| Title | : | Payback |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 309 |
| Publication | : | First published January 9, 2020 |
In 1997 teenager Sophie White and her three girlfriends decide they want to lose their innocence before summer is over.
Roping in her childhood buddy Gareth and his mates, Sophie holds a party to get 'the deed' over and done with, but the night doesn’t end as planned.
Twenty years later, the group are brought back together when Gareth is killed in a car accident and Sophie begins receiving threatening messages. It seems the party wasn’t as
innocent as everyone thought and now someone wants payback.
A gripping, highly addictive game of cat and mouse where the past comes back with vengeance.
Payback Reviews
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5☆ A Twisty and Gripping Thriller, with an Engrossing and Gritty Plot. An Unputdownable Must Read!
Payback is a Gripping, Engrossing and Taut Thriller that i devoured in two nights I struggled to put it down!
Wow! What a Taut and Thrilling Read.
It literally kept me on tender hooks the whole time!
I loved how page by page it ramped up the tension until it became impossible to know who to trust.
At times it was really chilling it felt almost like i was reading a psychological thriller.
So many secrets just when I thought I sussed things out another curve ball was thrown into the mix.
I'm not going to discuss the plot in too much detail as the blurb pretty much tells you what you need to know.
But don't be fooled! This story is so much more!
Yes it's about a group of teenage friends who plan to lose their virginity together, not literally incase your picturing an orgy lol
But something happens that night that no one is aware of. Someone is keeping dark secrets.
Fast forward several years, the friends as you do, move on and drift apart. But the death of one of them brings them back in contact.
As sinister things start to happen... Anonymous Cards with threats appear, a dead rat on the doorstep,.... just who is behind the threats and why?
What happened that night?
As Secrets have a way of slipping out and Truths are revealed the threats start escalating and so does the danger level.
Can they find out who is behind the threats before someone else dies!
This is my first book by Gemma Rogers and I'm so glad I discovered her book. I can't wait to read more.
Her writing is gritty, pacy, easy to read, flows along seamlessly and the chapters are short and snappy just how I like them.
The Characters are Perfectly Written and evoked the right emotions you expect from this genre. Some Characters I really liked, others not so much. Sophie the main character drove me insane at times but if I was being stalked I guess I might be irrational like her!
What I did really enjoy was that the chapters were written in past and present, it was easy to follow and very relevant to the plot.
It gave a nice build up as the reader gets to discover the lead up to how and why Sophie and her friends are being stalked.
Which also helped to create that chilling atmospheric pressure that kept on building.
I loved all the cleverly plotted twists and turns galore, I seriously thought I had things sussed then a cheeky curve ball I didn't see coming was thrown into the mix.
It wasn't till nearly the end I worked it out. Which I appreciated as I don't like it when things are revealed too soon.
If you love Twisty Thrillers that are gripping, a lil bit chilling and sinister at times, keep you guessing, have an Engrossing Plot, then
Payback is the Must Read Book For You!
Gemma Rogers is definitely going on my Authors to watch out for list!
Thank you to Boldwood Books for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
My Review is also on my Blog Website :-
https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/2020/0... -
Thank you Boldwood Books and NetGalley for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Payback
By: Gemma Rogers
*REVIEW* 🌟🌟🌟🌟
When you were in high school, did you have a core group of friends? Did you make pacts to do things that you now realize were actually reckless or really stupid? Told in past and present perspectives, we meet Sophie White and her friends in 1997 as they make a deal to all lose their innocence before their last year of school. When all is said and done, one couple in this group will not discuss the true happenings of the fateful night when innocence was lost, but why they remain tight lipped is unknown. Then, we see Sophie White in present day. I won't give too much away, but recent strange and deadly events point to that night in Sophie's past. What really happened? As Sophie gets in touch with her friends from 1997, details begin to surface about the truth, and it's clear someone wants payback. The question is why and why now? Justice? Revenge? Regardless, the secrets held by the past have resurfaced to haunt those involved. This story is a thrilling and suspenseful read with twists and turns aplenty. I enjoyed the guessing game of who did what back then. Sophie is an interesting character with genuine flaws and characteristics. My overall impression of Payback is favorable, and I recommend it for fans of mystery, suspense and drama. -
Sophie is being stalked by someone from her past. She had made a pact with her friends twenty years ago. They thought it was a good idea to loose their virginity to each other on the same night. Her dad was an estate agent so Sophie takes the keys to an empty house. But Sophie lost touch with her friends, she was the only one who hadn't moved away. She eventually takes over her dads business when he retires. But things start happening that have links to the ight twenty years ago.
The story goes back and forward in time from 1970 to the present day. Things start happening, the first eing someone getting killed in a road accident. This is a tense and gripping read with plenty of twists to keep you guessing. I did guess correctly where this story was going ut it did not spoil the book. I read this book in one sitting. This is my first read by the author but it wont be my last.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Boldworld Books and the author Gemma Rogers for my ARC in exchange for an honest review. -
Payback is a gripping new thriller by Gemma Rogers.
As a teenager Sophie White organized a party for her and her friends to lose their virginity to their guy pals. Twenty years later, the group gathers after the death of one of the guys, Gareth. His car accident is followed by threatening notes being sent to Sophie. How did a pact made as teens lead to a campaign of harassment after twenty years? Someone wants vengeance, but who? Sophie is scared but determined to find the culprit.
Payback is a real thriller, revealed through shifting timelines (1997/2018) from the perspective of the main character, Sophie. Flashbacks can be tricky and confusing but Ms Rogers handles them seamlessly with appropriate chapter headers. I was totally engrossed and didn’t want to put the book down. The characters are strong, vibrant and well-developed with complete backstories. The suspenseful plot kept me guessing, incorrectly, until the very end. I loved it and rate it 5 out of 5 stars. If you like thrillers, grab this one and prepare to be intrigued.
My thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. However, the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine and mine alone. -
This is not only a terrific thriller it’s also a great nostalgic trip to the 90’s. Any book that has a dual timeline I normally favour one over the other, not the case here at all. The mention of Rimmel Heather Shimmer did bring a smile to my face, although it was late 80’s when I wore it being a decade older than Sophie the protagonist.
I really liked Sophie and you don’t understand why she is being targeted. Yes she made some mistakes but what teenager doesn’t? But as it flicks back and forth you learn more of what happened that fateful night and more potential suspects come to the fore. I was guessing nearly everyone at some point.
The pace is great right from the start but towards the end the tension mounts until the denouement when all is revealed. I did guess who was behind it all but in no way did it spoil my enjoyment.
The only criticism I have strangely enough is the cover. I see this type of cover mostly on gangland thrillers and I personally would lose the woman. -
Didnot want to put this book down, it kept me turning the pages just so I could read more, it didnot disappoint. What a brilliant book. First book I have read by this Author
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Wow, so damn good.
How can something from 20 years ago rear it's ugly head.
Who knows the truth?
Loving Gemma Rogers
Now onto Reckless -
Last year I read my first book by Gemma Rogers called Stalker so when I had the opportunity to read Payback I was so excited!
It did not dissappoint! Set in dual time lines we follow Sophie. The first timeline is set in 1997 where Sophie and her teenage friends decide to make a pact to meet at a house her father is selling. The Pact to pair up together and lose their virginity before they finish highschool, no strings attached, no pregnancies, and no one tells anyone! Nothing could possibly go wrong in this senerio right?
Then 20 years later this group in brought back together when one of them dies in a car accident. Sophie starts to get strange messages and weird things start occuring to not only her but some of the others involved in that crazy night in 1997.
Payback is a great thriller! I was hooked right from the start and devoured this as I just needed to find out both what unfolded in 1997, and who was behind the messages 20 years later. Definitely would recommend to my thriller loving friends! -
Payback is my first but definitely not my last read by this author as this was a great read.
We get told the story from Sophie’s point of view..in the present and as her as a teenager. I couldn’t read this fast enough. What was happening? So many questions was going through my head.
This is a well written story. Can’t wait to read more from this author. -
This was quite a well- written page turner. The premise was a bit odd to me, but that may have more to do with the era of my teenage years. A teen in the 60’s had different challenges and expectations than the characters in this story who were teenagers in the 90’s. I did trust that the events of their teen years had led the adult characters to the terrifying consequences of this thriller, since there is truth to the idea that our experiences in childhood , and certainly as teens, can impact our adulthood. This is central to the plot of this book, so the reader’s acceptance that the impact of childhood events can be long-lasting will determine whether they engage in their reading of it. Add mentally unhealthy and revenge-seeking qualities of an antagonist and thus book is more plausible and engaging. The imagery adds to the reader’s experience and supports the character development. I enjoyed this read and am impressed with the author.
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This was a fantastic follow up to the brilliant and suspenseful first novel of Gemma Rogers, Stalker.
With Payback, I was hooked from the first pages and really enjoyed the plot and characters. I wasn't sure how the story was going to play out, I don't like when I read suspense and figure out what's going to happen halfway through! I want to be surprised and I was.
I also like that the story doesn't fall flat- so often books lose steam towards the end. This was a solid novel and a definite must-read for fans of thrillers/suspense. -
Errrrm…
The overall story was good but my issue was the amount of filler. Think of a 2hr movie you enjoy, then imagine having to watch a 10 hr version of it where the extra 8 hours is just what the characters do in their spare time. -
Wasn’t a bad read a bit predictable one of those books you can figure out before the end no surprises
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I read, reviewed and absolutely loved Gemma's debut novel 'Stalker'. I have been impatiently waiting for her to release her second novel. Well ladies and gents, the wait is finally over because Gemma's second book 'Payback' was released on 9th January 2020. Gemma has done it again and she has written one hell of a fantastic read, which I thoroughly enjoyed but more about that in a bit.
I wasn't quite sure what to make of Sophie, who is the main character of this book. When we meet her in the present day, she is an estate agent and she has taken on the running of her father's business. She comes across as being a workaholic, devious, cold woman. She doesn't have many if any friends and the only socialising she seems to do is with one of the people, who works for her. Something happened when she was a lot younger which still affects her to this day. Back then she was a schoolgirl with quite a close and small network of friends. They had planned to all do the same thing at the same time but I won't go into any more specifics than that as I would hate to spoil the book for anybody. Needless to say that it didn't go to plan. In the years following this incident, the friends have drifted apart and left the village or town- all apart from Sophie that is. I think that she has thrown herself into her work to forget. The group of friends drifts back together following the death of one of them. At the same time Sophie finds herself the victim of a few unsettling and unnerving incidences. What was it that happened back in the day? What went wrong? Why is Sophie the victim of somebody's hatred? What does fate have in store for Sophie and her former school friends? Well for the answers to those questions and more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
It took me no time to all to get into this story. In fact I was addicted to the book from the moment I read the synopsis never mind from when I started to read the story itself. I had an inkling that I was going to love this book from the start and I did. Reading this book became an addiction that I was not willing to break under any circumstances. Once I started to read that was it, I did not put my Kindle down again. The book literally travelled everywhere with me. I had my own suspicions as to what was going to happen and I had to keep reading to see whether my suspicions were correct or if I had the wrong end of the stick entirely. The pages seemed to turn really quickly and I seemed to motor through the story. I soon reached the end of this gritty, well plotted and fast paced book, which I was gutted about. I don't mean that I was disappointed with how the story ended but I was enjoying the book so much that I just wanted it to carry on and on.
'Payback' is brilliantly written. The author captures your attention from the start and much as an angler reeling in a catch, the author reels you in. Gemma writes so realistically and uses such vivid descriptions that I felt as though I was part of the story myself. I found that I went through every experience and emotion that the different characters went through. Gemma certainly kept my attention throughout the book and she certainly kept me guessing. I was gripped by the story and on the edge of my seat throughout. The book is written using two different timelines, which run parallel to each other. One of the timelines describes events as they happened back in 1997 and the other timeline describes things as they happen in the present day. I did wonder if this way of telling the story might be a bit confusing but I needn't have worried because the two timelines interlinked really well and the story flowed seamlessly as a result. I loved the fact that part of the story took me back to 1997, when I had just finished my 'A Levels'. I had a nostalgic trip into my own past as I was of a similar age to those in the story and I recognised a lot of the cultural references that were made.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Payback' and I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I will definitely be reading more of Gemma's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*. -
Gemma Rogers shows that you can never really hide from your past:
No one thinks that what they did in their teens would come back and haunt them but twenty years later, when they are brought back together with the death of one of them in a suspicious car crash. It is after the funeral that Sophie White starts to receive threatening messages, all that have to do with the party 20 years ago. Now Sophie is trying to figure out who knew about the party or if it was one of her old friends that is trying to kill them off one by one.
This book starts out really good and I was really interested in what was happening or going to happen, but I was able to figure out this book quite early on, so that did take the suspense out of it for me, and from then on things just became too predictable. I also thought that the perspective in 1997 pretty boring and I do not think that it needed as much page time as it received.
For some reason I seem to be reading quite a few books lately where I cannot understand the main characters choices when it comes to someone stalking them, this is another book where this occurs/ Why is it so hard to involve the police right away? I just don't get it, especially in this book, who cares that you had a sex pack thing that happened over 15 years ago, that is probably nothing compared to what youth are doing now. Just stop being embarrassed and do something to protect yourself. Like you life is worth more than a little secret.
I think this book would have benefited with a second POV, that way we would not just have to deal with all of Sophie's bad choices, or that of Mark as he was in the police and he could have handled the investigative part of the book.
I'm not sure what else to say about this book, it just wasn't for me. i know that Rogers has the ability to write an interesting story, and she does write really well, but this one was just too predictable for me. I will however read another book by Rogers.
Cheers!!! -
As a teenager, Sophie organises a virginity pact amongst her friends. Asking her friend Gareth and some of his friends, the party is now set. But the party doesn’t exactly go according to plan.
Fast forward twenty years and Sophie is running her family business, a real estate office in her hometown while all of her friends have long moved away, except Gareth who tragically died in a car accident.
When Sophie begins to disturbing letters and gifts, she begins to wonder who she can trust. Who could be deliberately frightening her and how will she uncover the truth about what happened that night?
This book had a great pace to it, the plot was really interesting and actually had me sucked in from the first couple of pages. It was tightly woven, very interesting with a well rounded yet flawed main character.
This is the first novel I have read of Rogers’ but I plan to read more. Five out of five stars. -
Payback. by Gemma Rogers. (Title I bought it under was The Secret. But the same book. )
Sarah and her friends back in High School are tired of listening to the girls in the year above going on about how grown up they are .. and how all the boys at school are fawning over them.
Sophie has a idea of why not her and her friends both female and male .. getting together and all of them losing their virginity on the same night! The get together is planned an they all meet up and go to a house that is empty … they get paired up … all walk away from the night a different person!
20 years later Sophie starts to receive a few cryptic notes … at first not understanding what it all means but soon realising it is connected to that night all those years ago. Who is doing this and why!
What do they want! Great read that keeps you wondering what happens next! -
This is my first experience of this writer, and one which of want to repeat. We all like to think we’ve worked out the mystery long before the reveal, and whilst I did crack some of the case it was by no means all. With more twists and turns than a waltzer ride, I was gripped throughout. In tackling some more disturbing aspects of teenage sex and relationships, I think it should probably come with a trigger warning just in case you unknowingly step into it.
I listened to this on audio and almost had a heart attack when I came to the end of it and then heard an unfamiliar voice behind me! It turned out to be an interview with the author, which was really quite good. In it she discusses the inspiration for her writing, including her approach to writers block.
All in all I thought this was a great read, and look forward to reading more by the author. -
Set in dual time lines we follow a teenage Sophie as she sets up a meet up for herself and her three best friends to lose their virginity with four equally innocent boys.
Fast forward to the present date were a grown up Sophie is starting to receive threatening messages and targeted by vandalism it appears someone wants payback but for what?
I have read a couple of books by Gemma and much like this one I have enjoyed them all, I really enjoy her style of writing. The characters were well developed, the novel was cleverly thought out, full of suspense and had me up several late nights.
I did start to have my suspicion of the suspect but it didn't go unchallenged which made the book even more enjoyable. -
This is the first book I have read by this author but I will definitely read more. I found the story had me drawn in from the start wondering who was causing all the accidents to a group of friends, years after they had seen each other. Was it something that happened 20 years ago?
I was drawn into the story and couldn't wait to find out which "friend" was causing all the trouble. A definite page turner for me! -
I wasn’t too keen on this book to begin with and found it slightly boring and the reader’s voice took me a while to get used to. However when I got into it I really did enjoy it and loved trying to work out who the culprit was. I did work it out quite early on but then kept changing my mind. But it was good and I will try another from this author.
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Good story.
Good book but.....I think it was pretty obvious, early on, who the villain in the book is. Otherwise, even though I was pretty sure I figured it out early on, I really enjoyed reading this book. Excellent author.
