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Scared Yet?

by Jaye Ford (Goodreads Author)

4.13 of 5 stars 4.13 · rating details · 67 ratings · 17 reviews

When Liv Prescott fights off a terrifying assault in a deserted car park, the media hails her bravery, friends and colleagues congratulate her - but an anonymous admirer tells her she should be more careful. As police search for her attacker, her 'admirer's' advice turns to warnings, delivered to her home. Brave is not what she feels now: she's wary and suspicious and fear...more

Paperback, 454 pages

Published March 1st 2012 by Bantam Australia

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Mar 24, 2012 Helen McKenna rated it 5 of 5 stars

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

Wow, this book really packs a punch! It kept me engrossed from start to finish (and like a couple of the other reviewers I was up until the early hours because I just couldn't put it down).

Livia Prescott is an average single mother living and working in suburban Newscastle, when one night she is attacked while walking to her car in a dark, multi-storey carpark. Fortunately she has the strength and courage to fight back, and while shaken, she walks away relatively unscathed. Her friends and workm...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: aussie-author

Jaye Ford's newest release Scared Yet? came highly recommended on the heels of her successful debut, Beyond Fear. In this psychological thriller, Ford introduces her protagonist Livia Prescott, who is the victim of a terrifying assault. Though she is able to successfully thwart her attacker, who disappears in to the night, shortly afterward she becomes the focus of a disturbing and sustained campaign of harassment. When the man who assaulted her is captured, Liv is stunned that the harassment do...more Jaye Ford's newest release Scared Yet? came highly recommended on the heels of her successful debut, Beyond Fear. In this psychological thriller, Ford introduces her protagonist Livia Prescott, who is the victim of a terrifying assault. Though she is able to successfully thwart her attacker, who disappears in to the night, shortly afterward she becomes the focus of a disturbing and sustained campaign of harassment. When the man who assaulted her is captured, Liv is stunned that the harassment doesn't stop, in fact, the anonymous threats escalate and the unknown stalker begins to target her friends and loved ones. Liv is scared but with everyone she knows a suspect, who can she trust and what will happen when she trusts the wrong person?

Ford has created an admirable character in Liv who readers are immediately able to relate to. It has not been a good year for Liv, her once strong and stalwart father is dying, she is embroiled in a bitter relationship with her ex-husband and the business she owns with best friend Kelly, is teetering on the brink of collapse. Yet Liv doesn't give in when she is attacked in the carpark after a long day at work, she fights back, making use of her pent up anger and frustration, and the boxing skills learnt from her father. The description of the attack is harrowing, for most women the possibility of an attack lurks in the back of your mind when you cross a deserted car park and it is all too easy to imagine yourself in a similar situation. You can't help but cheer Liv on as she blackens the attackers eye and then draw in a pained breath as he slams her head into the car boot. In the aftermath of the assault, Liv relies on her anger to hold the fear at bay, declaring she wasn't scared in a media interview, until the notes begin arriving, delivered to her work, placed under the windshield of her car and even hand delivered to her son. Liv responds practically to the implied threat, informing the police and making her home more secure which is a relief, since all too often authors rely on their protagonists making inane choices to put them in even more danger. Despite Liv's precautions her stalker is determined to breach her defenses by targeting her friends, continually taunting her with notes asking "Are you scared yet, Liv?"
Of the secondary characters, I am wary of saying anything much for fear of accidentally revealing who is, and who isn't, a viable suspect. I did feel that Ford did a credible job in fleshing out the supporting cast, while ensuring they retained the necessary ambiguity. The only real flaw for me in the story was the behaviour of Jason, I just didn't think his behaviour fit with what we are told about him and his history with Liv. It's a difficult point to articulate without a a spoiler but had there been some sort of past related incident, his actions would have made more sense to me.

The careful plotting ensured I was kept guessing, though when the identity of the stalker was revealed I wondered why I hadn't seen it. It's to the author's credit that I was suspicious of almost everyone at one point or another.
Ford builds the tension masterfully as the situation escalates and the pool of suspects widens. The final confrontation between Liv and her stalker is explosive and the conclusion is satisfying.

Scared Yet? is a taut thriller that places an ordinary woman in extraordinary circumstances. I turned the pages compulsively and read the entire book in a little more than three hours (despite it being 454 pages long and 2am when I finished). My copy of the book is adorned with a money-back guarantee sticker from the publisher but I would be shocked if anyone made use of it. Scared Yet? is just what it promises, a stellar read - a fast-paced, entertaining and engrossing novel of suspense.(less)

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Jul 20, 2012 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Again Jaye Ford has captured that feeling that this could be real. You could feel the tension, the anger and the fear that Liv was going through. Was she paranoid and miss reading situations or was there a reason for her wariness? Who could she trust? What were people keeping from her, were their motives in Liv's best interest or was their agenda more sinister? Could she trust her instincts? By the end of the book Jaye Ford answers all these questions for us in what I think is a very believable...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Bree T rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime, suspense, thriller, australian, aww2012

Liv Prescott has worked back late and is heading to her car in a deserted multi-story carpark when she is attacked from behind. Liv however, is tall, close to six foot and the daughter of a former champion boxer. She manages to fight off her attacker, landing several blows on him before he flees at the sound of someone coming.

Liv is hailed as a hero, someone who fought back and won, showed this would-be attacker that she wasn’t weak, that she wouldn’t allow herself to give in. A reporter friend...more Liv Prescott has worked back late and is heading to her car in a deserted multi-story carpark when she is attacked from behind. Liv however, is tall, close to six foot and the daughter of a former champion boxer. She manages to fight off her attacker, landing several blows on him before he flees at the sound of someone coming.

Liv is hailed as a hero, someone who fought back and won, showed this would-be attacker that she wasn’t weak, that she wouldn’t allow herself to give in. A reporter friend of Liv’s from their university days does a story on her and everyone wants to congratulate her on fighting back, on not allowing herself to be a victim.

Then the notes start.

Notes warning her that she should be more careful. Notes warning her that she needs to pay attention. At first Liv thinks that the notes are from her attacker and she looks everywhere for a man who matches the vague description of the one that tried to grab her. She looks for me who will be sporting a black eye from the right hook she got in. She jumps at shadows, she doesn’t feel safe in her own home anymore. But the notes keep coming.

They threaten her friends, her family, their safety. Liv doesn’t know what to do anymore, the police have no leads and very little to go on. Whoever this person is, they know her whole routine, her home address, where her son plays his soccer games, who her friends are and where they are at any given time of the day. They focus around the fact that Liv wasn’t scared enough during the attack to freeze, that she fought back. They’re angry notes, notes that suggest a deep psychological issue and Liv doesn’t know where she can turn or who she can trust. Everyone around her is at risk and her entire life is falling apart right before her eyes.

Are you scared yet?

This is Australian author Jaye Ford’s second novel and after reading some fabulous reviews of her first, Beyond Fear, I picked this one up with a voucher my husband gave me for Mother’s Day way back in May. It sat in my TBR pile until my 1yo knocked that pile over for about the 60th time and when I put it back together, I changed the order and picked this one out on a whim. It’s set in Newcastle, where I lived for 4 years during my university days but really it could be set anywhere.

Liv is a recently separated woman in her mid-30s, mother of an 8yo and a small business owner with her longtime friend Kelly. Her confidence has been shattered and her pride has taken a battering from the breakdown of her marriage and the fact that her beloved father, who raised her alone, is terminally ill. The attack and the notes that come after it cause her to believe her life is spiraling out of control and give her cause to question everyone she knows, wondering how on earth this person could possibly know so much about her and what she does and where she is at any given point in time. The police seem almost useless, turning up occasionally or leaving instructions for Liv to drop off the latest note at her leisure. She repeatedly asks them how scared she should be, as the threats escalate only to be given vague responses when clearly the answer is “You should be extremely scared”. The one that thing that did bother me was once she was told she shouldn’t be that worried because the person was only warning her that they could do something but they hadn’t yet and they seemed more interested in hurting people close to her. That made me think that she should be more worried because it was nerve-wracking wondering who was going to be targeted next, especially as Liv had a very young son.

Liv’s physical attack is cut short when a man who works in the same building as her arrives in the car park. He runs a security firm and Liv asks him for help making sure her house is secure. Daniel is a former fire rescue team member now off the job due to a trauma and it seems like he’s taking Liv’s safety personally, checking her house to make sure it’s secure, popping by to make sure she’s ok, helping out with taking the notes to the police. I think Ford does an excellent job of building suspense in this novel, I was on tenterhooks most of the way through as the notes kept coming and the threat kept escalating. I loved how every facet of Liv’s life was penetrated until she no longer had any idea who she could trust (or who she could still trust) and I was utterly at a loss for most of the novel who the perpetrator was. The pacing was excellent, I never once felt like the story was flagging or that it had gone on too long. I had such sympathy for Liv, I think being stalked like that would be absolutely horrific and when you no longer feel safe in your own home, there’s not much left for you to take comfort in. To spend days, nights, weeks, tortured like she was by the smallest noise, her stress levels were so accurately portrayed. I really felt like I was living this nightmare along with her.

I hope I’m never stalked because if this was an accurate portrayal of police investigation, there’s really almost nothing they can do!(less)

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Nov 21, 2012 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: australian, review-books, thriller, ebook

SCARED YET? is the second, standalone, psychological thriller from Jaye Ford. In this outing, readers are introduced to a woman who suddenly finds herself in a fight for her life against an unknown assailant for an unknown reason. When things escalate to her friends and loved ones, Liv doesn't know who to trust.

There is a lot that's not going well in Liv's life, and somewhere within all those problems, is the answer to who and why the harassment steadily ramps up. Because of the maelstrom surrou...more SCARED YET? is the second, standalone, psychological thriller from Jaye Ford. In this outing, readers are introduced to a woman who suddenly finds herself in a fight for her life against an unknown assailant for an unknown reason. When things escalate to her friends and loved ones, Liv doesn't know who to trust.

There is a lot that's not going well in Liv's life, and somewhere within all those problems, is the answer to who and why the harassment steadily ramps up. Because of the maelstrom surrounding her there are a lot of possible suspects. A bitter relationship with her ex-husband is the starting point, a knight in shining armour that shows up on the scene surprisingly quickly, the husband of her best friend and business partner. Then there's the business itself - teetering on the edge of failure, there seems to be secrets that her best friend Kelly is holding back. All in all, about the only person that seems to be 100% on Liv's side is her dying father, he of ex-boxing fame, and hence her own physical ability to fight back during that dreadful moment in the carpark.

There's quite a bit to like about Liv, particularly as there's a refreshing lack of fem-jep behaviour. Instead, there is the ever increasing sense of terror and tension that builds as the stalker continues to taunt with his little notes, and as whoever it is widens his threats to her friends and family.

The plot is carefully constructed around that build of tension, and whilst the final identity of the stalker is telegraphed, there's more than enough going on around that to really make the reader wonder, along with Liv, who to trust and where to turn. Part of the success of the book is that there is a real ability for readers to connect, and empathise with Liv. She's very believable and somebody that lots of people are going to be cheering loudly for.

SCARED YET? is a good thriller, fast-paced, peopled with believable characters who do believable and very real things in response to unreal circumstances. It's a chillingly frightening scenario that is all the more threatening because it feels exactly like something that could happen to ordinary people. The empathy comes from the reader's awareness that anybody could suddenly find themselves dealing with the unexpected, looking for a way to cope and fight back. Liv's reactions and behaviour feel exactly like something, in the heat of the moment, you'd hope you would have a red hot go at for yourself.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
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Mar 19, 2012 Rachael Johns rated it 5 of 5 stars

I cannot remember the last book I read that had me staying up until the early hours of the morning when I KNEW I had a busy day ahead and kids that'd be up at the crack of dawn.

The last book before Jaye Ford's SCARED YET, that is. I started this book Saturday morning and finished it in the early hours of the morning today!! Let me just explain, that I'm not the fastest of readers at the moment, because most of my free time is spent writing, so I maybe read one book a week.

This is the story of a...more

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Jun 07, 2012 Brenda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: aussie-authors, 2012-release, own-read

After a long day at work, Livia Prescott was heading to her car in the deserted undercover carpark, when she was attacked by a dark figure, dressed all in black. Drawing on her past training under her father’s tutorage, she fought back. When Daniel Beck, who worked in an adjacent office, appeared, he scared her attacker off, and called an ambulance for her.

Liv was black and blue, with a broken finger from where she’d jabbed him in the face, but she felt good to have beaten whoever it was. She ha...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Jenn J. McLeod rated it 5 of 5 stars

Couldn’t put it down. No, not an overused cliché but a fact. This book is every bit as fabulous as Jaye’s debut novel – Beyond Fear. A clever book from a clever author who knows how to keep readers guessing until the very end.

Scared Yet? throws one ordinary woman into one extraordinary week of fear and uncertainly as she deals with the fallout of a faceless stalker who has her questioning everything and everyone she trusts. And all the while the notes keep arriving. ARE YOU SCARED YET, LIVIA? Br...more

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May 11, 2012 Alita rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller-mystery

I really enjoyed this read, had to finish it quickly to find out who the stalker was.

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Jan 12, 2013 Annette rated it 5 of 5 stars

loved it

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Aug 16, 2012 Trish rated it 5 of 5 stars

Could not put it down

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Apr 30, 2012 Charley rated it 5 of 5 stars

LOVED IT! I did not pick the stalker at all and was enthralled right until the end. Highly recommended.

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Jun 22, 2012 Tarnia Patton rated it 3 of 5 stars

Although I enjoyed this story, I found it was quite predicable and I could nearly tell exactly what was going to happen before it did!

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Apr 14, 2012 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Enjoyed this one as well. Easy to read but still retains your attention

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Sep 14, 2012 Nomie rated it 3 of 5 stars

pretty good but I was right about who the criminal was. Good to read a crime book that doesn't start out with a body.

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Nov 23, 2012 Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: signed-books, could-not-put-down, own-read

Review to come shortly.

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Jun 10, 2013 Grace marked it as to-read

Jun 05, 2013 Jacqui rated it 3 of 5 stars

May 24, 2013 Angie Trianta added it

May 17, 2013 Jessica marked it as to-read

Shelves: thriller, mystery, crime, fiction

May 17, 2013 Melinda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 19, 2013 Pauline Nilsson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 19, 2013 Tiziana Russo marked it as to-read

Apr 16, 2013 Kath rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 13, 2013 Kellie Van rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 01, 2013 Kira marked it as to-read

Apr 01, 2013 Raven Paramour marked it as to-read

Mar 26, 2013 Dianne Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mar 16, 2013 Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mar 04, 2013 Samantha rated it 3 of 5 stars

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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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