#BabyDear #LindaHuber #Review

Caro and Jeff Horne seem to have it all until they learn that Jeff is infertile. Caro married Jeff because her biggest wish was to be a mother, and he had the means to give their children a better life than she’d had. Jeff, who is besotted with Caro, is terrified he will lose her now they can’t have a baby.

Across town, Sharon is eight months pregnant and unsure if she really wants to be a mother. Soon her world will collide with Jeff’s. He wants to keep Caro happy and decides that getting a baby is the only way. 

Then Caro is accidently drawn into an underworld of drugs…

Meanwhile, Jeff is increasingly desperate to find a baby – but what lengths is he prepared to go to?

Is Sharon in danger, and will Caro ever have the family she’s always dreamed of?


I have read all Linda Huber's books. She is my go-to for a reliable, dependable, psychological thriller fix. And I use words like "dependable", "reliable" and "satisfactory" as huge compliments because it means when I finish turning the pages of her books I feel like I have been treated to a well written, well structured and enjoyable book. Not all books do that - and not all books can do that consistently. Sometimes you want an easy read, a page turner with enough twists to surprise you but not tangle you up into so many knots you never sleep again! Linda Huber's novels do everything a satisfying suspense novel should. Baby Dear is no exception.

It opens with a prologue and I am a fan of this controversial tool. It is deliciously shocking and suitably anonymous and confusing. I think having the words gun and baby in the same line is very bold and certainly prepares us for a story that is going to pull at our heartstrings.

The opening of the novel focuses on Caro and her desire for a baby. Infertility and the journey some couples go through to have a child is a massively emotive subject and one which people will react to strongly depending on their experiences. Huber does not hold back expressing the raw pain of Caro and the colossal impact their state of childlessness is having on them. Huber never shies away from strong characters who can either have strong opinions themselves or provoke strong reactions from her readers and in Baby Dear again is no exception. But, Huber explores Caro's emotions and interaction with her husband with sensitively and thoughtfulness.

Obviously having a child is a very intimate experience and the conversations around this are very private so I was impressed at what length Huber went to to portray this and share it with the reader. And as I was just beginning to find it a little intense, she moves the story along by introducing the other characters and some further action that propels the plot forward.

The novel focuses on three women, all in very different situations regarding motherhood. This really works as it allows Huber to really play with the interaction and dynamics between the woman and really explore all that it means to be a mother. It also brings in more characters, more sub plots, more suspense and more tension. All of the women are well crafted, believable and relatable. Sharon in particular, who does not want to become a mother and voices some strong thoughts, is handled well; we see that actually things are not that black and white and her point of view contradicts that of the others so much it sets up some exiting tensions. But the reader feels something for all the women and is involved in each of their stories and situations.

I think what I also enjoyed about this book was that it dodged some cliches. This is about a couple who are so desperate they want a child but it did not play out in the way I expected at all and the most disturbing character was not the one I conventionally suspected.

I don't want to give too much away but, as with all great Huber novels, the plot escalates suddenly to a totally page turing dramatic climax where suddenly everything collides and the reader is dragged breathlessly through towards the end, gripped and shocked, desperate to see how it will resolve itself. It's good read. It won't disappoint. I recommend!

Baby Dear is published by Bloodhound Books on 18th May 2017.

LINDA HUBER




Linda Huber grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, where she trained as a physiotherapist. She spent ten years working with neurological patients, firstly in Glasgow and then in Switzerland. During this time she learned that different people have different ways of dealing with stressful events in their lives, and this knowledge still helps her today, in her writing.

Linda now lives in Switzerland, where she works as a language teacher in a little town on the banks of beautiful Lake Constance.

Her debut novel The Paradise Trees was published in 2013 and was followed by The Cold Cold Sea in 2014 and The Attic Room in 2015. she has also had over 50 short stories and articles published in magazines, some of which are available in a collection called The Saturday Secret. In 2016 she published Chosen Child and Ward Zero. 

LindaHuber19
http://lindahuber.net/

You can find my reviews for Linda's books by using the links below:
Ward Zero
Cold Cold Sea & Chosen Child
The Saturday Secret

And you can find me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3