Worst Fear

Grey and Villere Suspense Thriller #4

by Matt Hilton

Private investigator Tess Grey discovers that someone from her past is pursuing a deadly vendetta — and she could be the next to die.

?If I'm dead, contact Teresa Grey at Cumberland County Sheriff's Dept. Tell her

When the body of a young woman is found on a rocky Maine beach, having fallen from the cliffs above, the initial verdict is suicide. But hidden on the dead woman's social network page is a post requesting that Tess Grey be informed in the event of her death. And why would Chelsea Grace, who was terrified of heights, have chosen to end her life in a way that invoked her very worst fear?

Having not seen Chelsea for years, Tess has no idea why her old university roommate would leave such a message. But, determined to find out what really happened to her, Tess and her partner Po discover that Chelsea isn't the first of her old university friends to suffer — and she won't be the last. It would appear that someone is holding a deadly grudge: could Tess herself be a target?

Genres: Thriller, Suspense

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 2017

About the author

Matt Hilton worked for twenty-two years in private security and the police force in Cumbria. He is a 4th Dan blackbelt and coach in Ju-Jitsu. He lives in Cumbria with his wife and son.

Matt is the author of the best-selling Joe Hunter thriller series, as well as standalone horror thrillers and short stories that have appeared in a number of collections and anthologies. Matt's first novel - Dead Men's Dust - was a Sunday Times best-seller and was shortlisted for the ITW New Novel Award 2009.

Reviews

[Selene · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 stars

Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
POVs: Multiple, 3rd person
Setting: Portland, Maine
Writing style: 3/5

The opening chapter was great but it was followed by lots of background info to wade through and the rest of the story didn't have the thrilling impact I was looking for. The stilted dialogue, pop culture references, and caricature-style villains didn't work for me, either.

*ARC kindly provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Linda Strong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is 4th in a series featuring Private Investigator Tess Grey and her partner, both professionally and privately, Nicolas 'Po' Villere, who not only is her back-up, but an ex-con as well.

Tess receives a call from the local sheriff's department telling her that a woman Tess knew in college has been found dead at the base of a cliff. SHe has written a note informing whoever that if she is found dead, Tess should be notified. The problem is that Tess hasn't seen or spoken to her in many years. And she has no idea why she would have left a note for her.

While the police assume a suicide, Tess doesn't believe it for a moment. The young woman was terrified of heights and if she was suicidal she never would have jumped unless she was forced to.

As Tess and Po begin investigating they find links to other deaths .... of her college friends the summer they worked at a camp for younger kids. And they are finding other deaths .. all seemingly accidents.

Tess' name is on a list ... but who wants them all dead .. and why?

I like this author's writing. There is much movement and excitement in his words. Story premise is excellent. The book is fast-paced, with characters that I really enjoy reading. It isn't until almost the end of the book where the biggest surprise is known.

Many thanks to the author / Severn House / Netgalley for the advance digital copy of WORST FEAR. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

[Kirsty ❤️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with this one to find a connection with it. The first chapter set up an interesting proposition but then for me I struggled to engage with the rest of the story and it didn’t really get going for me.

Not for me I’m afraid

Free arc from netgalley in return for an honest review

[Renee(Reneesramblings) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t realize this book was part of a series and as I was reading, I thought several times that these characters had amazingly in depth backstories for one book. When I discovered that three books preceded this one, well that explained the rich details. I didn’t feel that I missed anything vital to this story by not having read the others, though I did like this one enough to add Matt Hilton to my author list.
Tess Grey and Po Villere are the main characters. While Tess has a background in law enforcement, she now works as a private investigator. Po, her partner, lived his life on the other side of the law and this ex-con, now a legitimate business owner has some impressive skills that work well with those Tess possesses. When Tess is informed that an old friend from college, Chelsea has committed suicide, the scenario just doesn’t add up to her and she sets out to discover what really happened.
As Tess remembers the past, she starts to believe that there is some link between the former college students who all worked together one summer at a youth camp and Chelsea’s death. Tess barely remembers her former friends, but their story and connections come to life as she studies an old group photo and attempts to contact each one. Chelsea isn’t the only face in the picture who will be found dead and as the body count starts to rise, it’s up to Tess and Po to figure out who is behind these deaths and why.
I really liked Tess and Po, especially how well they worked together and apart. Each of them has their own strengths as well as weaknesses and they complement each other. This was a "can’t wait to find out what happens next” read for me and I put my To-Do list aside until I was done. The characters were engaging and the story was fast paced. What could they have done to unleash someone’s wrath after so many years? I don’t know if there will be another book in this series, but the answer to the mystery is revealed before the final page.
Thank you, Matt Hilton, Severn House and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. If you have room for another series and really what lover of books doesn’t, I’d give Tess and Po a chance. The author has created great characters as well as a tight plot and after I read the other books, I’m pretty sure I will be hoping for book number five.

[Best Crime Books & More · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a massive fan of this series and the characters are hugely appealing to me. Tess Grey a PI who was an ex-copper working alongside her partner and lover Nicholas 'Po' Villere. This latest installment starts out with Tess looking into the death of somebody she went to college with. Would her old friend really have jumped to her death when she was afraid of heights? It's ppretty clear early on that this is something more than a one off and somebody from Tess past is trying to even up the score.

Tess and Po are the characters that make this story (especially Po). Although this time around is isn't just Tess who has problems. Po's bar is being targetted and he is determined to get to the bottom of the who and the why with his own unique style! Meanwhile as Tess begins to dig through her own memories of the past she begins to see a pattern forming. The great part of this book is we see how and why the crimes are being committed before Tess does. Although I love this series I felt there was a little something missing. Maybe it's because I see Tess figuring out other people's problems as opposed to her own? That aside, this still made for a fantastic read.

My one small niggle was that we didn't see the appearance of Po and Tess good friend Pinky until far too late in the book. As usual he wades in with every ounce of his being to do what he can to help his two friends. The later part of the book was a little more pacey and I enjoyed it more than the first half because the action was ramped up to the maximum.

As ever another cracking read in this series that I love. I literally cannot wait for the next book as this series is firmly in my Top 5 of must reads. With original and engaging characters, and a storyline that will keep yu turning pages you can't really ask for too much more!

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book from Net Galley in trade for an honest review. Thank you Severn House Publishers for this opportunity to read and review this book.

This review is also posted in my blog : https://onewordtoomuch.wordpress.com/...

This is the first book from the Tess and Po thriller that I read and I really enjoy it!

The book opened with a view from a soon to be victim, standing on the cliff. What I like about this scene is how the author described it with the elements that describe the place instead of blatantly said “she’s standing on a cliff”.

EXCERPT
“The ground crumbled underfoot, and dirt and pebbles rained. She heard their clattering fall and the distant splashes as they struck water. She stood at the precipice and the only way to go was down. She rested her weight on her back foot”

What happens next is what set the next chain of events. Apparently, the victim left a delayed Facebook message to contact Tess, her friend. She got curious and started her own digging into the past. Apparently, all the victims were connected with her college past. Talking about a bullying case went too far that lead to revenge in the present. Apparently, all the victims were killed in the manner of when they bullied their friend or to face their worst fear.

In the mean time, Po had his own problems. His bar is being smashed and targeted by some punks. He had to defend his interest and friends as well. He can’t be a knight in shining armor for Tess. Things getting action packed when Tess found out who had been targeting her friends and she was a target herself. I like the chase and rescue attempt by Po. I also like Tess’s effort to escape.

In short, this is a full action pack story. No nonsense here. No weepy stuff. I was left tethering on the edge of my seat, curious on what will happen next.

All the characters also have strong attitude. Tess appears to be a strong headed and strong willed woman. Po on the other hand, appears strong, but has a soft side for his friends. There are also some interesting characters like Pinky, Charlie, some LGBT reference. It makes the story more colorful.

What makes me a bit sad is the part of the bullying. This might be a good case to read into when some of us might not know how a bully could drive someone to murder or take their own life. The frustration, the hatred, the helplessness, it’s just not right. By the end, the perpetrators were also the victims.

Bravo to Matt Hilton for waving the words artistically to pictured the situation of the characters. The background and events are not being told straightforward but through unique details that makes me enjoy reading it so much. Can’t wait for the next book from the Tess and Po thriller.

Recommend for those who like full action pack story, no nonsense attitude and strong attitude characters.

[Elite Group · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good, solid crime thriller in the Grey and Villere series
A young woman, Chelsea Grace, falls to her death from a cliff in what appears to be a suicide, but she is terrified of heights. Chelsea left a social network note requesting Tessa Grey, her university roommate, contact her on her death. Tess has lost contact with Chelsea and so begins to investigate why such a note was left. Tess and her partner Po find that other old university friends of hers have also met untimely deaths and they fear that Tess herself could be in danger.

This is the fourth book in this series and they have all been very satisfactory without necessarily hitting the heights. Both Tess and Po are characters that I can associate with, like a comfortable pair of slippers. The story does get bogged down a fair bit, just after the start, but does pick up again all the way to an excellent and unexpected ending. I have read similar storylines before but this one did keep me guessing most of the way through.
I did prefer Matt Hilton's earlier standalone stories and I hope that he does write one or two more outside of this series. Having said that, I find myself looking forward to the next instalment of Tess and Po's private investigative and also romantic shenanigans. Tess is an ex-cop and Po is an ex-convict and so they bounce ideas off each other which always makes for interesting reading. As per my title, this is good, solid crime writing with an exciting story at its heart and I commend it. There is quite a lot of throwbacks to the previous three books in the series and so I suggest that at least one, if not all of these books are read before tackling this one.
Digger 95

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

[Margaret Duke-Wyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth book in this series by Matt Hilton which features Tess Grey, a former police officer, now a private investigator and a range of supporting characters, not least ‘Po’ her ex-convict lover and erstwhile partner. Although new to me, it quickly became clear to me it was part of a series as there were quite a few references to previous situations that Tess and Po and found themselves in – not least the fact that Tess had sustained serious injury to her hand in a previous encounter.

It may well be that I needed to read the earlier books in the series to form a relationship with Tess but unfortunately she just didn’t inspire me with anything, not tedium or boredom; not her great deductive skills; at most just a mild interest in seeing how things would pan out. I did feel a flicker of irritation with the predictability of the car failing her just when she needed it (surely she could have predicted this herself); and I did mildly enjoy her attempts to escape from the well, I thought that was described well.

I found myself skipping through various descriptions of the journeys made in various vehicles. With no knowledge of the area, it added nothing to the mix to know that they drove down Road A, onto Road B etc., although I must admit when one knows the area this does offer verisimilitude to the text.

To be fair I am sure that there are huge fans of Tess and her cohorts but this just didn’t spark much interest in me to read any more. Sorry Mr Hilton because the story did hang together but just not my bag this time.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

[Nancy Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disgusting...

and very poorly written. The writer uses what little descriptive skill he has to make crime scenes as revolting as possible while putting nothing into character development or plot.
Dialogue and vocabulary are juvenile - Hilton should invest in a dictionary or thesaurus to find another adjective for glistening, for example - and not use words that he obviously doesn't know the meaning of! Ebullient is one example of a word that was off the mark. I am sure there are many more, but I won't read another word after the description of a man burned to death after too many pages had already been used - something about popped out eyeballs has been added to what was already TMI. I quit!
Something is wrong with the writer and readers who revel in this degree of gore. This is a travesty of writing, of absolutely zero worth.

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done thriller. I'd not read Hilton before and thus was unfamiliar with Tess and Po, who make a dynamic team. Why are Tess' college friends dying? Why did Chelsea, who was afraid of heights, even get near a cliff much less throw herself off one? Tess and Po need to sort things out before Tess becomes a target. There's an old secret, of course, and Hilton did a good job of not telegraphing the solution to the mystery. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm going to look for more Tess and Po books!

[Brenda Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Had me from the beginning. The story line and heroine were engaging and believable. Lots of twist and turns.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Tess and Po as a crime fighting team. They must have a magnet for trouble as they go through life. Pinky was on hand again to offer his unique assistance. On to False Move next

[Plum-crazy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth in the Grey & Villere but not having read the previous three I can't comment on how this compares.

This one wasn't a bad read but a bit non- descript. The story line had potential but despite being rather nasty in parts, came over as a bit mundane, sort of skimming the surface of what was going on rather than going into any depth.

The characters were also rather one dimensional. From the off I suspected the identity of one of the gruesome twosome hunting down old university "pals" but was intrigued enough to want to know how things would pan out. On a more positive note, I did enjoy the parts where Po (hate that nickname!) did his Reacher impressions ie; taking on a few baddies at once.

Overall an okay read & I'd read more if I happened upon them but I won't be actively looking for them.

[John Boyda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another well written action packed installment in the Grey and Villere series. There were points in the story where I put the book down for a few moments before goin g back to it. I wasn’t turned off by the descriptions of violence - it was more that I was afraid that Hilton would sink into cliches (he didn’t). Speaking of Hilton, I was amused by his indirect reference to Lee Child and his character series (Jack Reacher). The irony contained in his referencing “a British author writing a series happening in America.” As another aside, the only time that Hilton inadvertently revealed his own British origins was when one of characters said that their vehicle had a “flat battery” instead of a dead battery. Overall, a decent read. I’d give it 3 and a half stars.

[Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this a great deal but found it to be weaker than the previous book in the series, hence the lower rating. I do like where the series is headed and am loving the layers that the author is adding to the leads and supporting characters (in particular Pinky, but the other characters have become more bit players for now).

[John Packer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is fairly poor compared to the first three in the series. So ridiculous a plot as to be unbelievable. All a bit tired. Dull chunks in need of editing. More gormless decisions made by Tess. Too many coincidences.

[Graham Tallents · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thrilling, action packed murder mystery with really strong characters. Now that I find this is the fourth in a series, I'm just going to have to get the first three books.Don't get me wrong. this is a stand alone thriller, I just want to read more of this series. Recommended reading.

[jean buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real psychopathy

Very suspenseful writing. A believable characters, and great story. Looking forward to this author's next books. I would recommend this author.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

good read