Stranger on Stranger

by G.B. Hope

Former Manchester gang member, Alex Robateau, is now living the good life as groundsman at an exclusive Surrey sports club. The handsome 28-year-old enjoys the raunchy attentions of bored wealthy women, as well as the affections of young Carla, back from university.

Set during a couple of hot summer months, Alex keeps himself fit and plays cricket for the local team. With Carla he genuinely tries to behave like a gentleman, until a violent episode throws them together. It is during this stressful time that Alex meets his "once in a lifetime" girl, the beautiful and fascinating Joely. Inexplicably, he rejects her advances, convinced something that perfect must really be false and selfish. Immediately after pushing away Joely there comes an anonymous offer to commit a stranger on stranger murder. All the demons of Alex's past life reappear as he struggles first to consider the offer, while maintaining a normal façade, and then after a reality-check trip home, he decides he has to accept the contract.

Despite paranoia kicking in with all his connections to scheming women and jealous husbands, Alex starts to stalk the victim and formulate a plan. But the reappearance of Joely complicates matters. So begins the strangest of love affairs - Alex torn between delirium and despair at what he is committed to. Alex justifies the continued liaisons with the tennis widows and the besotted Carla by making Joely the prize for after the deed is done.

Finally he finds a way through the complicated relationships to make an attack at his victim, only to finish up with a shocking double twist.

285 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 6, 2012

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Characters are definitely one of a kind. I recommend this book to young readers. G.B. Hope has a way with making scenes come to life in this book.

[Maddie k · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't a book I normally read but it was very interesting and flowed great and kept me interested.
A good overall read And certainly would be liked by a wide range of age groups.
I was swinging between 3/4 So I rate this book 3.5 stars.

[Mike Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I'm not up to speed on the lingo and vocabulary of the Brits, I still thought Stranger on Stranger had a good storyline. Snogging, blokes, and various cricket terms are not commonly used in everyday conversations where I am from. Alex Robateau is a former gang member from Manchester now living the good life. That includes living in a flat above a eatery and working at a country club. The fact that he is a former gang member is all the detail you get. There is no more background information given on his former life. Which to me was a little disappointing. He receives an offer and a substantial amount a money to do a hit on someone. From there, the majority of the book describes his everyday life of playing or watching cricket and "snogging" lonely rich wives from his country club as well as several girlfriends that he has. About 20 pages is actually devoted to the Stranger on Stranger murder. Which actually turns out to be a great twist at the end. This book is loaded with sex. I know that one of the Goodreads reviews recommended it to young readers, but I would not.

In compliance with FTC guidelines, I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Akhirnya saya selesai membaca Stranger on Stranger by G.B. Hope. Masalah story line mungkin memang bukan gaya saya sih ya, karena saya pecinta soft roman, dan anti sama bunuh bunuhan, tapi novel ini beda sih, entah apa yang membuat saya terus baca sampai akhir, selain padet dan gak begitu panjang ada sesuatu yang menurut saya menarik dari pengambilan alur dan setting. Saya menikmati sih, walau butuh waktu agak lama menyelesaikanya mengingat saya harus re-read Gabriel's Inferno untuk proyek baca sama teman GR saya. At all saya suka sama buku ini. Daebak G.B.