Beyond Fear

If you like dark and twisty with a strong female lead, you're in for a treat!

This was my first Jaye Ford book and it was awesome!!

Meet Jodie. She's a survivor of a traumatic event as a teenager. She's now a 35 year old, divorced, with two children. She's a super vigilante self defense instructor and PE teacher. Her and her girlfriends are on a weekend escape in a newly renovated barn that used to be a flop house......and some people haven't gotten the message....

This is an action packed thrill ride that also appeals to my inner diva wanting to sip tea and hear about girl drama.

A special thank you to NetGalley, Independent Book Publishers Association, and Jaye Ford for providing me with an ARC.

Brilliant book. Felt like you were actually living the flashbacks.Definetely edge of your seat reading

I his book is definitely a great debut novel. At first I was not sure if it would be just another book of a weekend with friends that turned into a nightmare. But the more I read, the more I got engaged but the plot and the characters. It is a really well written fast paced thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat, the whole time. I’d definitely recommend this book and look forward to the next thriller from this author,

Very good book that i enjoyed reading and would recommend to other readers makes you feel as if you are weekending with them. 5*

Beyond Fear is the story that captures the feelings of Jodie, who went through a bad experience fears about history repeating itself when Jodie and her friends go away for the weekend and stay in a hunting cabin. After being through a trauma, Jodie feels something bad is gonna happen, but her friends neglect Jodie's feelings! The author has well captured the feelings of a woman who has been through trauma in this novel. I kinda hated that Jodie's friends didn't understand what Jodie went through when she was 17, to have those fears so embedded deep within her! But that's true, I have seen ppl not believing the after-effects of trauma and blaming the traumatized. This novel is beyond fear, mystery, and thriller.
Thank you, NetGalley and Jaye Ford for the reader's copy of this book. This review is based on my opinion and is not influenced in any way.

I loved this book from the start to the end. It was a really descriptive and gripping book throughout. The only thing I kept wondering was why Jodie didn’t go for help when she had the chance? I know it was explained, but I thought that she would have done. I couldn’t put this book down. Shared in books and booze 🥂 on Facebook.

5 stars Thanks to Random House Australia and NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book. Publishes in the US April 20, 2020.

I received this book directly through the author. And I am so happy that I did. There are few books that I gave a 5 star rating to, but this one sure deserves it. Seldom do I regret entering the last chapter of a book, however in this case, I will miss the characters that I came to know and understand.

From the opening page this story grabbed me and then it took on a life of it's own. So many instances in this story relate to real life situations and happenings. And for a woman, one of the most predominant fears is to meet men like the Anderson brothers.

Four women go on a weekend get-away. Things do not start out on a good note, then they disintegrate even further. Their destination is beautiful, warm and welcoming - their stay is much less so. Three of the four women begin to think their friend has gone off the deep end, and is losing her mind, seeing and hearing things that are not there. Then comes a knock at the door...

Jayne Ford is no novice author. Her writing is strong, her characters show their vulnerabilities, her plot lines are demanding. This is one author that I will continue to follow.

I decided to pick this up not only due to an intriguing synopsis but because it won two Davitt Awards for Australian Women Crime Writers, namely Best Debut and Readers’ Choice. It was also the highest selling debut thriller in Australia when it was initially published in 2011 so I figured it had to be worth a dabble. At its heart, this is a psychological thriller centred on the trials and tribulations of main protagonist, Jodie Cramer, who certainly hasn’t had it easy. To gain a little rest and relaxation her and four friends take a girlie break to an idyllic retreat hiring a hunting cabin in the stunning, isolated countryside of Hunter Valley, New South Wales. However, the time away ends up dredging up terrifying feelings of paranoia over a vicious incident that happened to Jodie eighteen years ago. It’s quite frankly astounding that this is a debut novel as it is just so pitch-perfect and exhilarating whilst authentically portraying the impact past trauma can have on a victim going forward.

Jodie is a strong, tough heroine and an ordinary thirty-five-year-old mother of two who was inspired by an attack on a girl close to Ford’s home that she read about in the newspaper. Ford has very much thrust an ordinary woman into extraordinary circumstances and made her dig deep to survive. It will get your heart racing, your blood pumping and those pages turning feverishly like no tomorrow. The pace is quick but slow enough to allow the author to craft a truly oppressive-feeling, moody atmosphere that worked so well and the isolated surroundings with no mobile service only served to heighten the tension more. There was a profound unease right from the outset and that continued to slowly but surely grow with the menace creeping up on you before you know it culminating in an explosive ending. Beyond Fear has been described as Nicci French meets Karin Slaughter, and I have to admit it has touches of both.

It is a highly accomplished, deliciously dark and spine-chilling thriller from beginning to end. Boy am I glad to have picked this up and urge other crime readers to do the same. This is an author with bags of talent and a wicked imagination to boot. A proper nail-biting read. 4.5 stars. Many thanks to Jaye Ford/IBPA for an ARC.

meet jodi she is divorced women with 2 children, in her past she had a traumatic event.
Jodi goes away with four friends for a break where anything can happen they expect a nice break but that is not what they get instead they meet 2 criminals......
Had me reading to late at night so i could find out what happened next good book.

Wow! An air of menace hangs over this thriller from the very start and just keeps building to a phenomenal climax! Heroine Jodie is a real powerhouse who has been through purgatory in her teens and, instead of allowing the past to keep her down she takes hold and uses it to push on. I loved this fast-paced, adrenaline-filled plot!

Author Jaye Ford is new to me but I will now be looking for more of her work.
First, I love a good yarn set in Australia. The book's well-written and she did a superb job of building her characters and the foreboding, isolated setting in the rural countryside of Australia's New South Wales. Yes, the other women in the story are skeptical, repeatedly unsupportive of Jodie and quite catty at times, but their life experience has not shaped them as Jodie's did. And injured, traumatized copper Matt is a great addition to the mix. His character brings in important knowledge of the villains who terrorize Jodie and her friends and a lethal personal relationship that ratchets the tension even higher. Plus, I must admit that I am a sucker for a bit of romance in my thriller reads, and Matt is a perfect example of the flawed hero type.😌

This is a definite recommend from me if you don't mind some bloody violence and repeated references to physical and sexual assault. I considered it a cautionary tale and found the story compelling and the end cathartic.

Thanks to the Independent Book Publishers Association and NetGalley for providing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review and the opinions expressed are my own.

If you are looking for a great Thriller with a touch of mystery “Beyond Fear” is for you. Even the title lets you know your in for one heck of a story! Jaye Ford is a master of setting the stage and sucking you into the story. I was hooked right from the start! I stayed up all night to finish it. This is my first book by Jaye Ford but it definitely won’t be the last, I’m hooked! Jodie’s character has been through a horrifying experience when she was young, now many years later not even her best friends know of the horror she had experienced. Jodie and her three best friends have girl time and this year it’s Jodie’s turn to pick, Jodie had learn to fight and protect her self over the years and relies on her instincts. When her friends learn of her tragic past they think everything she is feeling, hearing and seeing is related to her past, but is it? You have to read “Beyond Fear” it has twist, turns and will have you on the edge of your seat! Loved it!!!

Four women are about to head away for an annual girls weekend. With no kids, husbands and no worries their weekend should be filled with laughter and fun, but it seems this it is off to a bad start with a car accident. When they eventually arrive at their destination Jodie, Corrine, Hannah and Louise begin to relax a little until there is a knock at the door. Jodie had been feeling uneasy beforehand, only now with two men at the door, she was feeling a lot worse. Who were these men and what did they want?

OH MY GOODNESS! Beyond Fear was a fast paced page turner which kept me on the edge of my seat. If you enjoy a really good thriller, then make sure you read this book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Jodie and three of her best friends are having a ladies-away weekend ... leaving behind their husbands and/or kids.. to spend some relaxing time in a secluded cabin.

Unknown to the four women, their secluded cabin was once the focus of a police investigation and, like Jodie, it nurtures a dark secret ...

As a teenager, Jodie and her friend were abducted by three men. She luckily escaped, but not before she was witness to her friend's murder. Is it any wonder that she has severe trust issues .. especially when it comes to men.

As they settle in, Jodie begins to have flashbacks and panic attacks. She wakes up screaming in the middle of the night. She is convinced that they are in danger when she finds evidence that someone has been watching them. Her friends don't believe it ....

Until the two men show up......

This Australian author presents a well-crafted, highly suspenseful, novel that's guaranteed to have the reader double checking the doors and windows. It's a real page-turner with characters that are deftly drawn. It's riveting and chilling....

Many thanks to the author / Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' / Netgalley for the digital copy of this highly suspenseful novel. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

My first encounter with Jaye Ford and his storyline based in Australia. One hears the phrase ‘page turner’ and in this case definitely true. I really couldn’t put this down a gripping and riveting storyline. Keeps the reader hooked to the very end. Looking forward to more from this author.

Excellent Australian thriller with strong female protagonist

Wow...this was a great book. It started out giving me shivers and by the end I was jumping at every stray sound.

Jodie, the protagonist, is 35 years old, divorced, has two children, teaches P.E., and also teaches self-defense classes.

When Jodie was a teenager, she and a friend were abducted and horribly assaulted. She has tried to put that time behind her but it rears its ugly head once in awhile.

Jodie and three of her friends have been taking a yearly weekend away just for the girls (this is their 8th year) and Jodie made the arrangements this time at a renovated barn B&B north of Sydney. The weekend starts out badly and quickly grows much worse.

Let me tell you, there were a couple of women in this story I just wanted to slap.

This is definitely an author I will keep a watch out for. I notice she's published some books in Australia that haven't made it to the U.S. yet. I hope they do soon. There's one book coming in July 2020 called SCARED YET? that I plan on reading.

I received this book from Independent Book Publishers Association through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.