The Other Boy by Heidi Field

One By One by Chris Carter (Robert Hu... The Missing Links of Tannadee by Maur...

The Other Boy by Heidi Field

When the worst comes calling…

Scott and Blair Bagby are a happy, successful English couple living in the suburbs with their teenage son and Great Dane. Life seems good, until one beautiful spring morning when a detective inspector knocks on their door asking if their son is home, unleashing an unspeakable horror that blows apart the life they thought they had.

Police have discovered bodies buried deep in the Peasedale forest and the inspector suspects one is Jamie, the final victim of a brutal and prolific serial killer.

#TheOtherBoy X(Twitter) @HeidiField11 @TulePublishing @ZooloosBT #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour #booktwitter
Instagram #heidifield @tulepublishing @zooloosbooktours #bookstagram #theotherboy

But Jamie’s death is unlike all the others, starting with his emergency phone call that leads to a macabre burial ground near a dilapidated hunting shack and creates shocking suspicions.

With bone deep grief threatening to destroy their marriage and their sanity, Scott and Blair set out to investigate Jamie’s death, a journey that not only upends their perceptions of who they are, but torturously reveals they may not have known Jamie at all…

My Review

Such an emotional read. When Scott and Blair Bagby find out that their fifteen-year-old son Jamie was murdered, and that his death led to the discovery of twelve other bodies buried in Peasedale woods, what else could it be?

But Jamie’s death was different from the other boys. The media of course are trying to suggest that he was the killer’s accomplice, but his parents refuse to believe this. He was a lovely, kind boy, a bit of a loner, but he would never have harmed anyone.

Mum Blair totally falls apart, while dad Scott is more in denial. Their relationship is at breaking point. Blair sees Jamie all the time, claiming that he talks to her. She knows it’s in her head, but rather than seek grief counselling, she takes loads of pills which put her in a permanent stupor. And she also claims to see the ‘other boy’, the one who always has his hood up, and appears to be stalking her. Scott never sees him though and thinks he is another figment of her imagination.

Then it starts to change. Following a road accident, Blair begins to seek help at last. But she and Scott still want to know what really happened and whether their beloved boy was in some way involved. At this point the story picks up pace as they start to pull it all together. The other boy really exists, and frightening things begin to happen. Can they continue and stay safe?

Of course they don’t go to the police, afraid they will be accused of hiding evidence, but I would have done so straight away, but then there would be no story, or the terrifying climax. A great read, but not exactly full of laughs.

Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Heidi Field was raised in the beautiful countryside of the South of England with her parents and her two sisters. In her twenties she was a freelance Sports Massage Therapist. She achieved a Degree in Zoology at the age of thirty and then went on to raise two boys and became the stepmother of three more young children. She still lives near her family home with her partner, their Great Dane and the children that have yet to fly the nest.

In her early forties Heidi completed a Masters in Creative Writing at Winchester University. She entered the course hoping she would become a children’s fantasy writer and left with a burning desire to write contemporary mysteries and thrillers.

Heidi wanted to put relatable people in extraordinary situations, challenge them, push them to their limits and watch them fight for their sanity. The Other Boy is her first novel.