Cruelly imprisoned in her own home, a successful novelist must use all of her imagination to stay alive.
Recovering from a road accident that has left her half-blind and in a wheelchair, Belle Hammer is alone in her secluded house set in a sprawling ten-acre plot, deep in the forests beyond Perth, Australia.
Her husband having left on a work trip, and living miles away from urban centres, Belle has only a few neighbours. And one of them, the creepy retired lecturer Arthur Howell, she doesn’t trust one bit .
Was it Howell who was seen in the grounds of her house? Did he make the noise she hears in the inaccessible first floor of her home?
Unable to travel, Belle is cut off from the world. Her only hope is the home care assistant her husband arranged for her. But all is not as it seems. Left to the mercy of a woman she increasingly fears, Belle’s world starts to close in on her.
It will take all of her wits and courage to understand why she is being victimised and survive the ensuing ordeal. If she does.
Vengeance Blind is the latest thriller by Australian author Anna Willet. Her other books, in order of publication, are:
So this author can tell a damn good story and knows how to write. This had loads of suspense and no clear direction as to where things were headed, which just added to the experience here. Needless to say, it grabbed me and kept me hooked. I didn’t necessarily love our main character, Belle, but she was tolerable enough, mostly due to her sustained injuries. The other characters were entertaining, and whether you liked or hated them, they kept your attention. Georgia gave off some serious Max Cady vibes and was excellent as the crazed, yet cerebral antagonist. Now there were a few loose ends that were not tied up by the very end with Guy and Arthur, and I feel like the story could have cut fifty pages off and been just as efficient. Even with the nonstop, nailbiting situations, I felt myself just getting bored with some of the repetitiveness. I hope that doesn’t come across like I’m bashing the story, which I assure you that I’m not. But things could have just been sped up and shortened in a few spots, and literally nothing would have been hurt by doing so. This is my first book from Anna Willett and I look forward to many more.
Belle, our protagonist, is home alone convalescing and with her husband away, Georgia, a nurse, was employed to care for her; however, from their very first meeting, it’s patently obvious there’s something fundamentally wrong with Georgia.
What follows seemed simple while being a tad unconvincing but regardless of my complete ambivalence, it’s clear the author knows how to tell a story. I only wish it hadn’t been quite so...what’s the word?...boring.
The shocking car accident had left writer Belle Hammer confined to a wheelchair as her shattered knee healed, as well as the damage to her eye which was still painful. Her husband Guy needed to head to New Zealand for work which would leave Belle unable to manage on her own, so he organized for a live in caregiver to stay with Belle until he returned. Belle also had her next door neighbour, Arthur Howell’s phone number if she needed help, but she was wary of him.
When Lea, the caregiver, arrived at their isolated property outside Perth, it wasn’t long before Belle became uneasy. But the sly and subtle moves made by Lea began to make Belle feel she was losing her mind. What was happening? And when Arthur arrived, knocking on the door, the women were fearful. But was Arthur a danger to them both? Or were both he and Belle victims? And why had Belle been targeted? Where was Guy when she needed him?
Vengeance Blind by Aussie author Anna Willett is a fast paced, intense and chilling thriller which had my heart in my mouth at times. The amazing fortitude that some people have when faced with their demons shone through; Belle had courage while in pain and disabled. An excellent read, Vengeance Blind is one I recommend highly.
Writer Belle Hammer now spends her days in a wheelchair after a horrific car accident that has left long-lasting injuries. When Belle’s husband, Guy leaves for a work trip he organises a live in-home carer knowing that Belle is unable to care for herself. Their ten-acre property in the forrest of Perth is quite secluded, but Belle know she can also call her neighbour Arthur Howell if she needed any help, but Bell didn’t trust him.
When Lea the live in-home care assistant arrives at Belle’s property she starts to feel uneasy, but as time passes the feeling doesn’t subside in fact it gets worse and it’s obvious that not all is as it seems with this woman and Belle is feeling more than uneasy she is quite fearful. Belle must keep a level head, but being so isolated and not able to drive she is very vulnerable and she has no idea as to why all of this was happening and was Lea the only one she should be fearful of?
Blind Vengeance by Aussie author Anna Willett is a page-turner and will have readers on the edge of their seats. If you enjoy reading gripping thrillers then this one is for you. Highly recommended.
This is the second book I have read by this author and I enjoyed it a bit more than the first being Backwoods Ripper. In this book Belle is a successful author who has recently been in a horrific car crash that has left her wheelchair bound and requiring assistance. Her husband Guy, appears to have just received his first big break as an actor so sets off overseas having arranged a live-in carer to come and stay with Belle. The carer arrives after Guy has already left to catch his flight, and Belle's home is located in rural Western Australia where neighbours are scarce and distant. From the get go, Belle feels that something is NQR with the carer and soon her life becomes a living nightmare. The suspense and tension did keep me hooked in, but there were some flaws in the storyline and to me it just didn't ring true. I am however still intrigued to see how the authors storytelling may have developed.
Setting: near Perth, Western Australia. Published author Belle Hammer lives in an isolated house in the forests beyond Perth. She has few neighbours, one of whom - Arthur Howell - gives her the creeps although her husband Guy gets on well with him. When Guy at last gets his big break in films, he has to fly to New Zealand for filming, leaving Belle on her own. Normally, this would be okay but Belle is in a wheelchair, recovering from a road traffic accident which left her with a shattered kneecap and a damaged eye. Guy arranges for a care agency to provide someone to live in whilst he is away to help Belle out - but the care worker who arrives starts to give Belle cause for concern and she soon finds herself totally at her mercy. Meanwhile, Guy is receiving threatening text messages from a girl he recently had a fling with...... The tension and threat level in the book is pretty much there right from the start and gets more 'edge-of-your-seat' as the story progresses, if that is possible. I thought I had it all worked out only to find the mystery was something totally different. Great storyline and probably the best of this author's work I have read so far, albeit the others were pretty good too! Nearly gave it 4 stars rather than 5 but couldn't really fault it so had to be 5 stars - 9.5/10.
2.5 stars. I can't believe all the five star reviews. Maybe I have read too many thrillers but this was unbelievably predictable. Apart from knowing how the story would pan out, it was kind of suspenseful. And I did finish it just to see if and how anyone would be killed. Again - predictable. This is my least favourite of Anna Willett's books so far and possibly my last.
I’ve read a bunch of books by this author – they frequently come up as Kindle freebies and usually are of a pretty good quality, at least for Kindle freebies. This one was pretty much on the same level too…well, maybe the lower levels of that level, anyway. A famous writer recovering from a terrible car crash is housebound and more or less helpless. The writer’s younger slut of a spouse has to go away on a movie shoot, so he hires her some help. The carer turns out to be something of a nightmare. Let the battle for survival begin. The author got a bunch of things right in this book, the main one being the claustrophobic perspective of the main character, trapped in her own place, by her own physical limitations, stuck depending on an increasingly unhinged and dangerous person with an agenda of her own. The carer/cared-for battle might have used more juice, had the carer character been realized with as much detail as the main protagonist, but it’s still reasonably compelling. The cheating actor Guy actually does have some nuance to him – he genuinely loves his wife, he’s just a scummy person. A fairly straight forward story, reads quickly. The overall effect is somewhat cheapened by the much too cute and much too schmaltzy of an ending, but a pretty decent read all the same. The tone of the book doesn’t match the tone of the cover and vice versa. Plus, it’s always nice to armchair visit Australia, if only for the nature.
Recovering from a road accident that has left her half-blind and in a wheelchair, Belle Hammer is alone in her secluded house set in a sprawling ten-acre plot, deep in the forests beyond Perth, Australia. Her husband having left on a work trip, and living miles away from urban centres, Belle has only a few neighbours. And one of them, the creepy retired lecturer Arthur Howell, she doesn’t trust one bit….
Unable to travel, Belle is cut off from the world. Her only hope is the home care assistant her husband arranged for her. But all is not as it seems. Left to the mercy of a woman she increasingly fears, Belle’s world starts to close in on her. It will take all of her wits and courage to understand why she is being victimised and survive the ensuing ordeal. If she does.
My Thoughts /
I am having an internal debate with myself on how to present this review. Sometimes I think that I either love a book or hate a book and there is no middle ground. So maybe I should just begin by saying, this one was not for me, and you can choose whether or not to continue reading my review.
Now, the main character, Belle Hammer (writer and author), is recovering from a serious car accident that has left her confined to a wheelchair as a result of her injuries sustained in the accident. She is left home alone after her husband, Guy, left for an extended trip to appear in a film. But, there’s nothing to worry about, because Guy has arranged for his wife to have a caregiver from a local nursing agency come stay with her and care for her. But the caregiver isn’t who she seems to be and Belle finds herself trapped in a nightmare that she may not survive.
There are so many five star reviews for this book, and I so wanted it to be for me too, as one of my goals for 2020 was to increase my read and to-be read list with books written by Australian Authors. Was this book a nail-biting suspense(?) alas, for me, it was not. A gripping thriller(?), ah nope, not even close. Let me tell you that I found myself wanting to shout at (Belle), the unfortunate woman in the wheelchair, for most of the time during this story. I am sorry (not sorry) to say that I found her unbearable. She didn’t care about anyone or anything but herself. She was devoid of empathy and totally selfish and I have to stop talking about her now as my blood pressure is already rising! If you are after an absolute gripping/nail-biting page turner look elsewhere, but if you are after a good night’s sleep feel free to download a copy – I’m sure you’ll be bored to sleep in no time.
Based on the four of her novels I’ve read, author Anna Willett seems to specialize in writing about women in peril in Western Australia. Her books could be novelizations of movies on the Lifetime channel.
Just before Vengeance Blind begins, Belle Hammer, age 39, had been badly injured in an auto accident, is helplessly confined to a wheelchair, and is in need of a caregiver while her unfaithful younger husband Guy, an aspiring actor and professional lout, flies off to New Zealand to appear in his first film.
The caregiver who appears at their door soon after Guy departed for the airport had lost a leg in her own auto accident. You might think that would have made her empathetic instead of spending the entire book terrorizing and tormenting Belle; but you would be wrong.
There’s a connection that’s eventually revealed between their accidents to explain the caregiver’s hostility, but if you have ever seen a movie on the Lifetime channel you can bet it’s the husband’s fault.
Adding to the hilarity, a hapless neighbor named Arthur also fell into the clutches of the caregiver, but it was neither entertaining nor enlightening to read how she brutalized and tortured Arthur and Belle for 200 pages.
So why award this awful story two stars instead of one? Because there was a detail about Arthur that was as bewildering as it was amusing.
As the book opens, we learn that Belle only had two neighbors on her lane: Arthur and a widow named Joan, some distance away. Both Arthur and Joan lived alone and Belle had little contact with them.
Belle also had a visceral dislike for Arthur, who made her uncomfortable the way he looked at her. According to factually correct local gossip, Arthur had been a lecturer at a university before he was dismissed for giving a student half his age good grades in exchange for her sexual favors.
Belle’s instincts about Arthur were not wrong. Unknown to her, Arthur had converted a room in his house as a shrine to her, filled with her photos pinned to his walls. He even named a pet bird after her. Arthur’s obsession with Belle was both pathetic and creepy.
After the ordeal with the caregiver was over, Belle, Arthur and Joan bonded together and became good friends, but Joan, who knew about Arthur’s shrine, never said anything about it to Belle, and despite his bizarre behavior, she began feeling attracted to Arthur herself.
Like I said, bewildering and amusing, pathetic and creepy.
Another gripping thriller from Anna Willets. The tension is unrelenting. Right from the beginning, there are hints that all in not going to go well, just a feeling of impending doom hidden in the first chapter. After that it is a maelstrom of misfortune, bad timing and plain out evil.
There are many threads in this novel, and each time it seems that you have it all worked out there is another bump in the road and more hidden secrets are hinted at and more guilt is exposed. From the very beginning Belle is shown as vulnerable, damaged and in need of care. Her past has been blighted, her present is difficult, and the immediate future is absolutely ghastly from the moment that she is left alone until… …
Each time help seems to be at hand there is another drama, another disaster, there were actually times I spoke aloud, ‘No don’t do that’
As in her other novels Anna is able to use the flora and fauna of Australia to give us an idea of what this strange land is like away from the Opera House and the Bridge, it’s different from anything I have experienced and the descriptive passages are enticing – well they would be if it wasn’t for those spiders that hide under the toilet seats – there are none of those in this book but one always has the idea that in Australia they are not far away. Joking aside – I was enthralled by this book.
You may be paranoid, but it’s possible that there really is someone out to get you. Anna Willett spins out a tale so filled with tension and suspense that the reader is never sure when to take a breath. Belle, an author who is recovering from a serious car accident that has confined her to a wheelchair, is home alone in her secluded residence in Australia. Her husband, Guy, just left for an extended trip to appear in a film being shot in New Zealand. But there’s nothing to worry about, because Guy has arranged for Belle to have a caregiver from a local nursing agency come stay with her and care for her. But the caregiver isn’t who she seems to be and Belle finds herself trapped in a nightmare that she may not survive. Along the way, Willett gives us insights into the characters’ history, and in some cases, their most hidden and frightening thoughts, to the point where sometimes the reader wonders where reality ends and the characters’ fantasies begin. But throughout the ordeal, there is a never-ending sense of fear. This is horror in the true sense – the longing for safety amid constant danger. The story reminds me of Stephen King’s classic, Misery, but this story is not at all derivative. The sense of interminable horror, however, is similar. Don’t read this book before bed – you won’t be able to sleep soundly.
It took a little while for this book to grab me. While the main character was obviously suffering, the minor character of her husband was just so self-involved it was off-putting. The action soon picked up, and I will admit, alarm bells started ringing in my head. I kept trying to figure out what was going on, but I was deliciously being led astray by the plot. The climax was gripping, and I found it hard to put it down. The final reveal literally shocked me, but I would have preferred more of a resolution. I will have to read more by this author.
I'm sorry, but can someone tell me why Arthur's shrine to Belle was never revealed by Joan? Like, shouldn't Joan make that information known to Belle, especially if the three of them are going to be best friends, AND with Joan apparently harboring feelings for him (which is gross considering she's the one who found his shrine)?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was a great read from Anna Willett. Filled with tension from the off, I found myself wanting to shout at the unfortunate woman in the wheelchair at various times - but of course to no avail.
This is a twisty, tense tale that deserves more than 5 starts - don't miss it!!!!!
This poor woman is hurt and has to rely on the help of a in home nurse to help while her husband is away in business. But who is this nurse. It will have you on the edge of your seat wanting to help and wanting to know what happens next. Great read.
I enjoyed the way the author built up slowly to the main plot point in this novel, however from the beginning it was not difficult to guess the direction the story was going to take.
It was challenging to understand the motivations of some characters, and their inclusion in the plot felt forced at times.
The final couple of chapters did not feel completely necessary and felt stretched out.
It was an interesting read and was entertaining enough that it was difficult to put down, however it was ultimately a predictable story.
A dark tale of Belle, a woman incapacitated in an accident and left in the hands of a murderous vengeful "carer" Lea/Georgia by her self centred hedonistic husband Guy (who is responsible for Georgia's condition) and saved by the most unlikely of heroes in the form of her neighbours Arthur (who she really doesn't trust), and widowed Joan who she hardly knows. After the event she forms a bond with them and dumps the husband who is mostly the cause of her problems. If you are prone to depression don't read this otherwise, enjoy.
A married couple, one a famous writer. The other, her husband, an actor. He was a drunk, cheater, and run down a young lady, and left her for dead in the road. His wife, got into a car accident. He got a role in a film,and went out of town. Guy, hired a carer to take care of his wife. She was not who Belle thought she was. Sometimes, another person's bad acts, come back on the wrong person.
First book I've read from Anna Willett I was pleasantly surprised this was a great book one of the best I've read in a long time when I realized I was coming to the end I was actually a little sad as I didn't want it to end its a book when you think you know what's going to happen only to be wrong I will definitely be reading other books from thus great author
This book throws you straight into it. you know immediately the husband is packing to go on a trip. There's going to be trouble, and there definitely is plenty f that.
Sí, es entretenido y se lee rápido. Pero es muy predecible, quedan cosas sin explicar que hubieran sido más interesantes para la historia. Hay capítulos sobre el marido y al final ni aparece. Hay toda una movida re turbia con Arthur y al final son amigos (?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I have read many Anna Willett books and thoroughly enjoyed them. This one, however, left me bored. The ending wasn’t what I expected, but the journey to get there wasn’t very interesting. I didn’t really like either Belle or Guy.
A great suspense/thriller which starts fast and strong. The plot seemed so realistic it was definitely creepsville. Definitely would read more from this author.
This was a good fast read and was certainly chilling. I wondered how the author would pull off a scary trapped tale in the Western Australian countryside, but Anna Willed did it brilliantly.
Willett is up to her usual tricks in this creepy suspenseful title about a woman imprisioned in her own home. The suspense gradually ratchets up to an explosive finale. Hard to put down, with a nice little reveal that will surprise and please the reader.