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The Choice

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A good read but not totally believable. There is a lot of action in this book but it is hard to believe in a lot of places which lessened my enjoyment of it.

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The cover drew me into the book at the beginning. It was a good book with a good plot. But it just wasn;t the best read ive ever come across. It was all high action and fast paced enough to keep your interest. I just wasn;t convinced enough to go with it

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The Choice
by Jake Cross

Bookouture


General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 23 Mar 2018


I am reviewing a copy of The Choice through Bookouture and Netgalley:


Karl Seaburg is driving home one night with his pregnant wife, when in his headlights he sees a woman shaking from fear. The woman is in the middle of the road.


The woman tells Karl her name is Liz Smith and that her home was brutally attacked. She was the only one who managed to escape.


Karl decides to help her, but is this woman a victim or a monster?


Find out in The Choice.


Four out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

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Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Firstly I have to say, this book wasn't quite what I was expecting, and had I realized it was about gangsters and gang lords I would never have chosen to read it. I debated whether to continue, but by the time I found I didn't like it, I was also hooked in to the story! So continue I did.......
The story is fast paced and gripping, and will keep you turning those pages right to the very end. Be prepared for gory details and bad language that undeniably go hand in hand with the content.
I've given this book four stars, as although it wasn't really my thing, I did enjoy the main thread of the story.

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Not for me this one. Found it hard going to be honest and totally out of character I gave up at 44%

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This was a very good crime novel!

I loved our good Samaritan and his wife - and I really loved that this wasn't one of those books where people get in trouble by being mind-numbingly stupid. While Karl did make a few choices that had me shaking my head, those were made from a place of morals rather than stupidity. It was so nice having characters I really rooted for!

As for our criminals, even many of them were multi-faceted. I actually felt for a couple of them, even as they did some bad things.

This is an intense book - one of those books where the trouble just keeps ramping up and up and you don't know how your characters will get out of it.

What kept this from five full stars was that a few things that happened were a little too convenient to be believable. Every so often I had an issue with suspension of disbelief.

But I'd very happily read this author again!

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4☆ Creepy

The Choice is a creepy, fast paced, full of Drama and Suspense, crime, pychological Thriller that you will need to stretch your imagination and logic in order to get into the story.

I enjoyed The Choice I could see it making a good film. The reason I say this is because when you watch a thriller film you expect the main characters to do stupid things like let a stranger into your life after finding them in the middle of the road.

This is what Karl and his pregnant girlfriend did.
When they found a distraught women (Liz) in the middle of the road claiming her home had been attacked.
Ok so would you take in a complete stranger?
I'm not so sure I would male or female I don't think I could do it... you hear so many horror stories!

I would take them straight to the police despite their resistance.
Liz wants nothing to do with the police...
Would Alarm bells not start ringing??

I think The Choice is a book you need to read and not take too seriously as I said before it really does stretch your imagination and reality.

Did i enjoy it.... yes I did. It did keep me entertained and it was creepy.
Overall a good read.

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I felt that this story was a little rushed it just throws the reader right into the chaos with little to no
preparation. The intro was lacking a little as you didn't get much information before the trouble started.
Very fast paced this novel sometimes leave you struggling to catch up with what's going on. The main character Karl and his girlfriend run into a young woman claiming to be in distress so the young couple does what anyone would do and tries to help her. They take the young woman into their house and that is when things start to take a turn for the worst. With lives at stake Karl must find a way to protect this woman along with his wife and unborn child. I like the premise of this book but there was no lead up into the drama and because of that the story got a little muddled for me I had to read it twice to fully understand what was going on because the first time I was so confused. I found the characters very hard to relate to and getting into their world was a struggle for me. This book seemed more like a crime thriller than a regular thriller and I think
that was part of the struggle for me as well. If you like those then this was well written I will give it that.

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Right from the start this story pulls you into a nightmare situation and I loved how this made me think about what choice I would make. To be honest this was definitely one time that I'm glad I can't drive ;) The story is for the most part fast paced and has plenty of tense moments like a cat and mouse game that makes things very interesting.

I found the chapters told from the different characters really helped to give the story a more rounded feel especially as you got into the thought process of a pretty despicable but intriguing character.

Karl is an interesting character he makes a split second decision and then has to face the fallout from it putting not only himself in danger but his wife. After all hindsight is a wonderful thing but I do think his actions could be classed as a little unbelievable at times. As once you had initially helped would you go any further, I guess in a way he is being the Good Samaritan but really finds himself in the thick of it. I decided not to over think some of the actions from the characters and just let myself get taken away with the action and I’m really glad that I did. As what follows is tension filled with a few surprises along the way. Did Karl make the right choice, well I'll let you decide that for yourself.

Four stars from me!

With thanks to Noelle at Bookouture for my copy. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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This story has many layers to it. It's brutal and gruesome concerning revenge towards a Gang lord in London. The revenge plot all goes seriously wrong; new plans have to be forged quickly which keeps you gripped all the way through. The momentum of action and drama displayed is impressive right from the first page. The connection with the characters is immediate. A young woman demanding Karl's help on a dark, cold night sets the roller-coaster on its journey. Karl is inadvertently and unwillingly drawn into a prolonged horrific drama. You are apt to question the decisions made by the characters and possibly your emotions and loyalties become erratic. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an excellent read.

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On a wet road in the black of night, Karl Seabury is driving home to his pregnant wife. Suddenly, caught in his headlights in the middle of the road is a woman shaking with fright.

The woman says her name is Liz Smith, that her home was attacked, and that she was the only one to escape.

In a split-second decision, Karl decides to help her to safety. But can he really trust her? Or has he put his family in danger?
Well the description grabbed me straight away! Exactly how the book starts and yes I would of stopped too but after reading the book i might think twice!
A thrilling book and very different to what I expected. Lots of twists to keep readers guessing and a very different plot to most books. Well written. Definitely recommend this book and would like to read more by the author.

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It’s an absolute delight to be part of the Blog Blitz for The Choice by Jake Cross, a brand spanking new author for me to read, who can say no, I mean especially when in the author bio Jake’s quoted saying ‘he hopes you don’t ask for a refund’, that certainly made me chuckle.
Well The Choice is the first novel written by Jake Cross and its a darn good one, cleverly written with a plot which will blow you away. What I will say it will definitely be a marmite book, either love it or loathe it, but without a doubt I would recommend giving Jake Cross a try.
Karl Seabury is driving home in the dead of night and a woman runs in front of his vehicle, caught in his headlights a look of fear in her eyes, where has she come from, what is she running from and why does Karl believe that his life has changed irrevocably since picking Liz Smith. Who is Liz and why does she hold a threat of danger to herself, Karl and his family.
The Choice is loaded with crime, murder, violence, an abundance of dramatic situations and you know you just love to have the odd skeleton in the cupboard well there’s that too, what’s not to like. Trust is a two way street but in this case I’m unsure if either character truly trusted the other, but I did find Liz to be quite incorrigible in her manipulation of the situation Karl and his wife found themselves in.
Jake pulled the rabbit out of the hat tying up the loose ends in the plotline, gelling it all together at the end, making what seemed to be a tightly wound plot of several investigations and criminal activity work very well together. Sometimes it can feel that the overuse of too many separate factors can water down a book but it wasn’t the case in The Choice, I loved how it padded and plumped up the criminal elements, giving me much more to think about.
If you would love to read a new author, have elements of criminal violent crimes, murder and a pinch of downright Huh, give The Choice by Jake Cross a try, what have you got to lose, after all every new author deserves a chance to be read. Thank you to Bookouture, Jake Cross and Noelle Holten for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

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3.5 Unbelievable Stars 🌟🌟🌟.5

This book will require you to stretch your imagination ... leave all the questions at the door... and just enjoy the ride.... this was a fast paced, plot driven, implausible book.... I truly believe this would make a better movie than it did a book, it was just so over-the-top, and so unbelievable.....

This is not to say I did not enjoy it, I did..... however I did spend a lot of the book a little lost.... I also spent a lot of this book wondering why these characters are even in this situation in the first place? Why in the world would Carl pick a strange woman up in the middle of the night and insert her into their lives... and put his wife and unborn baby in danger? I really had a hard time connecting with any of the characters, with perhaps the exception of Katie who I felt so bad for.... here she is pregnant caught in the middle of this madness....

This book was cray cray... all these characters running around doing outrageous things.... everyone was up to something and none of it good.... not absolutely certain what I think of the ending..... this book just didn’t quite hit the mark for me, but it might for you!

Recommend if you are able to suspend reality for an entire book, filled with fast-paced thrills.....

*** thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this book ***

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To read or not to read The Choice by Jake Cross.

The Choice is a fasted paced thriller with extreme highs and lows. There was a plethora of twists and turns that’ll leave the reader feeling bad for every character involved in this dumpster fire mess. The plot centers around a good deed gone horribly wrong.

The Positives

The writing

I’m not a squeamish reader who gets easily offended or disgusted by violence and gore. With that said, I thought there was a great deal of attention given to the amount of detail for the many deaths and fight scenes. I could picture each event play out seamlessly.

Another thing I enjoyed was the chapter lengths and the constant switching of point of views. Books involving multiple POV’s allow the reader to experience each character's motives, thought patterns, and emotions throughout the entire story.

There was also a lot of dialogue, which I love, and it all seemed natural, believable, and not forced.

The Characters (no spoilers)

I want to start off by saying each character has a unique voice, personality, and none of them were boring, that’s for sure. By the end, you’ll see the good and bad side of every character. And even I found myself not liking the victims at one point and was sympathizing with the bad guy's motives. I truly understood why the bad guy did what he did.

The action starts off immediately in the first chapter. Karl, one of the MC’s, is driving home at night when BAM a mystery woman comes staggering from the trees and right into the path of Karl’s van. Like any reasonable person, he stops for her but doesn’t realize that helping her may cost him and his family their lives.

The mystery woman is the wife of a very prominent and influential man who happens to have plenty of enemies. With all that power, greed, and money there will always be people waiting to take it and to do that people have to die.

Then there is Karl’s pregnant wife, Katie. She didn’t ask for any of this drama, yet she's thrown into it right along with Karl, even if she isn’t right by his side for the majority of it. Their relationship was healthy, believable, and pretty adorable. And to think all they wanted to do was cuddle on the couch, watch a movie, and playfully fight over the name of their unborn child. Instead, they are forced to fight for their lives.

There's also a variety of detectives and police who are in the middle of an investigation.

Lastly, there are a handful of bad guys from petty criminals to full-blown murderes, and they each have their reasons for doing what they do.

I think the author did a pretty good job weaving all the characters storylines together. He did a great job at planting hints throughout the story and made sure to tie up all the loose ends at the end of the story.

Imagine the story as an intricate web of crime. The deeper you sink into its depths, the more criminals/crimes appear, and it’s just another piece of the puzzle.


The Negative

The only negative thing I can think of is that around the 40% mark I almost stopped reading. In the beginning, I was more interested in Karl and Liz’s POV’s and the bad guys trying to find/kill them than the detectives. But I hate giving up on books so I pushed through to the very end and I’m glad I did because around the 60% part the story picked up again.

Would I recommend reading this book?

Yes. I’d give it 4 stars but probably closer to 4.5 stars.

If you’re a fan of fast-paced thrillers pact full of violence, murder, and distrust, then this is a book for you. I'd also be interested in reading more from this author.

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In Jake Cross' The Choice, Karl is forced to make a life altering decision to help a stranger when a woman jumps out in front of his car on a dark, deserted road. Distressed and clearly in need of help, Liz gets into Karl's car hoping the stranger's kindness will protect her from the terror she was fleeing. What Karl doesn't know is that Liz is a wanted woman, someone who multiple people - the police and mobsters - are eagerly trying to track down. Karl, a man with a strong moral compass, decides to protect Liz at all costs despite not knowing much about her, but in the process he jeopardizes his wife and unborn baby's lives. 

What follows is a high-octane chase that involves bloodthirsty criminals with a penchant for revenge and dirty cops who are more interested in money than protecting innocent citizens. Karl finds himself deeply enmeshed in a complex murder mystery that he must help solve if he wants his wife and Liz to survive. Will Karl find a way to both save his wife, Katie, and the runaway woman, Liz? 

I was eager to read this book and be a part of its blog tour because I love fast-paced thrillers that keep you up at night turning the pages. The book's heart attack inducing pace reminded me a lot of the movie The Fugitive with Harrison Ford or 24 with Kiefer Sutherland. Thank you to the author, Jake Cross, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Choice.

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I do enjoy reading a good crime thriller from a new author to me and this one was right up my street - the cover drew me straight in and after reading the blurb I was keen to get started and I certainly wasn't disappointed!

The pace is great and I was hooked straight away and left wondering how the book would end. Lots of suspense and a great build up to the ending. It is an easy read and flows very well and I really enjoyed getting to know the characters - four stars from me! Highly recommended!

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This is the first book by Jake Cross. If there’s one thing that this Ginger Book Geek likes, it’s discovering new authors. Well I have well and truly discovered a new author and I absolutely loved ‘The Choice’ but more about that in a bit.
I really felt for the character of Karl Seabury. The poor fella is just driving along minding his own business, when a distressed woman runs out in front of him. She claims that she is being chased and she needs Karl to help her escape. Karl can see that the chase part of her story is true as some burly looking men suddenly appear. So for his own safety and hers, he agrees to drive her to somewhere more safe and secure and he has hopes that he will be able to take her to the police station, where she can seek help. Only the woman claiming to be called ‘Liz Smith’ goes mad at this suggestion and looks at Karl as if he is out of his mind. Karl is easily dominated because he not only helps her to escape but he also agrees to allow her to stay in a safe place for the night. It’s only when Liz reaches the place where she is going to spend the night that she thinks to tell Karl that in all likelihood he will be in danger for helping her and the men will be after him too. Not surprisingly Karl is thrown by this and I got the distinct impression that he really regretted having stopped his van in the first place. Karl is married and he has no idea how he is going to be able to explain the situation to his wife and he is worried as to whether or not she will believe him. Liz is a bit of a funny old fish and I really didn’t know how to take her or to what extent I believed her. The Ginger Book Geek jury was certainly out on that one. There is another main character called Mac, who is involved in the police investigation that is launched after the murder victims are found at Liz’s house. I did feel for them as the scene that they encountered sounded very horrific with descriptions of the bodies really being in parts. Mac feels frustrated at times because the people he interviews are less than helpful. Then of course we have those baddies who killed the people at Liz’s house and chased her into the road. They noted the registration number of Karl’s van and they are on his trail too. Their theory being that if they find Karl, they find Liz. What follows is a game of cat and mouse. Will the murderers get hold of Liz? Why did they kill those at the house? Will Karl be safe from them? Will the police catch the murderers and stop the killing? Is there going to be a twist or sting in the tale? Well for the answers to those questions and more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
‘The Choice’ is definitely a debut novel to remember and I know that it will stay with me for a while to come. The story hits the ground with a bang and then maintains a fast pace for the rest of the book. Reading ‘The Choice’ was just like going to the cinema to watch an action film. The characters are well described and are portrayed well but some of the situations are just a bit too unbelievable even for me and that’s saying something. I have a very vivid imagination. That said, ‘The Choice’ is really well written and once I got into the book, that was it I just couldn’t put the book down, as I had to read on and on to see if Liz reached safety and what happened to those chasing her.
In short I did enjoy reading ‘The Choice’ and I would certainly recommend it to others. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a well deserved 4* out of 5*.

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Straight after reading this book, I found myself setting up camp on the nearest fence as it took me a little while to process what I had just read. However, 24 hours after reading 'The Choice', the puzzle pieces started to fit together and my overall opinion of the book changed. I'll be honest, as I was reading I did think 'what on Earth' on more than one occasion due to how incredibly farfetched the storyline was. But, despite all of that, I still couldn't tear my eyes away and, even though it was very farfetched, 'The Choice' was incredibly fast paced and full of intensity.

Karl Seabury finds himself in a bit of a sticky situation one evening when he goes to help a stranger at the side of the road. Even though Seabury chose to do the right thing and assist the woman, it didn't take too long to backfire, putting both his life and the strangers life in severe danger. While the saying 'ignorance is bliss' is very apt in this situation, it soon becomes apparent that ignoring the situation won't make it go away, especially if the threat is now with Karl's wife and his unborn child.

This book is bonkers, and not in a bad way! The storyline is jam packed with drama, crime, murder, and the odd secret for good measure. It just goes to show that you shouldn't put your trust in the wrong person, even if they seem to come across like they're on your side!!

I did actually think that this book was quite clever! So many things kept happening in the book that I wasn't expecting, and due to the way I was reading certain situations, I had made myself believe one thing, when the storyline decided to change its path at the very last minute, making me think 'WHERE THE FLUFF DID THAT COME FROM?!'.

I advise you to read 'The Choice' with an open mind and not to overthink the storyline, otherwise there would be a high chance of the storyline not making much sense.

Jake Cross surprised me and entertained me with each page of 'The Cross' and, even though I couldn't work with several parts of the book, I was still hooked by the overall vibe and complexity of the storyline and each of its characters. Definitely a win win situation for me!

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what can i say! A whirlwind of a story that never lets up!

Karl is travelling along a country road on his way to a client appointment, a woman appears in the front of his van. she appears distressed and frightened and begs for help claiming a gang of men have broken into her house during a dinner party and she is being chased after escaping. leaving her husband and friends to an awful fate. After agreeing to help the woman Karl’s life is turned upside down when he discovers the woman is the wife of a notorious gangland boss and his good deed renders him a target for the gang’s revenge too.

This book is certainly a great read with many twists in the tale. Each chapter is written from a different character’s viewpoint and keeps you interested until the end.

many thanks to netgalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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A very good story with well developed characters. I know there are parts that confused me which is why I need another read through as I think I missed something

Wonderful book and can't wait to see what's next

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