Total Control

by Rory Haymont

Emma had come up hard. But she made a good life for herself as a London copper. Then she met the man of her dreams. Then she met the man of nightmares.

Had he chosen well this time? There had been none like Emma.

423 pages, Paperback

Published May 27, 2026

Reviews

[Anthony Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Total Control made me uncomfortable in exactly the way a good psychological thriller should. The most frightening part isn’t physical danger. It’s watching someone slowly realise how much of her life may no longer belong to her.

[Elly Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emma is a compelling protagonist because her battle is as psychological as it is physical. The story constantly creates doubt around motives, trust and free will, which kept me questioning what was really happening.

[Andrea Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story moves between crime, psychological manipulation and international danger without losing sight of Emma. What worked for me was how personal the conflict stayed. Even when the stakes became larger, the real question remained whether she could reclaim control over herself.

[Jessie Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some parts are deliberately uncomfortable, and this definitely won’t be a light read for everyone. But if you enjoy psychological thrillers built around manipulation, moral pressure and damaged trust, there is a lot here to dig into.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book basically asks: what if someone could manipulate you so completely that you stopped knowing which choices were actually yours? Creepy.

[Troy Troupe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Power. Manipulation. Control. And one woman trying to find out where her own choices begin again.

[Kevin Carlisle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected more of a conventional police thriller at first. It became much darker and more psychological than that, which made it much more memorable.

[Stephen Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tense, disturbing and difficult to put down.

[Bryan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished Total Control last night and I’m still thinking about the idea behind it. Losing control of your surroundings is frightening enough. Losing confidence in your own mind is worse.

[Samantha Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has the kind of villainy I find much more unsettling than random violence. Ray’s power comes from understanding people and knowing exactly where to apply pressure.

[Leticia Salomon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ray made my skin crawl. That’s the review.

[Brandon Wattson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thriller where the biggest prison may not have walls.

[Kevin Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emma is not written as an invincible action hero. She is vulnerable, conflicted and constantly forced to make difficult decisions, which made her much more believable to me.

[Shawn Sendres · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one would make a good book-club discussion because people are going to have very different opinions about Emma’s decisions. I changed my mind about several characters while reading.

[Shawn Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark psychological suspense with a genuinely disturbing central idea.

[Don Davic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time I thought I understood who had control, the balance shifted again. That uncertainty kept me reading.