The Trapped Wife: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller with a mind-blowing twist
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Books by Samantha Hayes
The Trapped Wife
Single Mother
The Happy Couple
Date Night
The Liar’s Wife
Tell Me A Secret
The Reunion
Available in Audio
Single Mother (Available in the UK and the US)
The Happy Couple (Available in the UK and the US)
Date Night (Available in the UK and the US)
The Liar’s Wife (Available in the UK and the US)
Tell Me A Secret (Available in the UK and the US)
The Reunion (Available in the UK and the US)
A Letter from Samantha Hayes
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Dear Reader,
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I hope you loved reading The Trapped Wife, and that the ending left you shocked! It was such a brilliant book to write, with loads of surprises for me along the way as my characters came to life – I always think it’s a good sign if an author is gripped when writing. Currently I’m busy plotting out my next novel – another twisty page-turner (I’m getting excited just thinking about it!) – so if you’d like to keep up to date with my book news, then it would be great if you could take a moment to sign up at the link below to ensure you don’t miss out.
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Sign up here!
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So where did the idea for The Trapped Wife come from? Well… the first seed came from way back in my memory, my mind idly meandering through snippets that I’d filed away from long ago as I was drifting off to sleep one night, the perfect time to dream up ideas. I was aged five and had just started at my local village primary school. I was extremely shy and nervous and it wasn’t long before one of the school bullies sniffed me out and made my life a misery. Every playtime, every lunch break, he was there, hounding me, chasing me, calling me names, teasing and mocking me. I was terrified – too frightened even to speak up. He had a shock of short curly hair and always had muddy knees beneath his grey school shorts, which he wore winter and summer. I felt sick at the thought of going to school each morning because I knew John would be waiting for me.
Then one day my dad asked me what was wrong, why I was always withdrawn and sad – so, reluctantly, I told him. My parents went into the school to see the teacher, demanding that the boy be spoken to about his behaviour. I’ll never forget the moment when I found out that ‘John’ was in fact Jane – and far from feeling relief that I’d got it so wrong, it almost made the situation worse, as though I couldn’t trust my own judgement in this hostile new environment. I still gave Jane a wide berth at playtimes, always keeping an eye on her in case she came after me, and I was certainly relieved when we moved away and I changed schools.
So that was the core idea for The Trapped Wife, and I built upon that for Evan and Mac – with loner Evan not quite aligning reality with his desperate need for a friend. But a gripping psychological thriller is multilayered, and for the present-day scenes, I was inspired by a real-life story I read online about a woman who had fallen pregnant by a man she’d only met once. They lived at opposite ends of the country and she decided to pack up her life, give up her job, leave her friends and family and move hundreds of miles to be with him. It left me wondering if it had worked out, what had happened to them – if they’d built a future together or if the pressure of a ‘sudden family’ had been too great.
But being an author, I couldn’t help turning the story around and asking what would happen if the man had moved in with her instead? And more importantly, what if she didn’t want him to – what if it was all a drunken mistake – or, way worse, what if it wasn’t consensual? And on top of that, what if he was blackmailing her? That’s when I started digging deeper with the questions and wondering what could be in my main characters’ pasts that could link them. I’ve mentioned it before about my books, but challenging assumptions is a powerful tool in writing, and I think The Trapped Wife really illustrates this, leaving Jen backed into a corner as her past catches up with her. Desperation and fear drive her to extremes to save herself – but more importantly, to save her son and unborn child.
So that’s a brief behind-the-scenes look at the ideas in this book, and a flavour of the weaving of threads that transpired over the months of writing. As ever, if you loved reading it, I’d be more than thrilled if you were able to write a quick review online. Your feedback is so helpful for other readers who might enjoy my book – and of course, I love reading your thoughts too!
I’ll sign off for now. I can’t wait to share my next book with you. Meantime, feel free to join me on social media or take a look at my website for more details about my books and a little bit about how I became an author – details below.
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Take good care and happy reading!
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Sam x
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www.samanthahayes.co.uk
Single Mother
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I nearly threw the letter about the inheritance away with the recycling. Late for work, worrying about how I would afford new school shoes for Kate, and with no family left to leave me anything, I just assumed it was a mistake. Now I know the only mistake I ever made was opening that letter…
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The moment Mel and her daughter Kate step inside the small seaside hotel left to her in a stranger’s will, Mel allows herself a rare moment of hope. Could this be the new start away from the school bullies that her little girl so desperately needs? Could they finally be out of reach of Mel’s dangerous ex?
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As Mel starts restoring the building to its former glory – ripping up carpets, giving the rooms a fresh lick of paint – it’s hard work, but the place feels a little more like home each day; she’s even made a few friends. If only she could ignore the locals whispering behind her back and the uneasy feeling that her daughter is hiding something from her. Is she reading too much into the threatening messages left around the hotel? Are the glimpses of her ex’s battered red truck real, or imagined?
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When the police are called to a disturbing discovery buried under the foundations, Mel knows for certain that accepting the inheritance was a trap, and her daughter’s life is in danger. As the walls of the hotel close in around her, she has no idea who to trust or where to turn. And, from that moment on, Kate refuses to speak a single word. Only days later, she goes missing…
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A jaw-dropping, addictive and totally twisty psychological thriller that will have you sleeping with the light on! Perfect for anyone who loved The Girl on the Train, Friend Request or The Wife Between Us.
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The Happy Couple
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Me and Will. Will and Me. A perfect match. He said he would always be there for me, but it’s been a year since he drained his coffee, walked out the front door and vanished.
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Did he leave me? Or did something terrible happen? I’m scared someone finally found out about what happened on the drive home that night…
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I lie awake at night trawling the internet for rental properties, desperate for an escape. Until I see my husband’s gorgeous face smiling back at me from a photograph on the fireplace in someone else’s home, and something inside of me snaps.
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At the house, I find no trace of him and the woman who lives there has no idea who I am. But I’m certain she’s hiding something behind the locked door upstairs. I know that if I want answers, I have to stay.
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You might think that what’s inside that room is the answer to all my questions and the end of all my pain. But it’s only the beginning…
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Nail-biting and completely grippin
g, The Happy Couple will make you question how well you really know the ones you love. Perfect reading for anyone who adored The Wife Between Us, The Girl on The Train or Gone Girl.
The Liar’s Wife
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When Ella wakes up in hospital following a hit and run incident, she is scared and confused. Close to tears, her eyes fall on a get-well-soon card on the window sill and the nurse reassures her that her loving husband will be back soon.
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But Ella has never been married…
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Absolutely love twisty and unputdownable psychological thrillers like Girl on the Train, The Wife Between Us and Gone Girl? Then you will be totally hooked by this jaw-dropping novel about the dangerous secrets behind a perfect marriage.
Tell Me A Secret
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Tell her all your secrets and she’ll tell you all her lies…
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Everything in Lorna’s life runs like clockwork, from her 6 a.m. morning run to the strict 60-minute counselling sessions she gives. It’s the only way she can deal with the terrible secret she carries.
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When a new client arrives for his first appointment, Lorna feels her perfect life unravel in a matter of seconds. It’s Andrew, the man she’s spent the last year desperately trying to forget. It seems he can’t forget her either…
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Against her better judgement she anonymously contacts him on a dating site. Messaging him could mean the end of her marriage and her career, but she needs to know if his motives are genuine.
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When Andrew is found dead in his home, grief quickly turns to fear when messages from him continue to arrive on Lorna’s phone. Somebody knows her secret and wants to use it to destroy everything she has.
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Will she risk her family and her sanity to keep her secret? Will she risk her life…?
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If you love twisty psychological thrillers that get under your skin, like The Girl on the Train, I Let You Go or anything by Louise Jensen, you’ll be utterly blown away by the jaw-dropping lies in Tell Me A Secret.
The Reunion
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They were all there the day your sister went missing… Who is lying? Who is next?
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THEN – In charge of her little sister at the beach, Claire allowed Eleanor to walk to the shop alone to buy an ice cream. Placing a coin into her hand, Claire told her to be quick, knowing how much she wanted the freedom.
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Eleanor never came back.
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NOW – The time has finally come to sell the family farm and Claire is organising a reunion of her dearest friends, the same friends who were present the day her sister went missing.
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When another girl disappears, long-buried secrets begin to surface. One of the group hides the darkest secret of them all…
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If you love Sue Fortin, Gillian Flynn and The Girl on the Train, this psychological thriller packed full of twists and turns will be impossible to put down.
Acknowledgements
Whenever I come to write my Acknowledgements, it makes me reflect on how extremely fortunate I am to be doing a job I love as well as working with the brilliant and talented team at Bookouture. A huge thank you to my lovely editor Jessie Botterill, who has the amazing knack of making my books as good as they can be. Many thanks also to Sarah Hardy, Kim Nash and Noelle Holten in Publicity for tirelessly letting the world know about my books, to Sean and Jenny for eagle-eyed copyediting and proofreading, and Lauren for bringing everything together so seamlessly. As ever, big love to my agent Oli Munson, and everyone at AM Heath.
Thank you, too, to the dedicated bloggers and reviewers who are invaluable to authors in spreading the word about books they’ve read and loved. It really does make a difference, and I can’t thank you enough for shouting out about my books on social media – it’s so very much appreciated.
I promised I’d mention ‘Café Cinq’ – the impromptu lockdown garden café (when it was allowed!) that kept a group of us (semi) sane. Everyone has a story… and none more so than these wonderful and inspiring women. So Lynda, Jan, Nicky, Julia and Judith – I salute you with a sausage sarnie and the best coffee in town made by the indomitable Barista Brendan!
And of course, thank you to you for reading my book and investing in my story – I always say it, but I couldn’t do it without you! I really can’t wait to share my next thriller with you.
Last but not least, much love to my dear family – Ben, Polly and Lucy, Avril and Paul, Graham and Marina, and Joe. This one’s for you!
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Sam xx
We – both author and publisher – hope you enjoyed this book. We believe that you can become a reader at any time in your life, but we’d love your help to give the next generation a head start.
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Did you know that 9% of children don’t have a book of their own in their home, rising to 13% in disadvantaged families*? We’d like to try to change that by asking you to consider the role you could play in helping to build readers of the future.
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We’d love you to get involved by sharing, borrowing, reading, buying or talking about a book with a child in your life and spreading the love of reading. We want to make sure the next generation continues to have access to books, wherever they come from.
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Click HERE for a list of brilliant books to share with a child – as voted by Goodreads readers.
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Thank you.
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*As reported by the National Literacy Trust
Published by Bookouture in 2021
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An imprint of Storyfire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
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www.bookouture.com
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Copyright © Samantha Hayes, 2021
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Samantha Hayes has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
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eBook ISBN: 978-1-80019-758-9
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.