Part psychological thriller part court room drama and not the fastest paced book and one that isn’t out the realm of possibility!

The story is told in the first person perspective it follows the story of Christine Butcher, PA to Mina Appleton, owner of Appleton’s, an ethical supermarket chain.

Christine has been working for the company for years as secretary but when Mina’s father retires and Mina takes control of the business Christine moves up the ladder of command to personal assistant to the very ambitious Mina.

But moving up that ladder also brings with it an increase in work load and responsibility. But how far does dedication to your employer and job really go?

Christine has been witness to everything that goes on in the office and has also been witness to most things in Mina’s private life so discretion has been essential. As Mina’s demands on Christine increase Christine’s private life pays the price.

The first half of the book follows the lives of the two women and Christine’s working life and the second half of the book is more courtroom drama as the story unfolds oh how the women find themselves in that court room alongside Mina’s driver Dave.

I don’t want to say too much plot wise for fear of giving anything away so you will just have to read the book for yourselves!!

This is a very charter driven book and I’m not sure I liked either of the women! As I said it is a bit of a slow burner but as the book goes along the pace picks up ending in a twisted, unexpected ending. Some plot twists you might see coming but not that bit!

A really good character driven psychological thriller that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend!

The Secretary will be published on 21 February 2019 ( )

Part psychological thriller part court room drama and not the fastest paced book and one that isn’t out the realm of possibility!

The story is told in the first person perspective it follows the story of Christine Butcher, PA to Mina Appleton, owner of Appleton’s, an ethical supermarket chain.

Christine has been working for the company for years as secretary but when Mina’s father retires and Mina takes control of the business Christine moves up the ladder of command to personal assistant to the very ambitious Mina.

But moving up that ladder also brings with it an increase in work load and responsibility. But how far does dedication to your employer and job really go?

Christine has been witness to everything that goes on in the office and has also been witness to most things in Mina’s private life so discretion has been essential. As Mina’s demands on Christine increase Christine’s private life pays the price.

The first half of the book follows the lives of the two women and Christine’s working life and the second half of the book is more courtroom drama as the story unfolds oh how the women find themselves in that court room alongside Mina’s driver Dave.

I don’t want to say too much plot wise for fear of giving anything away so you will just have to read the book for yourselves!!

This is a very charter driven book and I’m not sure I liked either of the women! As I said it is a bit of a slow burner but as the book goes along the pace picks up ending in a twisted, unexpected ending. Some plot twists you might see coming but not that bit!

A really good character driven psychological thriller that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend!

The Secretary will be published on 21 February 2019 ( )

Neat thriller about a devoted secretary of a supermarket chain, who after being abused by her (female) boss during a land sale scam of defaulting farms, seeks her revenge.

Knight writes in an accessible style, applying a first person POV of the secretary, Christine, who starts looking back on her 18 year career as Mina’s no.1 secretary. Gradually a picture emerges of a devoted secretary that sacrifices her family life for her boss, though Christine is not averse to some dirty office politics herself (blaming a younger secretary for mistakes she made, getting her fired, etc). When her boss, Mina, becomes the object of a defamation campaign by a newspaper (claiming they do not honour their self-proclaimed principles of loyalty and fairness towards their family farm producers), she takes the newspaper to court and wins. Next, Mina and her close personal staff (secretary and personal driver) become the object of a humiliating court case for perjury (after one farmer has killed himself due to cancellation of his contract to Mina’s supermarket chain). During the court proceedings, Christine discovers the full extent of the land sale scam that she has unwittingly facilitated. After winning the court case, she and the driver Dave are discharged from the company.

This sets the stage for an intricate plot of revenge, masterminded by Christine. While the ending is crafty, I would have liked Knight to delve deeper into the farm scam – would have been nice if the farmers' POV would also somehow have been represented to shed light on an on-going form of exploitation by super market chains of their family farm producers. In its present shape the thriller focuses on the intricate and deadly office politics between Mina and her personal staff, and the (rather far-fetched) scam serves as the backdrop to the ultimately personal vendetta. A missed opportunity to question our present agro-business, corporate driven system of production and consumption. ( )

Christine does not have a mind of her own, nor a will or a sense of self other than as servant. Her lack of foresight and trust in Mina was laughable. Would anyone be this dumb? This trusting and deluded? She is so limp that her actions at the end seem really far-fetched. Fun, but silly. ( )

The main character's need for validation of her self-worth destroyed her family and fed the ego of her female boss. I can understand her inability to say no her employer at times, but there are limits and I thought this book took it too far to where I didn't have sympathy for the protagonist, which in turn, I didn't appreciate her revenge on her boss. Easy read..... ( )