Quick Take: One Fatal Mistake by Tom Hunt
A little torn on One Fatal Mistake by Tom Hunt. It turned out to be the fast paced thriller I was looking for when I grabbed it from NetGalley. But I was left cold by the ending. Everything went barreling toward a climax and then it just kind of ended.

"When eighteen-year-old Joshua Mayo takes a man’s life in a terrible accident, he leaves the scene without reporting the crime to the police. He hopes to put the awful night behind him and move on with his life. But, of course, he ends up telling his mother, Karen, what happened.

Karen has raised Joshua on her own in Cedar Rapids, Iowa–and she’d thought they’d finally made it. He was doing well in school and was only months away from starting college at his dream school. After hearing his dark confession, she’s forced to make a choice no parent should have to make. A choice that draws them both into a web of deceit that will change their lives forever–if they can make it out alive.

The story is an interesting exploration of how things can go horribly wrong in a flash and how these intense moments, and a fierce dedication to loved ones, can make moral decision making difficult."

A fast and entertaining read but didn’t stick the landing, IMO.

One fatal mistake sets off a crazy and chaotic chain of events for 18-year-old Joshua Mayo and his mother, Karen. When Karen learns that Joshua has accidentally killed a man and fled the scene, she's faced with a dilemma — help him cover it up, or risk him going to prison and ruining his future. Little do they know, that one mistake is just the tip of the iceberg.

ONE FATAL MISTAKE is a super-fast paced and unique thriller. It's part crime drama and part family drama with lots of tension. While the characters felt real and their predicaments made me anxious, some of their actions were so frustrating. I suppose if you're caught up in extreme situations trying to save your child, you may not make the best decisions.

Overall, this was an entertaining read I'd recommend to fans of suspenseful survival stories. Not really a mystery, but definitely a thrill ride. (I also enjoyed the Midwestern setting — Cedar Rapids!) 3.75 Stars.

An addictive fast paced read that will keep you glued to those pages!

How far would you go to protect your child? A tragic accident... a fatal mistake... a lie... a cover up... A BIG hot mess!

This book was packed full of nonstop action from first page to last... josh was involved in a tragic accident that led to the death of a man... in the process of covering it up Josh and his mom Karen run into Ross and Amber... Ross and Amber have just robbed a bank and are on the run... after Josh and Karen’s lives clash with Ross and Amber things go sideways, in a big way! Not going to go into the plot more, just know it is one wild and crazy ride....

This was such an entertaining read, but it also gave you some food for thought... Karen was a wonderful character and a definite loving mother, but... did she do the right thing? And in this situation is there a right thing? Would you help your child bury the body, literally or figuratively? I really have no idea what I would have done in Karen’s situation, and hopefully I will never need to know! Such a fun twisty story that definitely kept me engaged throughout! A book full of likable characters making some pretty bad decisions! It definitely showed you how one mistake, one lie, can lead to so much tragedy....

A nonstop thrilling thriller that will make your heart beat a little bit faster and make you need to catch your breath! Absolutely recommend!

🎵 Music running through my head! This song kept going through my head, because of Ross and Amber being on the run, and wanted dead or alive!

“It's all the same, only the names will change
Everyday, it seems we're wastin' away
Another place where the faces are so cold
I drive all night just to get back home
I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride
I'm wanted dead or alive”
Bon Jovi 1986

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py6U3XMy-AM

*** thank you to Berkley for my copy of this book ***

If it's true that stupid is as stupid does, and I must say the characters in this book pretty much have the concept down pat. But if you can overlook the dumb things they say and do, what's left really is a well-written page-turner that will hold your attention from beginning to end.

The most important fatal mistake (I would argue that there are several others to follow) happens right at the beginning, as Joshua, a senior in high school, is involved in what begins as an auto accident and ends in a man's death. Near panic (and no doubt seeing his future dissolve right in front of his eyes), he does what he can to cover his tracks instead of owning up. But his mother Karen sees right through his concocted story of what happened to damage his car - and then proceeds to make the whole thing worse by concocting a cover-up of her own in an effort to keep her precious son out of serious legal trouble.

As this is happening, three other ne'er do well grown-ups - Ross, his wife Amber and his brother Shane - pull off a bank robbery that doesn't end well for one of them. The getaway puts the other two baddies at the scene of Joshua's accident just as he and his mother drive up so she can check it out. The four wrongs come together with a bang - literally - leading to yet another huge mistake (and another, and another....) Providing more details would only serve to spoil things for others, but everything happens nonstop from this point on - including the lies. Still, no matter what I thought of the characters or their decisions, I admit I didn't want to stop reading (in fact, I finished all but the last two chapters at one sitting).

Here's something else to consider: All the way through I said to myself that the story sure would make a great movie (the action scenes in particular just scream for video interpretation (maybe with Sandra Bullock playing Karen)? In any event, thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review the book.

This is the second book I’ve read by Hunt and both were action packed, nail biting, high octane thrillers that moved at breakneck speed. I started this one night right before bed thinking I would read a few chapters just to get a feel for the book, umm WRONG! I read sixty percent before forcing myself to put it down and then immediately devoured the remaining forty percent the next day. It really was unputdownable although you do have to be willing to suspend a little disbelief.

This wastes absolutely no time and gets straight to the action, you meet Joshua a high school senior who accidentally kills a man after hitting him with his car and he flees, and then Amber, Ross and Shane who rob a bank. At first you’re wondering how these two separate storylines have anything to do with each other but thanks to the rapid pacing things merge quickly and all becomes clear. No more referencing the plot from me because everything that follows is one giant series of twists and turns that made my head spin!

This was an insanely fun book to binge read and reminded me of a fast paced action movie. Yes, some of the characters actions and choices seemed rather out there, but if you can just sit back and take things at face value it makes for a highly enjoyable read.

One Fatal Mistake in three words: Relentless, Exhilarating and Fast.

A high octane wild ride that was loads of fun!

Singing "On the road again....can't wait to....

Did it matter that it was kinda far-fetched? NO -This was one fun mom to the rescue, action packed thriller with lots of what just happened detours. 

I wasn't expecting this to be such a frantic paced page-turner so I was pleasantly surprised at how much it held my attention. I loved the mom character, Karen. She was willing to do anything for her son, Joshua. And you won't believe how far she goes. I really started to care about her and Josh and was rooting for them all the way! Go team Karen!

I love an entertaining tale of a bungled crime and despite the unlikelihood of all these things that transpired, I still Loved it!

Some of my thoughts while reading... Oh no, what just happened?/ madness/ craziness/ one hilarious mishap after the next/ quick call the this could never happen police/ bloody h*ll/ never expected her/him to do THAT

For fans of fun, entertaining reads that are part action, part thriller, with some hilarious tidbits of a crime gone wrong. 4 STARS

Thanks to the NG and Pub. for my review copy. Out on February 5,2019

P.S. I purchased Tom Hunt's debut novel, Killer Choice so I get have some more fun.

In the blink of an eye, your entire world can be flipped upside down. One Fatal Mistake is all it takes to alter the course of your life forever. After the error, do you own up to it? Or try to sweep it under the rug? It is in these moments that the lasting consequences of one’s mistake are truly determined.

On Joshua’s fateful night, he accidentally hits a man on the dark, windy streets of a forest preserve. This was not his fatal mistake, but fleeing the scene was. His decision set him and his mother on a collision course with a trio of bank robbers. The situation gets messier by the minute for this overwhelmed high school senior, as more than just his hopes of college are hanging in the balance.

Hunt’s novel is a short read that you will fly through. While I don’t expect any award or national accolades, it was an action-packed read with some unexpected twists. The characters in One Fatal Mistake would fit in well with those who “go in the house” in horror movies; you constantly shake your head in disagreement but enjoy the ride nonetheless.

Start this book tonight and feel good about finishing one tomorrow as you march towards your “read more” 2019 resolution.

I loved the twists and turns. A rollercoaster of a first book! I'm looking forward to more from Tom Hunt!

It was an accident, plain and simple, until it turned into a nightmare of lies, cover-ups and a desperate race for survival and atonement.

ONE FATAL MISTAKE became a tsunami of horror for one teen and his parents. Bad judgement call after bad judgement call almost killed them all when Fate put them in the crosshairs of two bank robbers who have discovered their secret and they prove how far they will go to “protect” the ones they love. But have they gone in the wrong direction?

Tom Hunt presents a twisted tale of misguided love and loyalty as we witness character after character do exactly the opposite of what they should have when lives were on the line.

It was amazing how often I sat there saying, no, no, no, not that…do NOT do that…and yet the characters did and I just couldn’t stop reading to see how it all turned out, white-knuckling it through every page. Then I asked myself…what would I have REALLY done? I know the kind of parent I am and I was shocked by some of the parental actions or lack of…a fascinating tale to dissect!

3.5 stars.

There's something to be said about a thriller where you can predict pretty much everything that will happen, yet you can't tear yourself away from it. That was the case with Tom Hunt's One Fatal Mistake. Its pacing left my heart pounding, and even though I had my suspicions about how the plot would unfold, I needed to know where Hunt would surprise me.

Joshua Mayo is 18 years old, a talented golfer with his whole future ahead of him. In just a few months he's heading off to college, where he hopes to study landscape architecture and eventually design golf courses. But one night, everything changes. He accidentally kills a man in the middle of a deserted nature preserve, and fearful of having to go to jail for his bad luck, he decides not to report the crime to the police, and hopes that the body might never be found.

Moving on with his life, however, isn't as easy he imagined it would be. Joshua is wracked with guilt, not to mention fear that somehow he slipped up, and his crime will be discovered. His mother Karen knows something is wrong with Joshua but he won't tell her anything. But when he disappears late one night, she knows she needs to follow him to see how she can help, or even protect, him. That split-second decision sets them on a collision course with disaster, and it could put everything they hold dear at risk.

How far would you go to protect your child? Is there anything you wouldn't do? Karen knows she'd lay down her life for her son. She may have to, unless she can think of a way to get them out of the dangerous trouble they've found themselves in.

There's rarely a slow moment in One Fatal Mistake. I'm being fairly vague in terms of plot description because it definitely helps to let things unfurl little by little. I definitely wanted to shake the characters from time to time for all of the stupid decisions they were making, but who's to say that people in those situations might not act that way in real life?

Of course, as with most thrillers, you need to suspend a little disbelief. But like I said, this is a book that hooked me from start to finish—I read most of it in a few hours—and I like the way Hunt fed the plot to you, little by little. I wish I was surprised a little more, but this was still a roller coaster ride of a book.

NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Wow! Crazy story. The ending was a bit of a downer after all of that.
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Sometimes you have to be in the right frame of mind to read a particular style of book. When I read the first few chapters of this it took me a bit by surprise and I had to stop reading for a few days. I wanted to be fully in the moment, with my head clear before I moved on.

Once I was able to carve out reading time in bulk I dived into the story. It was definitely not what I was expecting but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

This book is a true crime spree that perfectly showcases how one bad mistake can snowball and completely make a mess of your life.

I have to be up front and say that this book is loaded with gruesome detail, violence, and bad decisions all around. But yet it’s completely addicting, once you get into the story.

One Fatal Mistake is a heart pounding, pulse racing, non-stop action story that leaves you shaking your head at the end. In fact, the ending was almost a bit deflating because there was so much to wrap your head around throughout the rest of the story.

Hunt delivers a fast paced story loaded with realistic, in-depth imagery and plenty of twists to keep you on your toes. A completely engaging read that will capture your attention and definitely remain in your mind long after you finish the story.

Just when you think you’ve got Tom Hunt’s next twist figured out, he sends you down a rabbit hole you didn’t even consider. This is a wild ride that unfolds at breakneck speed and no matter how much I wanted to stop and savor certain parts, I just couldn’t allow myself to slow down. I had to know what would happen next. It’s one of those stories that you start with a great looking manicure and by the time you finish there’s not a fingernail left on your hand, they’ve all be chomped to the quick.

The description and concept of the book was great, but the story just dragged on and on. I only finished the book, quickly flipping through almost the whole thing, just to find out how it ended.

This starts off with a bang when a young man arrives home after being involved in a hit and run accident. Add bank robbery and kidnapping, and you've got the makings of a thrilling read.

A good psychological thriller that was well paced and full of interesting characters. I thought the ending was a little predictable but it didn't affect my enjoyment of the story. Recommended

Karen Mayo, estranged from her husband has taken her life into her own hands; studied for and became a nurse. She has also watched her beloved son Joshua moving away from the divorce between his parents, now ready to graduate from high school and accepted to Clemson University. He is also a member of his school golf team and plays frequently with his father. Suddenly fate takes a hand in the Mayo family's affairs. Joshua and his father decide to drive golf balls off a cliff facing a river and located in a large wooded area north of their home.
They finish the driving a little after dark and are on their way back to Joshua's home when they accidentally hit a man walking alone in the woods. They quickly go over to see how the person is when the man jumps up and attacks Andrew, Joshua's father. Appearing possible that Andrew could be killed Joshua picks up a rock and strikes the man on his head. Checking him it is found that he has died from the blow.
There is another half of the events in this well done novel. Three individuals ; two men and the wife of one of them have planned and executed a robbery of a bank. One of the men is purposely left at the scene of the robbery and the other two flee the area with a bag of money stolen from the bank. The two halves are expertly tied into a very ingenious whole by the author. What happens when the two groups meet and how do events reach a conclusion for all of them is the theme of a very engrossing novel by an author that is a master of developing characters in his books.
The accidental murder in the woods and it's consequences is tied very neatly into the actions and fate of the bank robbers including the one that was stranded at the scene of the crime by the other two. A compelling all nighter by an author completing only his second book. Certainly one to continue looking for in the future.

Joshua has a bright future ahead until the night he hits a stranger in the middle of the road. If only the guy would’ve been killed on impact.

Circumstances cause the teenager to cover-up the accident. But did he leave something behind?
Being at the wrong place at the wrong time quickly escalates into a fight for their lives as Joshua and his single-mom Karen are drawn into a life-or-death situation as their path crosses that of a pair of criminals on the run. How far is Karen willing to go to protect her son?

The pace of this story moved rapidly along like an action movie. The plot was a little far-fetched at times, but it is fiction, so I overlooked it. The descriptive writing was on point. The characters were well developed, ranging from sympathetic do-gooders to a downright evil monster. I even felt a bit of sympathy for one of the “bad guys.” And sometimes there’s a fine line between the good guys and the bad guys.

Overall, I enjoyed this page-turner, although it had a little too much foul language for my tastes. There was a bit of goriness too. I suggest a mature reader.

I give this book four* stars (with an asterisk for language and content.)

Twist and turns to keep you turning the pages. Would recommend for anyone who likes a good mystery with a surprise ending.

This thriller was a real roller coaster of a ride! The story built to a high point of tension, then dipped to build up again. It began with Joshua, a teen in high school. He was out with someone in a car and an accident caused a man to lose his life. Joshua tries to cover it up but eventually his Mom discovers the accident. The two of them are put through a series of events that require tough decisions. The thriller also has some tough characters. And that ending.....wow! I expected it to end one way and it went another and I liked it!

A great read this weekend for me about the lengths a mom will go; even when all of it is wrong!
This premise will make all the parents who read it ask themselves, "What would I do to protect my own"?

Very nice here.