Black Coffee discussion

This is where we will be discussing April's group read Tell Me Your Secret by Dorothy Koomson.

Pieta has a secret.
Ten years ago, Pieta was kidnapped by a man calling himself The Blindfolder who said he wouldn't kill her if she kept her eyes closed for 48 hours. She never told anyone what happened to her, vowing to move on with her life. But when The Blindfolder starts hunting down his past victims, Pieta realises she may finally be forced to tell her deepest secret to stay alive . . .

Jody has a secret.
Fifteen years ago, policewoman Jody made a terrible mistake that resulted in a serial killer known as The Blindfolder escaping justice. When Jody discovers journalist Pieta survived an attack by him, she realises she may finally have found a way to catch him. But that would mean endangering at least two innocent people . . .

They kept quiet to protect themselves.

Will telling all save or sacrifice each other?


How many of you will be joining the discussion?

I’m in. Just bought the kindle on Amazon 👍🏾

I’m in!

I’m here, just brought the book on kindle

Count me in!
Just ordered my book

I forgot to check for the poll. Oh well! I'm in for 'Tell Me Your Secret'.

I’m in and I got my book :)

I started it. Oh boy!

I am going to pass--not one library I can access has it and right now I am reading through a huge stack of library books.

I can only read this one during the day; it may give me nightmares if I read it in bed before sleep.

Really?! I’m gonna start tonight.

Discussion starts here......Parts 1 &2 .....Spoilers Ahead. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I do not trust Ned!!! He has some serious issues!!! He harassed and picked on Pieta all those years, but suddenly doesn’t know who she is?!?! Yeah right!!

Can you imagine having to go an entire 48 hours with your eyes close?! I don’t think I would make it.

Jody must be going through a lot right now. To have such a horrific crime happen so close to home and not believe the severity of it until it is too late is...whew.

There is a lot going on here, but I’m enjoying the read so far.

What are you thoughts and opinions?

I would need to be blindfolded. I could not keep my eyes closed for 48 consecutive hours. I would be begging for a blindfolded - please!

I don't trust Ned either.

Dosha (Bluestocking7) wrote: "I would need to be blindfolded. I could not keep my eyes closed for 48 consecutive hours. I would be begging for a blindfolded - please!

I don't trust Ned either."

ditto

Lulu wrote: " Discussion starts here......Parts 1 &2 .....Spoilers Ahead. "

I agree, the book is very interesting thus far.
It's amazing what you can do, when you are in fear of losing your life!
I think Ned is the one to watch right now. He seems very suspicious to me.

Whew! This story was something else! The human mind and all its triggers is astonishing!


Anyone have suggestions for next months read? I should get a poll up soon.

I would like to suggest THE PROPHETS by Robert Jones Jr as our next read.

I am definitely enjoying the read. I truly feel for Jody for what she is going through in a leadership role and personally. The idea you have to watch every man you meet thinking he may be the Blindfold? That is such gruesome.

It is taking me a bit longer to read this book than others because I can't handle reading it at night - it doesn't take much to give me nightmares. For some reason, this book is scarier than I expected it to be. I can read most murder mysteries at night but not this one. It may be because of the physiological aspect of having to keep the eyes closed all weekend and then realize he is coming back for you years later. All that being said, it is a great read so far. My heart goes out to Pieta and Jody.

Okay, I've made good progress. I can read it at night now too. It doesn't scare me anymore. But, what a physiological upset for these two women Pieta and Jody. Not to mention Callie. Has anyone finished the first four sections yet? I'm ready to start section five. But I would like to go over a few issues before I do.

I think everyone that was reading is done! Go ahead Dosha!!!

I am ready to go. I've finished the book, so as not to give up anything, I will only answer the questions given.

I think as a leader, like Jody, can not ever get personally involved in their cases. She should have recuse herself from the case. Just saying.

Okay, I'm going to try to finish it this weekend. Right now, I was feeling weird when I read that pieta carried the blindfolers baby to term. OMG! Now, she is comparing features to Nik. He still kinda creeps me out, but I'm trying to give him a chance, albeit a slim one.

I notice folks feel bad for Jody, and I also do. However, I feel bad for Pieta because she has a child and that most add a lot of anxiety to her every thought of safety for them both.

I Finished It. I'm ready to discuss. Sorry it took all month; I'm so sick of working it's ridiculous! I did not like the ending at all. WTH? Does this book suggest that there will be a sequel to anyone other than myself?

For some reason, I thought that Jody had also been held captive, raped, and branded along with all the other women that were let go alive.

There is no sequel. Jody’s twin sister was a victim of the blindfolder and Jody didn’t believe her.

Wow, I knew there were problems between the twins, but I thought that Jody had also been snatched after Jovie killed herself. So tragic. I felt really really bad for Jovie, I thought she was improving extremely well. Shows how much I knew.

Did anyone suspect Callie as being part of this whole sick rape/torture/murder routine? I wondered why a white woman all of a sudden, but I didn't put her as part of the serial killings.

I also didn't realize that the father left his family for a black woman. The reason I wouldn't say I like the ending was that I wanted to know what happened to Nick or Ned or whatever the photographers’ name is.

Who knew April would breeze by so quickly!! However, I'm almost done... Refraining from reading everyone's feedback or recaps...

Must admit this quite the thriller..... Captivating!!

Currently, the part I've reached, Ned's receiving the side-eye....

Oh No!!!! I'm so sorry Ms KY; I thought I was the last one to finish this book, where do I keep getting all of my mid information from??? Dayum. I will not post anything else until I know all in this group have finished. I can be so stupid sometimes.

The ending was a complete surprise! The pattern was different when the victim was white, which I thought was strange; but I didn’t really think anything about it. Interested what everyone thought.

Was the story realistc, believable to you....what about the killer's motivation?

Well, as for believable, I can say yes until we got closer to the end.

I was confused about Callie and why she was agreeing to be interviewed etc.

Yeah...Callie being a "victim" really threw me off. Like Carmaleeta said earlier, it just didn't fit with everything else.

Finally finished.... Truly enjoyed this thriller, which was an emotional rollercoaster, not only for the characters, but the reader as well.

Callie flipped the script!! She showed signs of being a Narcissistic Sociopath..

Yes, Carmaleeta, the ending was a surprise!!
Especially when it came to who was Kobi's father...

Lots of twists and turns... because I was 'looking' at Ned with the raised eyebrow, from the beginning.. That changed his 'sacrifice.'

Dosha (Bluestocking7) wrote: "I Finished It. I'm ready to discuss. Sorry it took all month; I'm so sick of working it's ridiculous! I did not like the ending at all. WTH? Does this book suggest that there will be a sequel to an..."

No worries, Dosha... Almost took a month as well (smiling)

I think the author wrapped up the storyline, nicely...
In my opinion, we know Callie's 'psychological' reasoning for her killing spree.. which, eventually landed her in prison... Hey, if there's no sequel (which is fine with me), that means Callie's scheming to be released, or escape has been undermined.

Thankfully, The Blindfolder, is no longer, allowing Pieta & Jody to live their lives without fear (fingers crossed)

So help me understand. Callie turned her brother into The Blindfolder, correct? I will need to go back and re-read the ending.

Did the brother have a mental disability?!

Lulu wrote: "So help me understand. Callie turned her brother into The Blindfolder, correct? I will need to go back and re-read the ending.

Did the brother have a mental disability?!"

I believe Brett had a mental disorder, which his sister, Callie, took advantage, in her sick twisted mind.
Callie tells Pieta, her brother started to sexually assault her after he was rejected by a female schoolmate, who only wanted to be friends.

This occurred during their school years, but continued into adult age.
One must wonder if Callie was the culprit to have started their incestuous relationship seduced her brother, talked him into the Blindfold abductions & tortures,... Unfortunately, she didn't expect one of the victims, Pieta, to catch her brother's attention...

Truthfully, Brett and Callie had mental issues.. jmo

Brett and Callie both had issues Dor sure. No doubt, but what about their mother? She certainly didn't promote emotional healing.

This book was so good....

Yeah Brett and Callie had issues. And Dosha, it seemed like the Mom had SERIOUS depression after her husband left. A lot of mental health troubles in the family.

I guess one critique I had was Ned and Pieta’s relationship. I feel like it’s a common romantic trope to have a bully and the bullied fall in love with each other which I don’t think is a great message to push. It would’ve been nice to see Pieta just not get involved with Ned at all but I appreciated the pivot to her and Reggie becoming closer in the end. Good cliff hanger ending too!

At first I was disappointed with Callie’s reasoning to why her and her Bro became murderers. I was rolling my eyes, thinking “this is so wild! Just because her Dad left?”

Then Pieta calling her out for her narcissism and simplicity and RACISM, I was kind of cracking up like “ohhh okay yeah this does make sense”. It was a very entertaining and relatable reaction with Pieta boiling it down to, “Okay so you’re just blaming your problems on black women”. Great writing, I was reading like “yeah get ‘em Pieta!!”. The author did a really great job of having these characters come to life. I was responding to this book as though as I was watching a movie, lol!

It's true; you cannot always help others when you need a whole lot of help, too; I get why the mother doesn't help her son and daughter through this family breakup. But still, at some point, you reach out for help for yourself and your two kids. Talk about dysfunction! I would have preferred to see Pieta with Reggie than with the bully photographer.

Lol. I agree! This did play out like a Lifetime movie!! So much drama!

Obviously Pieta is a very loving and forgiving person. I don't know if I would have been able to raise a child like she did. And her forgiving Ned after YEARS of abuse with no type of discussion, was just a bit too much for me. LOL