I feel many of the thrillers written today all have the same basic structure and are becoming quite predictable. I've read several thrillers recently and I must say, I have not been impressed. That is not the case with this book.

The book is written from several perspectives and on several different timelines. It is slightly confusing at first, but once the story gets rolling, it's easier to follow.

The first chapter begins with Maddie's recent past and she is considering seeing a psychiatrist. As the story progresses, the timeline moves closer to "The Day of the Murder" which also begins in the second chapter. "The Day of the Murder" is also visited as another perspective through the book and has the 911 call that the reader later revisits toward the end of the story. We also see the story through Maddie's past, years ago, when she was a traveling writer and explore her relationship with her best friend Jo. We are also introduced to her husband Ian during their first encounters and follow their growing relationship.

The author does a wonderful job of making this story completely realistic. As if this story could be based off of someone's true life. It was well written and though I wouldn't use a word as strong as "hooked", I definitely found myself engaged with the story. I found it entertaining and interesting.

Book endings are always a big deal for me. I hate when I invest the time in a book only to have the ending be anticlimactic or predictable. The ending to this book was not disappointing. Even though towards the end, I found myself guessing several scenarios, it still had just enough of a twist that the ending was fantastic.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a different type of thriller.

Tl;dr: Beautiful Bad is a portrait of a marriage hitting a crisis point but the real question is how did it happen--and more importantly, who hit that point first? Very much recommended for fans of psychological domestic thrillers.

Ok, I will start with my one nitpick. I know thrillers need to be compared to a popular book, but it's not necessary here. Beautiful Bad stands on its own!

The plot is pretty straightforward: We open with a 911 call and then move back and forth in time, one piece of the mystery unfolding at a time.

Well, sort of.

We have:

Maddie: former world traveler who chased adventure and certainly courted danger, who is now living back in her home state of Kansas, where she's raising her son Charlie while battling the aftermath of a severe injury sustained while she was with...

Ian: Maddie's husband, former British soldier turned protection agent when Maddie first meets him. Suffering from severe PTSD sustained from that but also from his work serving as a defense contractor/ground support liasom in war torn countries.

He and Maddie meet while she's visiting her friend:

Joanna, humanitarian aid worker willing to do whatever it takes to get aid to the refugees she works with. Brilliant, beautiful, living as hard as she can, and all sharp edges. She's less than pleased when Maddie and Ian hit it off, leading to an estrangement that breaks Maddie's heart.

Maddie, in Kansas, is trying to deal with the changes--physical, yes, but more frightening to her are the emotional ones--she's felt since her accident with the help of her new therapist, the delightfully written Cami J, whose help Maddie resists as it means she has to deal with:

Ian, who was dark and brooding when she met him, a looming disaster of a man whose ongoing battles with PTSD and alcoholism have made Maddie's life a minefield.

She's scared, you see. Scared of what she sees on the news, worried about Charlie. Worried about Ian. His drinking. His temper. Her injury, which she really can't recall getting and she doesn't like being pushed by Cami J, she understands Ian, she does. Except that maybe...

Maybe she's afraid of what really understanding him would mean--and not just for her. Maybe she needs to be terrified for Charlie.

After a lot of thinking about what Cami J has gotten her to reveal, she reconnects with Joanna. Arranges for her to come visit, but while Ian, who is still traveling all over for his job, is still away. She and Joanna can reconnect, repair the friendship that was so important to Maddie back before her life was Ian and then Kansas with Ian and Charlie.

And that's all there is.

Sort of.

That's the beauty of Beautiful Bad. There is everything that's there--and then there's everything underneath.

I don't want to reveal any spoilers, but let's just say truth can be a lot more than it seems and that what Maddie says she wants isn't what she actually wants.

And when Maddie wants something-- or someone--she gets it. No matter what the cost might be.

I really enjoyed Beautiful Bad, and think anyone who enjoys twisty (and twisted) thrillers, especially those where you know what the endgame will be and get to watch almost as trapped as those in the web of the truth and lies are, will love this. It's fast, it's furious (on many levels) and hooks you fast and keeps you locked in. (!)

(Quick aside: Joanna! I actually felt the worst for her. I think she always thought she was miles ahead of everyone else and-- well. No.)

Overall it's predictable. but in a "oh no, is that? And that? Dammmmmmn!" way, which is to say that there's a lot (a lot!) of twisted fun waiting for those who enjoy dark psychological thrillers. I know I sure enjoyed the ride!

Police are summoned to a shocking crime scene. This story starts two decades earlier when Maddie and Ian meet in the Balkans only to eventually settle down in Kansas. Several stories play apart in the unfolding of this crime scene including Ian’s PTSD, Maddie’s camping accident, to an iffy past with their friend Jo. Solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 read. I absolutely loved the plot twist at the end, perfect ending to all the story lines. Personal spoiler - while I loved the suspense of “what just happened and why” story, I had a hard time getting into the background of Ian’s ptsd which took up so much of the book. I still look forward to anything else this author brings us in the future.

For those who are familiar with this genre, it's somewhat easy to guess what is happening and what has happened, in a general way. I don't think it's giving anything away to say that it's obvious we have an unreliable narrator. What sets this book apart from others is that the past takes place in Eastern Europe and the characters have their colourful past in a colourful location. It got an extra star for that. Other than that, the story is told well in this quick read.

This story started off strong, lost me a bit in the middle and then picked up again at the end. I feel like for the majority of the book we lost the full steam the first couple of chapters held. It's a true slow burn to get to the ending, maybe a bit too slow for my liking. The timeline is actually pretty long and the author does a good job of not really getting the reader lost but I think the story as a whole could have been trimmed down a bit to keep the suspense at it's peak.

I will say that many, many times I thought I had this one figured out then the author would drop something and make me question myself. Although most of my guesses were correct it was a bit of a journey to get there and at times seemed to be a bit far fetched. All in all I think it was a solid story and I can see why some will love it and why others won't.

Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward was anything but bad. The writing was beautiful. You felt like you had personally been with the characters over seas, and you could feel as though you were living alongside them back in the States. A haunting story of what one man endured in some of the most dangerous countries overseas as a body guard in war torn countries and how horrible war and PTSD are. Finally coming together at last, Ian and Maddie think they’ve left all the horrors of that life behind. But have they really? Told in two points of view by Maddie and Ian and flipping back between the past and present we see that although life is beautiful and bad, it is never quite as it seems.

Thanks to netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book starts with a murder scene and you don't actually find out who was murdered till pretty far into the book. The book alternates between the time leading up to the murder and the time when Maddie and Ian met in 2001. I always like when books have an international thing going on and this one did because when they met they were in Macedonia during the civil war. While I found that setting interesting at first, I thought that part of the book dragged and I started finding it boring. It took forever for Maddie and Ian to get together and I felt like I lost interest.

I will say the end of the book was unexpected and I actually really liked how the ending played out because I felt it was clever, but it just took too long to get there.

Nothing makes it bad or unenjoyable, it's just not a stand out. Pretty forgettable.
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A suspenseful book with a convoluted ending. Maddie, working in Bosnia, falls in love with a Brit working as a diplomatic bodyguard. After years of missed cues between them they finally reconnect and marry and have a beautiful son Charlie. Ian’S job problems at home send him back into long contracts overseas and ptsd issues when he is home. Maddie’s misreading of Ian’s determination to protect his family allow Maddie to seek an unexpected resolution.

This was a decent book that kept me guessing until the end which was a "well I didn't see that coming". This book goes back and forth between different characters and different time periods of their lives. It wasn't hard to follow and certainty kept the suspense up for the "present" time frame.

I thought this was an OK read - I felt it dragged on a little bit and was long in the beginning. The character development was good, but I felt like I could have been more invested.

Beautiful Bad starts immediately with a 911 phone call and a police officer at the scene wondering what could have happened. The book toggles back and forth between current day and past events. Maddie describes her relationship with her husband, Ian and her best friend, Jo. The three main characters have many dramatic ties between them, but all comes together within the last chapters of the book. As a reader, you know "something" is going to happen, but it does take until the end of the novel before those predictions can manifest themselves.

I enjoyed this book but found the ending somewhat predictable. It was a little long, but overall an entertaining read.

BEAUTIFUL BAD lost me somewhere around the middle. I was unable to finish, giving up around the 75% mark.

This is a book that meticulously crafts the jagged and cracked world where PTSD meets survivors of near-death experiences. It’s not a beautiful ending.
Maddie is impressive. You’re really going to like her. She travels to write and has no fear no matter where her assignments take her. She’s a hard-drinking party girl who throws caution to the wind and lives her life to the fullest; almost too full. She constantly relives a moment in her youth where she almost drowned during a boating incident. It becomes clear that her entire life is altered by this event; she believes she’s invincible.
Ian is the standard good-looking hunk of a British military guy who now does contract work providing security in Iran, the Balkans, the Middle East, wherever the pay is great. He’s deeply flawed by the death and savage destruction he’s seen, and he believes Maddie can ground him and help him stay sane.
After years of traveling in different directions, they finally get together and share a home in Kansas to raise their beautiful son.
But something’s not quite right. Maddie has a terrible scar along the side of her face, a result of a fall during a camping trip. Or so she’s been told. She begins to see a therapist in hopes that she can figure out why she’s so confused and unsure of her life with Ian.
The couple has a common acquaintance, Joanna, who was friends with both when they met each other. She’s also just as hardened as Maddie, and her role in their relationship is pivotal.
I loved these characters; their scars, visible and unseen; their skewed view of life, their obvious desire to tempt fate. I couldn’t put it down. I was unprepared for the ending. This is a deeply moving book about the lingering and constant damage from PTSD and war. If you enjoy a thriller that puts the pain of sorrow deep in your chest, this is your book. I absolutely loved it.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Harlequin – Trade Publishing for making it available.)

This was a fantastic novel, I really liked it. It was told from alternating points of view and hooked me from the beginning. The story weaves the past and the present. The characters are well developed and keep you guessing as to what they will do next and their mental stability. It's very interesting what war will do to a person; this story touches on PTSD and the insight into this mental condition is outstanding.

This is a love story, a mystery, a thriller, and the ending does not disappoint! Wow, the twist, just wow.

I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

What a twisty, chilling book! Ian and Maddie have gone through A LOT to make their relationship work, encompassing several countries and decades. They are finally married, with a small son, but something terrible happens. As we wander through the scene of the crime with an intrepid investigator, we also experience the past through both Ian and Maddie’s perspectives. I couldn’t put this book down; I was so concerned about little Charlie, that the truth of what was happening walloped me! I don’t want to give any spoilers, but this is definitely a thriller that stayed with me several months after reading.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc.

This is the story of a marriage and a tumultuous relationship. The reader knows from the beginning that someone dies since there is a chapter entitled “The Day of the Killing.” However, it is not until much later that you find out who dies and how and when. The plot unfolds with multiple points of view and various settings, including the Balkans, a location that is rarely found in modern fiction. Maddie and Ian are married and have a wonderful son named Charlie and a good friend named Jo. It is obvious from the beginning of the book that one of them is a victim, but the essential elements of the story are revealed slowly, like a hidden picture mystery. There is indeed a hidden secret in this psychological thriller, and the secret is not easily guessed and is shocking when it is revealed. Since the story is told in reverse chronological order, it was a little hard for me to follow at times. It was also slow-moving sometimes’; I just wanted the big reveal to happen so I could know what was really happening in the story. The tale of Maddie and Ian was well done, a tangled one with a lot of very deep issues. I enjoyed the story once I really got into it and started understanding who played what role. This is not a story that is easy to forget but it is not one that is easy to read either. The perfect family has terrible secrets and a sinister occurrence that will leave the reader reeling and wondering how you missed the clues about what was really going on. This is a book for fans of thrillers and dark mysteries.

Maddie meets Ian on a visit with her friend Jo in Europe. Their friendship takes them to the corners of the world which is a different life from Maggie’s home of Kansas, USA. Ian is in the British Army and Maddie is immediately taken with him. Even with tensions running high between Jo and Ian, Maggie can’t stop loving Ian. After years of back and forth travels and broken relationships, they settle down and start a family. The hard war life has left Ian hardened to the world and struggling with PTSD symptoms. Then an accident happens that leaves physical scars for Maggie. The past starts to unravel. Can a friendship be repaired? What happens next you will never guess.

This is my first read from this author. The twists and turns of Maddie, Jo & Ian’s relationship left me wondering what would happen next. I was not expecting the ending. I look forward her next new book.

Started off really liking this book. Really liked the “past” sections, descriptions of other countries during war times. Loved the friendship between the main character, Maddie, and her best friend, Jo. The transitions from past to present are smooth and well-written. I thought the story would move along quicker than it did and found myself eager for something to happen. I didn’t really have any guesses as to how it was going to end. Which is rare for me, I always have at least a GUESS. I give 3 stars for being original and a overall decent read but did not knock my socks off.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I usually don't enjoy books that jump through multiple timelines and sync up at the end. This book, however, was brilliantly written and the timelines were done so well, I wasn't confused or re-reading constantly. I read a lot of reviews that said people were let down that they didn't get more of a connection to the characters. I worried about this before reading. But, now having read it, I don't see how this wonderful story could have been pulled off any other way. Yes, we get mainly 1 person's perspective, but I feel it's necessary to build the suspense and thrilling storyline.

The story starts with The Day of the Killing. And not until the end of the book do you even know who is injured, dead, and the perpetrator. I have never read anything quite like this, and I LOVED IT! It kept my interest the entire time, and I never saw the ending coming. Great, great read! I would highly recommend.