I have read and enjoyed other Alice Hunter books and this one did not disappoint, a twisty tale of corruption and abuse of power in the police force.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book

I’d like to thank Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Bad Apple’ written by Alice Hunter in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Becky Lawson finds proof that her husband John is a rapist but he’s a policeman too and despite reporting him to his superiors she gets pushed out of her job with the police force. When she later learns that John is going to be promoted Becky decides to do anything she can to stop him hurting other women and with the help of two detective friends Charlie and Hannah she starts her own investigation although she’s aware she could be arrested for stalking. As she finds evidence that could put him behind bars, Becky starts to wonder who can be trusted and who wants to cause her harm.

‘Bad Apple’ is a topical thriller that’s had me gripped from the start as it tells of what happened to Becky in the past and the present time, as she’s living in a rented flat in a rough area with no job or money but a determination to save other women from being abused by her ex-husband. This well-written plot has all the drama and intrigue I’ve come to associate with Ms Hunter’s novels, as the tension gradually increases page by page until there’s a final unbelievable twist in the last chapters and we find out who can be trusted. This is an excellent novel that’s involving and thrilling, and is one I can wholeheartedly recommend.

Another fantastic thriller by Alice Hunter. Becky and her husband John are both police officers who work for the same department. While working different shifts they make the most of the time they have together and are a happy couple. That is until Becky finds out that her husband is committing heinous acts against women in the community and is being covered for by the other officers on the force. Fast paced, edge of your seat thriller that I absolutely could not put down, clear your day before you start this diabolical thrill ride.

Unfortunately, this one wasn't for me and I gave up at around 12%. The opening chapter was great, really gripped my attention but when we moved to Becky in the present I found my attention wained. I'm not a fan of overwriting and describing every minute detail and that is what hampered my reading enjoyment of this book. Every tiny detail was described from walking down a hallway to the front door to bending down to pick up a letter. There was far too much description as well as every little thing being analysed in the characters internal dialogue as well. For me it slowed the pace of the book right down and I just didn't want to continue reading.

This was a well paced thriller full of lots of twists and turns. Some topics were hard to read but overall I enjoyed this.

Would recommend

John is not the man Becky thought he was when she married him nor is he the man his colleagues seem to believe he is. Becky discovered his crimes, turned him in and was crushed when she was the one who paid the price, Now, she's determined to set things right and to uncover the corruption that's allowed him to go free. Police corruption and crime are on trial here with a brave woman in Becky. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A nicely written and paced thriller.

How can you live with yourself when you find the man you love is rotten to the core?

Trusted Officer. Family man. Murderer.

Becky's life has been shattered.

When she discovered her husband John - a policeman she once trusted - was a monster, she reported him. But it didn't lead to any charges. Now, John lives freely with a new girlfriend and her daughter - while Becky battles guilt for missing the obvious signs. Determined for justice. Becky confronts John. But he targets her. He wants her silenced - and at any cost. And now, survival is the only option because he's not the only bad apple lurking in the shadows....

Becky was once a respected police officer, but now she's lost her job and home. She had reported her husband, John, for an extremely horrible crime, but he's still got his job in the police force. All Becky wanted was justice, and she will stop at nothing to get incriminating evidence to do it.

Becky comes across as the psycho ex-wife, so it makes you wonder if John is as bad as Becky makes out. But Becky wasn't going to be silenced. There are parts that are quite repetitive. I did not like John for obvious reasons. I was rooting for Becky all the way. The ending was a bit predictable, but I still enjoyed this book.

Published 9th May

I would like to thank #NetGalley #AvonBooksUK and the author #AliceHunter for my ARC of #BadApple in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was an okay read. I really liked Hunter's characters, Becky is very strong and those she comes into contact with are similarly strong and contribute a lot to the plot. The plot is good and very intense, Hunter covers some hard-hitting subjects throughout and there are times where this is a difficult read. There are lots of twists and turns to this read which also helped to keep my ineterst.
For me, the area where this was not so enjoyable was how realistic it was. I did not think a lot of the events were particularly realistic and at times it bordered on the ridiculous. This was a shame as this could have been a very dark, gripping read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an advance copy.

3⭐️
Publisher - Avon Books UK
Publication Date - May 9th, 2024

When Becky learns that her cop husband is a rapist she quickly turns him in. Unfortunately, it's a case of "protecting their own," and she is the one who looses everything. Vengeance is a dish best served cold though and a year later, Becky is still at it. Putting together the pieces to prove his guilt. Regrettably, he is not the only bad apple on the force.

My Thoughts

I'm not sure how I felt about this book. It was well written. The characters were engaging and fleshed out. The storyline moves at a reasonable pace. I finished it in a day. Yet there is something on the tip of my tongue I just didn't like about it. I was bored with the story. It felt like a "defund the police" puff peice. I rolled my eyes more times than I could count.

I found a lot of the plot unbelievable. She is a cop and yet her claim that her husband is a rapist holds no weight? He rapes multiple women who ALL come forward, yet none are believed because of lack of evidence? Her entire career is over, and she is disgraced because she accused a fellow officer? Their are laws protecting out criers. It is a well woven tale, but it feels far-fetched.

Becky is kick ass. She is strong, determined, and thier for the people in her life. I liked her immensely. She is a little single focused, but that is to be expected. All in all, she was a mighty good MC POV.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the free ACR for review. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Married to a dedicated detective, Becky also in the Metropolitan Police has a good life. Until the day she discovers her apparently wonderful husband is a rapist. As she attempts to get justice for his victims she is met with disbelief from her colleagues and eventually she is the one who loses her job. Determined to not let things rest, Becky embarks on a dangerous journey to find hard evidence and the most difficult part, is to get someone to believe her. Who can she really trust? I raced through this tense book and didn’t believe anyone at all. As the story reached its terrifying climax, some answers were revealed but I was slightly disappointed that the ending wasn’t completely conclusive. I had suspicions about more than one person and would loved to have known if my instincts were correct.

Becky discovers her husband John, who is a police officer, is not the person she thought he was. She reports him but nothing comes from it and he carried on freely. She is adamant that she needs to get justice, however he wants her silenced. Will she manage to get the justice deserved?

I was looking forward to this one and found it was a compelling, tense story that is relative with the times. You can really get an understanding of how Becky is feeling, I found myself very paranoid while reading! I was never sure who to trust or who was corrupt, which added suspense and intrigue. The writing style was easy to follow, although I did find the pacing to be up and down. Overall though, this was an entertaining, enjoyable thriller. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

Yet again another winner from Alice Hunter, as her other books this one was amazing and gripping from start to finish, one of those rare books you wish you could read again and again for the first time

OMG!! This book is amazing!!!such a good concept, the characters were brought to life perfectly. The flashbacks were well done and don't just add pointless info. It's not too jumpy from now to then that it takes you out of the story. The characters were amazingly well brought to life, I could see these people as they went about their lives and the tension and secrets were plotted out perfectly. This is a must read! I'd give it 10 gold stars if I could

Bad Apple grabs your attention from the first to the last page.

Becky was shocked to find out her detective husband has a huge secret that will justifiably destroy his career, his job and his future.

Becky was the one that turned John into the police but he manages to fool them all and she looks like the bag guy.

Becky is not done yet.

Her life is a shambles and she wants John to pay the price.

John wants her gone.

For good.

Tension mounts with every page .

Alice Hunter throws in red herrings, twists and turns and an ending I did not even come close to predicting.

I highly recommend Bad Apple as an entertaining and thrilling read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK, Avon for the privilege of reading and reviewing Bad Apple.

Having read the previous author’s book. I couldn’t wait to read Bad Apple.
Becky was married to John a respectable Police officer. But when she discovers she is a rapist she tries to take him down and report him to the authorities. But with lack of evidence, she fails in the task and instead of him being arrested and him thrown off the force. She loses her own job as a Police detective and finds herself homeless.
John is now living with Nina, and they have a little girl, who Becky didn’t know about him cheating on her.
Becky now suffering from Anxiety but, she is still determined to take John down. She ropes in her ex-work colleagues and John’s victims to collect evidence to support to bring him to justice. But doing so she puts herself and others in danger from John and his helpers.
I really enjoyed this tense thriller from Alice hunter. It kept me guessing and guessing. Even though I sort of guessed the twist at the end. The only thing I was disappointed for me personally. I would have liked more of John’s character and not the people working for him, and we only really got to see what he was really like right at the end. 4 stars from me.

Thank you to netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advance copy.

I've previously read and enjoyed Alice Hunters other books. So I was super excited to get the chance to read this.

It was fast-paced, with lots of POVs and timelines. Our main character Becky is on a mission to get justice for her ex Husbands victims.

Whilst I flew through the story and wanted to see how it ended. I sadly didn't connect with the main character. Some of the dialogue was very repetitive.

That said it was still enjoyable. 3.5 stars.

A corrupt police officer doesn't seem to be too surprising going by various events over the last few years. Reading this maybe 10 years ago would seem too far fetched, but sadly due to recent events it is all too realistic.
This was a tense read and overall an enjoyable one, but became a bit repetitive at times, slowing down the story.

I love Alice Hunters books but i think this fell flat.

I felt this to be slow start and not keep you engaged. I felt it was repetitive and just not something that was jaw dropping or wanting you to keep reading and not put it down.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

This book was my entertainment on a lazy Sunday at home. Once I picked it up there was no stopping me. A tense, fast read that I thought that ai had figured out.. of course I was wrong 😅

I have read and enjoyed Alice Hunter books before so I knew that it would be a twisty and shocking story. I loved the premise of a wife turning in her policeman husband when she discovers that he is not the man she thought he was. John was a psychopath and would stop at nothing to keep his secret. I loved that Becky wouldn’t give up in order to save other women from her ex husbands torture. She was frustrating at the same time though, seemingly doing things before she really thought it through.

The ending shocked me, as I said, I thought I knew how it was going to end. Very clever.

Thanks to Avon Books UK for my advanced copy of this book to read. Publishes on May 9th.

3.5 stars

Boy does this book start with a bang!
Right from the prologue we jump right into the story and straight away I was hooked.
I enjoyed the writing style, which flowed so well chapter to chapter it made me want to keep on reading. I was totally invested throughout.
This book was darker and more intense than I expected it to be going in, but I found that to be a good thing. It really made me like it more.
This does cover some very timely topics (for example how women can't trust police) which definitely reminded me of some recent cases here in the UK, which this book seemed to take some inspiration from. This was the first novel covering this topic I have read and I think it was handled well.
Despite the subject matter I did find this to be an easy read but do check your trigger warnings.
One thing I would have liked to see though were some chapters from John's POV. I feel like we never get to know anything about him or his motives at all. This would have added a bit extra depth to the story for me.
I also felt like this book did become slightly repetitive and there wasn't a lot of plot progression. It felt like we were going round in circles a little following our MC Becky doing the same things without making much progress.
I also felt like the twist near the end was extremely easy to figure out and there were no surprises plot wise. This played out exactly as I thought it would going in.
Despite this I did have a good time reading it and I would recommend it.