Don't Hurt Me

by Julia Derek

I had the perfect life with my devoted stay-at-home husband, great career, and beautiful daughter. Until my husband's obsession with perfection took a dark turn and I learned more about my sister-in-law's suspicious suicide.

I had only just gotten promoted to executive director at Morgan Stanley – one of the youngest ever – when I began to notice that something wasn't right in our house.

The walls change shades overnight. Coffee cups appear in strange places, always full and cold. And my husband Mark's obsession with perfection grows more disturbing by the day. An encounter with his schizophrenic father makes me question everything I thought I knew about their family. Mark’s father’s cryptic warnings about his daughter Rachel—whose supposed suicide a decade ago is shrouded in secrecy—suggest a darkness that goes beyond mental illness.

As I uncover the truth about Rachel's death, Mark’s increasingly erratic behavior begins to terrify me. Like his father, Mark seems to be losing his grip on reality—but I suspect something far more sinister than mental illness is at play when it comes to Mark. And that it’s the reason Rachel is dead.

But before I can do something about it, it’s too late…

Genres: Mystery, Thriller

244 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 27, 2025

About the author

Julia Derek is originally from Sweden and is a trainer by day and writer by night. She's the author of several mystery and thriller books.

Reviews

[Eirlys · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read

An unsettling book with such twists and turns that it kept me enthralled. It started so quietly with an almost perfect family, but things kept happening. This story certainly contained at least one twisted mind, chillingly so. The characters were well crafted, frighteningly so in fact.

[Alex | | findingmontauk1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty fast paced and quick chapters to help propel this one along, but I kind of wanted just a smidge more with the twist(s). It's one I have not seen too often, so I think it could have been exaggerated just a little more for the drama and scandal of it all. But still a super fun read that had me scratching my head and wanting to punch some people out! Will definitely look for more from Julia Derek and will be recommending this to my friends. More like a 3.5!

[Connie Goheen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting, couldn't put down!

[Sandi Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would recommend.

[MARY Stepp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

Enjoyed this book. Keeps you on your toes. Will definitely be reading more of this author's books. Keep putting out these books.

[Courtney-Louise✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know what I expected from this book, but it certainly wasn’t this!
It was quite slow but it picked up about 70-80% in and from there I just wanted to read and read to see what happens, and I can honestly say the ending made it for me.
At first, the characters in the book all seem like one big happy family but strange goings on in the house make Skyler question herself. Until her Daughter, Bella, starts talking about Other Daddy and she becomes confused. As the book progresses, we learn that her father, Mark has a twin brother. We also discover what happened to Rachel and who was actually behind it.
I feel like this book just had lots of twists which I love and it constantly had you guessing but it just took so long to get to the point.

[Brenda]

DNF at 24%. It has potential as a wife; Skyler starts to worry about her husband; Mark when subtle changes start to happen around their house; cold coffee cups found randomly around around the house and there is also the mystery surrounding Mark's sister; Rachel's death.

I couldn't continue as the writing style was starting to annoy me with certain phrases and words continuously repeated. Also both main characters were frustrating as neither would communicate properly with each other.

[Natalie Boland · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5-3 stars - had potential to be really good but couldn’t quite get there. Also some editorial mistakes that were slightly confusing. Good voice when she’s writing but the storyline just wasn’t quite there.

[Jerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up. First read by this author. The book was ok. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. The repetition was annoying but played into the Mark character. Didn't like the end at all. Overall it felt like a bad VC Andrew's book. Probably won't read more from the author.

[diannscollins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mental Illness

Mark punishes Skyler for her betrayal by gaslighting her with signs of mental illness on his part. She doesn't know if she is imagining things or not. I did not like the ending.

[Pat Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and kept me interested throughout. I would have given it a better rating if it didn't leave me hanging at the end. In order to finish this story the next book must be purchased. I enjoy reading book that ends at "the end".

[Nancy Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book had some good twists but somewhat predictable. Good characters. I found the ending disappointing and just left you hanging.

[Eileen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2+. I enjoyed reading this book but it ended rather abruptly.

[Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extensively gripping story that keeps you on the edge of your seat as it winds around the roads, satisfying your curiosity for the time being and keeping you vigilant past the very last page!

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

kept me guessing right til the very end and then I wouldn't have guessed.brilliant

[Judy Scaife · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting

I found the storyline extremely riveting and extremely hard to put down. What a twist. It was hard knowing what was going to happen next. Well recommended

[J Barkess · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor

I ploughed through this but it was much too drawn out and the ending was predictable. To save you wasting time Mark was the villan , ably assisted by Elenor