Hope's Vengeance

by Ricki Thomas

Hope is a woman like no other. She is a pocket dynamo, a bundle of energy, drive and ambition. But underneath the surface Hope is hurting and as her self-esteem sinks ever lower she finally seeks some answers to the questions she cannot even begin to ask. As Hope's counsellor, Dawn is unprepared for the rollercoaster ride that Hope will take her on. For Hope is not a force to be taken on lightly and it will take all of Dawn's professionalism and skill to guide Hope through to recovery and understanding. As Dawn increasingly suspects that there have been dark times in Hope's past that not even she can recall, the relationship between client and counsellor becomes more strained and dangerous. For the more Hope recalls and understands the more dangerous she becomes, not only towards those who wronged her, but to the people she loves and to herself.

286 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2009

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ricki Thomas is a writer who through her published psychological thrillers, is well proven as a significant authority into understanding the mind of a serial killer, following a lifetime study of true crime. Hope’s Vengeance is somewhat different as this is a victims story, and is told in a way that only someone as psychology-grounded as Ricki Thomas can unfold.
This story examines the complexity of a victim of abuse and the injury to their mind. Even with the best support from family or professionals, the victim’s scars are not apparent and all might seem well, because they may be hidden away so deeply that the victim cannot truly access the full extent of the harm that has been done. If the damage does come to the surface it will take more than a sticking plaster in order to heal. Therapy will mean uprooting an unimaginable amount of pain in order for the victim to move on with their life. That depends if the therapist can penetrate the protective barriers that the victim will emplace, making the process a long and arduous task for both victim and therapist.
The dynamics of victim and her therapist Dawn, is explored in Hope’s Vengeance with many of the chapters covering the sessions that took place with unpredictable consequences.The counselling sessions framed the storyline well. In true Ricki Thomas style this is dark and sinister and illustrates the impact it has on the therapist who becomes more embroiled in Hope’s situation than she ought to be.
Hope’s Vengeance had me gripped from start to finish. When I wasn’t reading, I spent a lot of time thinking about the plight of a victim. It’s a powerfully emotive story and has had a lasting impact on me as a reader.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

This psychological thriller begins with promise, but the prose style is cumbersome. Many characters, such as Dawn, lack credibility and the final stage of the book is unconvincing.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book for my kindle after reading a number of reviews saying how amazing it was. It had quite a few 5 out of 5s. Maybe for this reason I was set up for disappointment.

To be fair, I couldn't put it down for most of it. However, I just didn't care about any of the characters. Infact I really disliked the main character, Hope. The idea of telling the story through counselling sessions was very good but this soon got lost in the story. It was as if the author started out with one idea but lost the direction she was going in.

At one point it seemed to be taking a supernatural approach which switched to a did he/did he not do it story. There were so many story lines within it that were not finished that I was left feeling deeply unsatisfied....

Towards the end, the story was so ridiculous I nearly stopped reading it but felt I couldn't give up having persevered for so long.

This was the first book by ricki Thomas that I've ever read and sadly it may be my last.