No matter how many documentaries I watched or novels I read, I kept coming back to the same simple question: why? Like most people, I was primarily engrossed by the bizarre customs, rules, and clothing. When I set out to write This Might Hurt, I wanted to answer two questions: why do people join cults, and why do people start them? Before I did my research and began writing, I knew very little about the psychology of cults. In my second novel, This Might Hurt, it involved diving deep into a cult and understanding not only what a cult leader is thinking but also the members. In my first book, The Recovery of Rose Gold, that meant inhabiting the brain space of a mother with Munchausen syndrome by proxy it required playing the role of a narcissist and manipulator. If I can’t fathom what goes through a certain person’s head, that person is probably a choice candidate to narrate my novels. Keep your protagonist with her heart of gold-I don’t want my main character to make one big mistake I want her to be a perpetual screw-up.Īs a writer, these are the characters that light me up. I find society’s outliers much more fascinating than everyday people like you and me. I want the author to prove me wrong, to make me empathize with schemers, cheaters, and liars. 'Sharp and intriguing, unexpected and chilling, right up to the jaw-dropping finale.As a reader, I like to roam around the minds of people I’m sure I’ll never understand. A ridiculously wry and absorbing thriller' AMY STUART 'This Might Hurt has all the ingredients of a great mystery.

It was impossible to put down' TARRYN FISHER 'A gut wrenching, propulsive story about vulnerability and power. Prepare to be unsettled in the best possible way' LAURIE ELIZABETH FLYNN, bestselling author of The Girls Are All So Nice Here

'Dark, hypnotic, and mesmerizing, This Might Hurt is a masterwork in family dynamics and the ties that bind-along with the ones that tear us apart. 'Original, sinister and compelling' PRIMAĪ tonic for readers of thrillers' MAIL ONLINE While getting on the island is difficult, getting off might be impossible. Confess the secret she's beenīut there's one thing she hasn't considered. Would you like to come tell your sister what you did - or should we? Six months ago, Natalie's sister Kit went to Wisewood, a retreat on a secluded Maine island. 'Keeps the reader guessing' SUNDAY TIMES CRIME CLUB 'Expertly paced, hugely unsettling and perfectly dark' ASHLEY AUDRAIN 'Slick, smart and terrifying' 5***** READER REVIEW 'Deliciously dark and so very clever' CLAIRE DOUGLAS THE GRIPPING NEW THRILLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF RICHARD & JUDY PICK THE RECOVERY OF ROSE GOLD

This might hurt novel