I am afraid I just didn't connect with this book. I am really sorry and hope others enjoy it more. I feel like it was my fault for requesting it, and will be interested to see what other readers thought of it.

I'm afraid that this just wasn't for me. I really struggled to maintain focus on either the characters or the storyline and almost didn't finish it.

It's about buried secrets and the lead character returns home to face the music on a murder she committed years before.

I'm clearly in the minority as many love the writing and storyline and I wish the author every success. Just not one for me - sorry!

I do appreciate the opportunity to preview though and thank you NetGalley and the publishers.

Twenty-five years ago, Jane Mooney confessed to murdering her stepfather – but with no body, the police decided not to charge her. She’s spent those years as far as she could get from her hometown of Maud, along the banks of the Arkansas River.

But nothing stays lost forever, and when a flood brings Warren’s body back to the attention of the living, Jane finally heads home, to deal with the past, and with the family she thought she’d left behind forever.

Kelly J Ford does an uncomfortably good job at portraying the claustrophobia of small towns, where everyone knows your business and gossip runs faster than any official media could keep up with. It wasn’t just Jane who was there on that fateful night, but her confession kept the others out of the limelight, leaving her as the one to bear the attention and the whispers. As soon as she sets foot in Maud, the reader is pulled along with her, and you can almost feel the whispers and the sidelong looks as she does.

Real Bad Things unfolds between the present and the past, and it doesn’t take long to see that there’s much more to the story than Jane initially admits to. As complicated as the past situation might be, it’s the current timeline of the book where the author really unleashes her talent for intricate storytelling. Each character has developed over time, in ways that might be surprising, but that feel true to them as the reader gets to know them.

With layers of storytelling portraying generational trauma, small towns and the unbearable confines their scrutiny can place on anyone who feels different, and the unbreakable bonds that adversity can forge, Real Bad Things is sometimes a hard read, but always an excellent one. Readers looking for slow burn mystery with unforgettable characters and an unforgettable atmosphere will find here exactly what they need.

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

PUBLICATION DAY: September 1, 2022

Teenager Jane always knew she had to get out of Maud Bottoms…she had to leave Arkansas or she wouldn’t survive. Taking care of her brother Jason was her prime focus…her mother certainly wasn’t going to help, drinking and bringing home debatable men was her main goal - not her children. When things go horribly wrong one night, Jane confesses to murder, but when no action is taken she leaves town for good. Until a body is found 25 years later and Jane is right back where she started. What really happened that night? And will the right person be punished for the crime?

PROS and CONS:
Such a well written, easy to read book. I loved (or loved to hate) the characters of Jane, Georgia Lee and Diane. There are just enough characters to keep you guessing, and just enough mystery to keep you invested until the end. I enjoyed it!

READ IT?
Ford’s work is a first for me, I’d definitely read another. Definitely recommended!

4 Stars

This was a good slow burn psychological thriller. I did guess the ending pretty early on so it took away from the shock factor for me. Jane confesses to the murder of her stepdad and when the body is found 25 years later, she returns home. Reminded me of a Gillian Flynn novel.

🎵🎶🎵Oh give me a home where the doublewides roam and the skies are not cloudy all day 🎵🎶🎵



I am thankful for Shelby’s friendship for a plethora of reasons, but maybe none so much as her addiction to NetGalley and her late night texts that turn me on to books she knows I can’t live without. (And this one was even a Read Now!!!)

I have been waiting FOUR lonnnnnnng years for Kelly J. Ford to release her sophomore novel after the perfection which was Cottonmouths. To say this one didn’t disappoint would be a massive understatement. The story here starts off with . . . .

They found him. I TOLD YOU THEY WOULD. Time to come home. Time to pay for what YOU DONE.

Yummy yum yum. Nothing better than a “you can’t go home again.” Especially when said home is a trailer park and there’s a long dead stepdaddy involved. After that, it’s all about . . . .

#OhShitYall
#MaudMurderMystery
#LesbiansLesbiansLesbians
#SinnerSinnerChickenDinner

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wished for more of a “why” behind the big reveal, but that’s because I’m an entitled first worlder and need to get over myself. And you know how the old song goes ….. you can't always get what you want.

Kelly J. Ford is a hell of a storyteller. I’ll read her dang grocery list.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the copy of Real Bad Things. The story was dark in many ways. The premise was interesting but I wasn’t as captivated as I had hoped. I did like the eventual outcome. The characters were not just unlikable, but also nasty. This made it hard to care about them. The writing was difficult to get into or connect with. I didn’t like all of the bad language and the “gossip sheet” parts were childish (really, calling Jane ‘lezzy”?) and didn't really add to the story. People that like a twisty story and don’t need to care about the characters and that connect to the writing would like this book. Sadly, it wasn’t for me. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

A great novel for mystery fans who love to follow clues to the solution of the crime. Also enjoyed the author’s earlier, Cottonmouths.

I liked this book overall, it was a bit different than the typical thrillers I read. I think it was told so well and grabbed my attention early on. I did have a great time with this, my only problem was that the ending was way too predictable!

Real Bad Things is a very intense murder mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I highly recommend!

I am going to call it now, on August 9, 2022, Real Bad Things, is going to break the internet.

Easter weekend was supposed to be spent with my family, that is exactly what DID NOT happen.

I was completely sucked in and consumed by this book. Real Bad Things, instantly captivated my attention and took my breath away.

Why did this book take me so long to pick up?

There is no way you will ever be able to figure out what is going on before it happens. This is a character driven novel that will keep you in suspense the entire time. The build up leading to the big twist was done with precision and perfectly executed. This book could have gone in so many different directions and Kelly Ford led you down a rabbit hole of possibilities.

I was completely and totally obsessed with this book and I will forever recommend this one to fellow thrill lovers. Kelly Ford deserves every bit of success headed her way when this book releases. This book screams bestseller.

Big Thank you to Netgalley, Kelly J. Ford, and Thomas & Mercer, for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book before the big release!

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Definitely creepy. Just a little slow and unbelievable at some points. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This one was good I found the setting fit the novel and found the characters believeable but I did feel the plot was slow in places but overall good book.
Thanks for letting me review the book to Netgalley and the publisher

Jane returns home after 25 years to face the fact that the body of her her missing stepfather (whom she confessed to killing as a teenager) has finally turned up. The story flips between her and Georgia Lee's points of view of the present and remembering what really happened in the past. This was hard to get into, but I ended up enjoying it. It wasn't super predictable like a lot of these types of books, and I didn't catch on to what really happened until pretty close to the end. 4 stars.

When teenage Jane Mooney confessed to killing her alcoholic, abusive stepfather she expected to go the jail. Without a body, there was no crime to convict her so she got off and left town. Now twenty five years later, a body has washed up and Jane is back to face the consequences.

Overall, I liked this book. It was a bit different than some of the other thrillers I've read but I really enjoyed it. While I found that I was able to predict what was coming, I was never fully sure that my prediction was correct (and sometimes I was wrong).

On the writing, I found that the protagonist, Jane, was a bit hard to like or connect to. I did, however, generally like how this author developed the characters over the course of the book. I also enjoyed the representation of the LGBTQIA+ community in this book.

When Jane Mooney confessed to killing her alcoholic, abusive stepfather she expected to go the jail. Without a body, she got off and left town. Now twenty five years later, a body has washed up and Jane is back to face the consequences.

Sometimes I’m in the mood for a dark read, and this definitely was. It was difficult to read how some of the family members treated each other. I wasn’t expecting to be surprised by the story, but I ended up being pretty shocked. I loved the LGBTQIA rep in the story, even though the discrimination was hard to read.

“If the investigation ended, that would mean one of two outcomes: jail or freedom. For now, she’d have to sit in the horrible in between.”

Real Bad Things comes out 9/1.

Once the body of a man is found, Jane returns to her hometown of Maud to be there for her eventual arrest. Jane confessed to killing her moms boyfriend to protect her brother, and police think his body is the one that has been recovered.

As Jane tries to reconnect with her brother, has to deal with her venomous mother, and rekindles a bond with Georgie Lee (her “Bonnie”), the truth of what happened that fateful night years ago slowly comes out.

I really enjoyed this book. I found it a bit slow at first but once the story started to pick up and I got into it I found it hard to put down!

Watching Jane deal with the fate she has accepted (going to jail for a crime she didn’t commit) while simultaneously trying to figure out what actually happened to Warren was so intriguing!!

An excellent addition to the crowded thriller genre. A recommended purchase for all public fiction collections.

Incredible read, different than anything I’ve read so far this year! Jane’s father is abusive and she kills him but the body is gone so even after a confession… no body, no crime. She moves away and moves on with her life, only to have his body wash up 25 years later… Jane never tried to hide the crime so she heads back to finally face the consequences of her actions.

There’s so many possibilities and webs of deception in this psychological thriller and I was completely impressed with the writing style. Take a ride on this emotional roller coaster ride! Ready to read Cottonmouths now!

If I could describe this book’s genre, it would be southern noir. It was really sultry, beautiful and well written. It was a good thriller, with likable characters, unreliable and all.