Besieged by memories of a brutal abduction, Claire Nichols wakes in an unfamiliar bedroom, within a luxurious mansion. Her recollections have one common denominator, the man she just met, Anthony Rawlings.
Unbeknownst to Claire, for a very long time, she has been within Anthony’s sights. Many of the pivotal events in her life occurred, due to his sinister manipulation. Every action has a consequence, and his actions result in their chance meeting.
More than a psychological thriller, Consequences is a vivid story of one woman’s struggle to survive incomprehensible circumstances. Every aspect of her being suddenly depends upon the tall, wealthy, dark haired, dark eyed businessman. Anthony Rawlings is known to the world as prosperous, benevolent, and kind. Claire quickly learns that he can also be a menacing controlling captor.
With few options but concession, Claire attempts to earn her freedom, while enduring a hellish existence that truly appears perfect. Persevering tests and trials, she struggles to retain her pure Midwest values and beliefs. Encouraged by memories of a loving upbringing, she gains strength in the simplest of joys: solitude in nature and good in the face of evil.
His goal in sight, Anthony’s calculated agenda encounters an unforeseen detour. He becomes captivated by Claire’s beauty, resilience, and determination. The interaction of these two compelling characters instigates strong emotions: fear, anger, love, and lust. Claire and Anthony’s tumultuous journey flows into uncharted waters of intrigue and passion.
Utilizing vivid detail, this 167,000-word novel unfolds like a movie, before the eyes of its readers. From the opening criminal abduction, through twists and turns, to the unlikely romantic thrills, the suspense climaxes as Anthony’s motivation becomes evident.
Anthony and Claire must decide if they will stay true to one another, or allow preceding actions to result in justifiable Consequences.
Genre - Dark Suspence/Thriller
The Review:
I’m so upset right now I can hardly form words but I’m going to get it out before I lose the moment. This book has literally MESSED ME UP!
This was my second attempt to read Consequences. The first time I got to chapter seven and was so disgusted I put it down to return to later. I saw all the great reviews about this book and wanted to read it but I found it difficult to get past Anthony’s abusive character.
This is NOT a love story. This is NOT a romance. This is NOT an erotic novel and it is NOT a BDSM story. But it is a very emotionally charged, intensely dark, challenging thriller that made me want to put it down and never return to it… again! However, I trudged through and decided early on that I would conquer this book! And I did. But I’m still not sure if I’m glad or not.
This book starts out with Claire trapped in an opulent room with a locked door and a vague memory of how she arrived there. Soon after, in walks Anthony, a charming man she met at the bar she works at. But this charming man soon turns vile and evil as he claims she’s there to obey his every whim and he has all rights to her via a napkin contract she signed in the bar the night they met. What transpires after that conversation is a two year long nightmare where she is subjugated and ensnared in a life of physical and mental abuse.
Anthony was completely manipulative and domineering, choosing every aspect of Claire’s life, even down to what she wore. Hate is an appropriate word I would use for how I felt about his character. I hated Anthony. I found no redeeming qualities in him what-so-ever. He’s cruel, sadistic and he could have gone about his plan any way but he chose to demean Claire, brutalize her and then call it love. That to me was unacceptable! And it wasn’t until the last hundred pages I realized we aren’t supposed to like Anthony at all. He is the evil villain in this story and he plays his part well.
You feel for Claire and her circumstances to a point. But on the other hand, you want to scream at her and wonder why she didn’t get out when she had a chance. Because she had many chances to at least try and escape, but she never tried. This is what I found so frustrating. Stockholm’s plays a part but a person has the basic fight or flight reflexes and she never tried to fight her circumstances. She submissively accepted them and Anthony’s rule as if she was this docile, whimpering little creature who had no mind of her own.
What saved this story was the last hundred pages. This abusive tale turns to a complicated story of lies, deception, intrigue and vengeance. I was shocked to say the least at what transpired in the last parts of this book. The ending had me completely drawn in and captivated yet feelings of dread surged through me knowing this story wasn’t going to end well. I wasn’t disappointed.
Writing Style…
I’m a big fan of the saying, “Show, don’t tell…”. This book was mostly a “tell” book. A lot of the events were glossed over and instead of living through these harrowing events with Claire, we were “told” about them in the narrative, having to come to conclusions about what happened. When I’m reading a book, I want to live the events so I can connect with the characters and I think this was one of the reasons I had a hard time with this read.
The Wrap Up:
The first half of the book made me want to scream and throw things, the middle had me rolling my eyes but the end had me spell bound. After having read the whole book, I get why people gave it such high marks but I’m still not sure if I liked it or not. I’m going to have to think on it for a while. As for going on to read book two, Truth, we’ll just have to wait and see. I want to, but I don’t want to. I’ll just have to see which side wins.
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