Until Death

by Ali Knight

'An engrossing tale of corruption and obsession' ALEX MARWOOD

A gripping thriller about the dark secrets hiding behind an outwardly perfect marriage, for fans of BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.

Marriage is a prison for Kelly . Her controlling and manipulative husband Christos videos her in the house, has her followed and tracks her every move. She may be desperate to leave, but she's not stupid. If she runs, he'll make sure she never sees her children again.

Christos has a mistress, Sylvie , keen to pander to his every whim and even keener to step into Kelly's shoes, should she ever vacate them.

Kelly thinks it's stalemate for their twisted threesome, but something is about to happen that will change all their lives forever.

If Kelly is to escape, then people will get hurt...

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Crime

385 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2013

About the author

I'm the author of five psychological thriller novels. The latest, Before I Find You, is a 99p digital special offer. My other books are The Silent Ones, 'Eerie, smart and brutal,' said Heat; Wink Murder, named by The Independent as 'One of their best commercial reads of 2011'; The First Cut, 'One of the top ten crime books to take on holiday,' according to The Telegraph; and Until Death, 'A gripping read,' The Sunday Mirror.

I love reading and writing and getting feedback from readers. I live in London with my husband, kids and a psychotic cat. (Photo: Rankin Photography)

Reviews

[Aditi · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside equally desperate to get out.”
----Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, one of the most influential philosophers of the French Renaissance

Ali Knight, an English author, arrested our minds and hearts with her latest psychological thriller, Until Death which shows us that how marriage can be the biggest curse or flaw in a person’s life as well as it can be the greatest boon in one’s life.

Synopsis:
Marriage is a prison for Kelly. Her controlling and manipulative husband Christos videos her in the house, has her followed and tracks her every move. She may be desperate to leave, but she's not stupid. If she runs, he'll make sure she never sees her children again. Christos has a mistress, Sylvie, keen to pander to his every whim and even keener to step into Kelly's shoes, should she ever vacate them. Kelly thinks it's stalemate for their twisted threesome, but one of Christos's container ships is about to dock in London with a secret cargo that will change all their lives forever. If Kelly is to escape, it will be in a way she never imagined, and people will" get hurt . . .

Kelly is like that desperate bird trying to get away from the odds of her marriage, but tell me which marriage doesn’t have its odds. But if you would have stuck in a marriage with a controlling man, then you might also go at any ends to break-free from the marriage. Christos is a man who is perfect in every way and wants to keep his broken marriage like a showpiece on a mantle.

Well that was the underlying story in Until Death, and honestly the thrill in the book is not that rewarding or promising, nothing comes out of it- only a broken marriage and how a broken marriage can be saved.. that’s all! The plot is one hell of a twisted and complicated ride. Even at times, I found myself so clueless as to where this author was taking me with her story. All the while, the author constantly hinted that there would be a murder on the very next page and I felt myself gripped to the plot out of anticipation, instead in the middle, I got lost and felt myself from stop reading the book for a while, since there is too much thrill that I couldn’t handle, but there was no such thrilling event except, stalking.

The narrative style is what got me hooked into the story. The mood that she set in with her exquisite prose was brilliantly dark, scary and in one word, exciting. Every time Kelly opened her mouth, a thrill ran down my spine, although Georgie, the detective and the Wolf’s part of the story did not impact me that much. The twists that the author created, (I must warn you that so many twists can get on your nerves and you might feel like throwing away the book…) are striking enough to fall for them and moreover, the way she delivered them into her story is really brilliant. And the more I tried to find out who’s the culprit behind an age old crime, the more I got twisted up in knots and puddles of mystery. So the mystery part was pretty engaging.

The characters were messy, flawed, psychologically paralyzed by fear, inheritance, money and status and will make you feel like you’re standing right in the middle of some asylum. And maybe that was the whole point to make the story more psychologically thrilling and gripping. The emotions portrayed by Kelly and her fears can be related by those women who know the distaste of a failing marriage. Christos too sound like a guy who is very real and more like a guy hiding behind the warmth of their meek wives. Sylvie is another character whom you would love to hate.. perfect in every possible ways and she is the epitome of a nightmare in every woman’s lives. Her spunk and bitchiness made me fall for her.

Verdict: I’d suggest you to go for this book, if you have enjoyed reading Gone Girl and if you are a big fan of psycho thrillers featuring the latest victim- marriage!

Courtesy: All thanks to the author, Ali Knight, for sending me over a copy of her book, in return for an honest review.

[Paula Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kelly is trapped in an abusive marriage with shipping magnate Christos Malamatos. He doesn't hide the fact that he's having an affair with Sylvia, his PA, but keeps a constant watch over his wife, with the threat that she'll lose her kids if she tries to run off with them. However, she sees her chance at an escape when Christos starts being investigated by customs over the contents of one of his ships, due to an anonymous tip-off. Georgie Bell is the customs officer who gets caught up in the danger that unfolds.

This thriller was easy to read, but it didn't exactly blow me away! The plot twists were easy to see coming, I felt. It was all quite well-constructed, but dragged down by having too many characters - and some of those characters were so utterly hateful it was quite draining! To explain further why I gave this only 3 stars, I have to go into spoiler territory! When all was said and done, I still didn't understand why Christos didn't just divorce Kelly, or let her leave. He had a lover, he didn't care about the kids - we're supposed to believe this is all because he's in competition with Kelly's ex-husband (who's not dead), and he wants to win? It was all very unlikely! Divorce seems much easier than making your lover into a replica of your wife and trying to get away with murdering the wife. Also, I wanted some comeuppance for Christos's mother Medea, who was just as vile and horrible as her son. Some of the description got wearying, too. The bit where Georgie and Mo go to the house where the wood is being shipped to (yawn) was nothing much more than a chance to spend an entire chapter describing a house and its surrounds. Boring and unnecessary!

It was good to have the law enforcement angle be seen through the lens of a customs officer, rather than the typical detective-with-baggage, that was nice change! Georgie did have family issues, but at least her background didn't include some botched operation where somebody died, like they do in every other British thriller! While I don't think is the type of book you need to rush out and track down, it's diverting and reasonably entertaining.

[Vicki - I Love Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Until Death 4/5

Ali Knight

Marriage is a prison for Kelly. Her controlling and manipulative husband Christos videos her in the house, has her followed and tracks her every move. She may be desperate to leave, but she's not stupid. If she runs, he'll make sure she never sees her children again. Christos has a mistress, Sylvie, keen to pander to his every whim and even keener to step into Kelly's shoes, should she ever vacate them. Kelly thinks it's stalemate for their twisted threesome, but one of Christos's container ships is about to dock in London with a secret cargo that will change all their lives forever. If Kelly is to escape, it will be in a way she never imagined, and people will" get hurt .

This is the first book I have read by Ali Knight. But I think it is safe to say it will not be the last.
A gripping tale of Marital abuse, and one womans struggle to come out the other end. With a fantastic story line.
I'm just annoyed with myself that it took me a while to get around to reading it, because once i had started it I really did enjoy it...


Kelly
The abused wife Kelly is stuck in a relationship that she just wants out of. But there just seems no way out. Her husband will not let her have a divorce, and has threatened to take the children away from her. She is left in their apartment daily some days with the doors locked, and is constantly recorded on one of the many video cameras her husband has installed in the house so he can see what she is up to constantly. She has 2 Children a Daughter she had before she met Christos and a son which they adopted together. Kelly also has a past which could get her into something she doesn't want to be involved with.

Christos
I hated Christos right from the beginning of this book, he's a man who likes to take charge and be in charge of everything. Including his wife. He has a mistress and dispite this still won't let his wife go. And as for Sylvie his mistress, well I She was just a first class cow.

Georgie
I liked the idea that one of the main characters was a female customs officer and not the normal police detective.
you find yourself asking a lot of questions throughout this book, and mainly how you would cope in this situation. What would you do? It is so easy to think that you would just walk away and not put up with it. But as this story shows things are not always that easy or that straight forward.

Make you grateful you are happily married..

I received this book from the publishers after speaking with Becca Mundy @BeccaCMundyand on Twitter. And I am really grateful for being given the chance to read and review it. It was definitely the sort of book I enjoy reading.
I have also added Ali Knights other books to my must buy them list. And look forward to reading them one day.

[Book Addict Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books like these remind me why I should not read reviews until after finishing a book for myself. With a 3.18 average rating on Goodreads for Until Death it makes me go into the book expecting it to be bad when that absolutely was not the case. Instead what I got was a book which kept me guessing and kept me turning its pages. I would perhaps agree with other reviewers that the plot at times was a bit complicated but I'm glad I stuck with it to the end as it was a very enjoyable read.

Opening with our main character Kelly seeking a divorce, she is told by her solicitor to go home and tell her husband Christos (who we learn is having an affair with Sylvie) that she wants a divorce. Easy enough to say but almost impossible to carry out as Kelly is a prisoner in her own home. Christos is an evil individual who wants to know where Kelly is at all times by having her followed and videos her in their own home. Most people who have never been in this situation always say how the person should leave, but until faced with that situation ourselves it is almost impossible to say how a person should behave and you definitely feel sympathy for Kelly throughout the book and extreme hatred for Christos.

With books set primarily in London I always get excited in the hope that the author can bring the city to life and almost make it a character in itself. Ali Knight has definitely managed that and I had no trouble visualizing the scenes and places she was describing. Kelly's home is basically a prison, but its location was intriguing to me - a penthouse next to the St Pancras clock tower. So I Googled it, and you can stay in the actual clock tower for a bargain price (for London anyway), the only problem seems to be availability. It wasn't only this though, the whole book screamed London, the whole book played out very vividly in my mind it was like I was watching it on a screen rather than inside my head.

Running alongside this we have the plot of something being found in one of Christos's shipping containers. Of course to elaborate would ruin the story but this helped break the story up and add another dynamic rather than just reading about Kelly trying to escape. I felt this part of the story was well researched by the author. Ali has created characters that for me feel very real, characters you root for throughout the book and ones that you think about long after you've finished reading. And for me books just don't come much better than that, ones that involve you in the story and have you feeling genuine and real emotions. I'll definitely be reading more from this author in the future.

[Alison Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kelly is married to a monster. A rather wealthy monster used to getting exactly what he wants - and what he wants is to keep Kelly with him despite their marriage being a failure and her desperation to leave. Kelly's only chance of escape may be to exploit the investigation of her husband's business dealings by Customs and Excise, but first she has to find some information to share with them. The chief investigator has the gut feeling that Kelly needs help but then again battered wives are not her remit are they ? A well written thriller that moves at a good pace. For a while you dont see all the pieces coming together and it doesn't end quite as you expect. Very enjoyable and I shall certainly read more from Ali Knight.

[Jane Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absorbing read, but the plot is over-complicated.

[Carolyn M L]

DNF @ 59%. Her husband watches her every move, yet she can nip out to the Internet cafe when she fancies. She wants to spend every waking moment with her children before they leave for boarding school - yet she leaves them and nips out to the Internet cafe to check her sleep tracker camera. Gimme a break. Surprised I made it to 59%.

[Jo Welsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book had me gripped and a real page turner, well written and would recomm

[Pauline Chamberlain · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good thriller involving the doomed marriage of a woman and how she copes with her abusive husband and his family

[Ed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a great deal to say about this crime novel. It is an easy read although the plot stretched credibility more than once. The characters were largely criminal misogynist alpha males and beautiful but somewhat emotionally flawed females. One of the latter is the estranged wife of one of the former. She is subject to emotional and physical abuse. Not surprisingly she wants out not least because her husband has a mistress who he flaunts at every available opportunity. However separation/divorce is not straightforward as there are children involved, a daughter from a previous marriage and an adopted son. How the couple were able to persuade the adoption panel they were suitable parents is something of a mystery.

The plot becomes increasingly convoluted - smuggling, murder (several), attempted murder, womb surrogacy, and identity theft are all covered. At the end of it all, somewhat implausibly, husband and wife are reconciled although events have, not surprisingly, changed the nature of their relationship. "Pulp fiction" is probably as good a description as any.

[June Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very drawn out, struggled with this book.

[Steph Whitfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this slow and predictable, with too many (mostly uninteresting) characters.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

addictive story line, but what was that ending

[J K · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slick, claustrophobic story which marches tightly by in snappy short chapters. I liked it, all the characters wriggling to subvert their private traps. Lots of 'ta- da!' at the end with various reveals, but that's the nature of this sort of book. A decent read and appealing for anyone with a sense of justice. Also, the shipping magnate husband is fantastically hateable.

[Lisa Dolatowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by Ali Knight. But I think it is safe to say it will not be the last.
A gripping tale of Marital abuse, and one womans struggle to come out the other end. With a fantastic story line.
A wife caught fast in an obsessive relationship, a controlling husband with a scheming mistress, children in the mix. A striving young customs investigator who stumbles upon the seemingly separate strands of stories intertwined; shipping, docks, crimes past, crimes planned, the lure of other lifestyles and the trappings of a penthouse - all interwoven in a well crafted web. As the characters' flaws and motivations were steadily revealed, mixed feelings of pity, outrage, and edge of the seat concern, were stirred - I cared what the outcome was, wanted justice to prevail, and was left thinking about the ending and its implications. Like an old fashioned fairy tale before they became sanitised, you knew to boo the villains, hope for the victims and cheer the heroes, but as the complexities and pitfalls of real life relationships, jealousy and foolishness are laid bare, flaws are understood and accepted - and sometimes seemingly forgiven when circumstances change.( Hansel and Gretel, their dad and step-mum spring to mind). The ever emerging connections, and the need to know what happens next kept the pages of Until Death turning. The twist at the end was both satisfying and disturbing. What more could you want from a thriller?
Until Death was certainly a dark, suspensful read with a lot going on throughout with all its twists and turns but for me it was just the right amount without the plot getting too over complicated and unbelievable
its intelligent, hits the right spot for the suspense reader and will, in its own way, have you questioning what you’d do in the same situation

[Mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This started off really well, but I soon got lost amongst the plot and characters; around the time Ricky's character was introduced.
After the promising start I was disappointed and towards the end I didn't feel that the plot even flowed very well.

[Pat Stearman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lighter than our usual reading group stuff - plot full of holes and unnecessary red herrings, too many random characters ... won't be searching for more by the author.

[Danielle Dent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took a little while to get going and wasn't as focused on the domestic violence as I had thought it would be from the synopsis. The pacing was great, nice short chapters and well rounded characters. It had me a bit confused at times but it all came together in the end. The only thing I don't get is why Kelly stayed with Christos in the end?? Made no sense why she is caring for him at home - what am I missing??