to-read

I had to juggle between 3 and 4 stars so bumped my rating up because it was definitely a solid 3+. I enjoyed this one which I read as part of the Australian-Authors-with-a-twist challenge I've been working through. Good storyline,however it was predictable and you know I like my stories with a twist! Not heavy at all on facts so I found myself at the end before I knew it. Conclusion had been guessed well before the summit. All in all still a very enjoyable read.

First book by an author that lives...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Wizzfizz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Reminiscent of a B-Grade horror film, with lots of running around in the dark and corny lines. Still, it had me turning pages past midnight, gave me a splitting stress headache and I now have no fingernails left to speak of.

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Apr 06, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

A super suspenseful book with an awesome strong female lead character. I thought the first part of the book setting the scene was actually creepier than the climax of the story. I think we've all been on that dark, country road late at night and wondered just what could happen if the wrong person came along.

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Aug 13, 2012 Annette rated it 5 of 5 stars

Love this book, could not put it down. Can't wait for the next book by Jaye Ford.

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Nov 16, 2012 Jasmine rated it 4 of 5 stars

wow. So deep and emotional! definitely gets readers hooked.

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Aug 05, 2012 Natalie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: suspense

Great Aussie suspense-thriller. Characters depicted well, tension kept building, and I was up till 1:00am reading. Will definitely read others by this author.

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May 02, 2013 Lisa Marie rated it 2 of 5 stars

The premise of this book was promising. It was well written with a strong and likable main character however from the middle it completely fell apart and became extremely unbelievable and I lost interest.

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Jan 21, 2013 BookWorm182 rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book because it seems like it starts off slow, like many other books do, but after a few pages you see that it isn't as slow-starting as you'd thought earlier.

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Feb 09, 2012 Maggie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-for-challenges, crime-mystery-suspense, aussie-authors

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 01, 2012 Ruth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, read2011

Nail biting, breath stopping thriller. Jaye's debut book and I couldn't put it down.

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May 20, 2013 Maťa Straková rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 18, 2013 Muhammad marked it as to-read

May 17, 2013 Melinda rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 11, 2013 Pluemo rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks

May 07, 2013 Jessica marked it as to-read

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About Jaye Ford

Jaye was born in Sydney in 1963 and grew up on the Northern Beaches before studying Communications in Bathurst, NSW.

She was a journalist for twelve years, working in radio, print and television in both news and sport. In 1988, she became the first woman to host a live national sport show in Australia, fronting Sport Report on SBS. She also presented evening news on Prime TV in Newcastle.

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