A respectable thriller with jaw-dropping twists, if you’re looking for a great read, try Just My Luck by Adele Parks.

The plot:

Everyone has their price.

It’s the stuff dreams are made of – a lottery win so big, it changes everything.

For fifteen years, Lexi and Jake have played the same six numbers with their friends, the Pearsons and the Heathcotes. Over dinner parties, fish & chip suppers and summer barbecues, they’ve discussed the important stuff – the kids, marriages, jobs and houses – and they’ve laughed off their disappointment when they failed to win anything more than a tenner.

But then, one Saturday night, the unthinkable happens. There’s a rift in the group. Someone doesn’t tell the truth. And soon after, six numbers come up which change everything forever.

Lexi and Jake have a ticket worth £18 million. And their friends are determined to claim a share in it.

You can tell Parks has made sure everything links together and plays a part

Just My Luck is an incredibly smart book, and leads you on, making you forget aspects and manipulating you into believing something else might happen.

The stand-out part for me was how the ending wasn’t rushed – it was pacey, and didn’t drag, but thankfully wasn’t all over within 5/10 pages. It took its time and I love that in a thriller. Fabulous twists after twists in the second half of the book, which you won’t see coming.

They’re not the sort of twists to make you gasp, but definitely jaw-drop in their audacity, and to how you’ve been blind the whole way through. I didn’t find anything remarkable about the writing – I had no quibbles with it, but at times just felt a bit bland. Chapters are split between a few characters, and I think I would’ve liked the odd ones from Jake to split up the predominantly female voice.

There were only a handful of characters I actually liked – the others were definitely made intentionally unlikeable and I really held on to that. I’m still debating whether the last chapter was necessary – it did add on that extra twist, but it is a twist often pulled by thriller writers and felt slightly ‘why’-ish here.

It’s incredibly fast-paced with all the elements of a great thriller. It has the jealousy, deceitful relationships, lies and secrets, allllll the suspense and a well thought-through plot.

It definitely has its dark moments, especially when one character is being targeted continuously and obviously isn’t fair. It’s been planned, and executed well – you can tell Parks has made sure everything links together and plays a part, even down to Lexi’s job. It’s nice to read something so coherent, making this a 3.5/5 star read.

I’ve not read anything based around winning the lottery, and it really does make you think that “everyone has their price”.

If you’re a fan of C. L. Taylor, you’ll like Adele Parks.

Just My Luck, Adele Parks, RRP £12.99 (hardback); Book Depository 

Pages: 374

Publisher: HQ

Genre: Thriller