Start reading Only the Innocent on your Kindle in under a minute. Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
This title is not currently available for purchase
Read books on your computer or other mobile devices with our FREE Kindle Reading Apps.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Only the Innocent [Kindle Edition]

Rachel Abbott
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (307 customer reviews)

Pricing information not available.

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $3.99  
Paperback $8.97  
MP3 CD, Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged $12.87  
Audible Audio Edition, Unabridged $11.95 or Free with Audible 30-day free trial
Summer Reading
Summer Reading
Browse the best books of summer including blockbusters, beach reads, and editors' picks in our Summer Reading Store.

Book Description

A #1 Kindle Best Seller in Thrillers, Crime, Mystery and Suspense

"Rachel Abbott is the epublishing sensation of 2012" - The Guardian
   
When Laura Fletcher approaches her home in Oxfordshire to
find hordes of photographers crowding the gates, she knows there is something
terribly wrong. She is faced with the shocking news that her husband is dead -
brutally murdered - and according to Chief Inspector Tom Douglas, there is
little doubt that the murderer is a woman.


In a marriage that has taken her from the glamorous five
star luxury of London, Venice and Positano to a bleak and draughty manor house
in rural Oxfordshire, Laura has learned to guard her secrets well. She is not
alone. It would appear that all the women in her husband's life have
something to hide.


But there is one secret that she has never shared, and
when the investigation reaches its dramatic and horrific climax, she realises
that she has no choice. She has to give Tom Douglas the final piece of the
puzzle. And this changes everything, leaving Douglas with a terrible dilemma:
whether to punish the guilty, or protect the innocent.


ONLY THE INNOCENT is a spellbinding psychological thriller
that will leave you breathless!




REVIEWS:

"The author has it all here with darkness, abuse, degradation, drugs, sex and a murder. This is a well written novel and the plot is superb, nothing is given away to the reader. Several twists and turns. I highly recommend it."

"Excellent and intriguing start which had me hooked from the first page."

"A brilliantly written storyline that's hard to put down, I highly recommend this book and the author."

"The more I read ... the more I understood why someone would kill him, but even then the end-all reason knocked me back a few pegs. When everything was said and done I was left with the question that Abbott poses in her blurb, do you punish the guilty, or protect the innocent?"

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Editorial Reviews

Review

"Rachel Abbott has proved with this debut that she is a cracking writer. The book is a complex layered web, every chapter adding more and more layers of intrigue that pull you in further. I love thrillers and have read many of them, and this one stands out as one of the best. Amazing stuff." - Rachel Dove, The Kindle Book Review

"Abbott carefully constructed a world of mystery, depravity, sex, violence, manipulation and intrigue on so many different levels that I can honestly say you truly have to read until the last page to understand and appreciate the complexity of the story."  - Karen DeLabar: Writing on the Rocks

About the Author

Rachel Abbott was born and raised in Manchester, England, and trained as a systems analyst before launching her own interactive media company in the early 1980s. She sold her company in 2000, and in 2005 moved to the Le Marche region of Italy. She lives there today with her husband, dividing her time between writing her second novel, cooking, and dabbling in web design.

Product Details

  • File Size: 551 KB
  • Print Length: 471 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1611097843
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Publisher: Rachel Abbott; 2 edition (November 14, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B00684EBC0
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Lending: Not Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,757 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • Would you like to give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

The story line kept me interested all the way through, and it was well written. Marie A. Petrillo  |  99 reviewers made a similar statement
Just finished reading Only The Innocent; I really enjoyed the book, couldn't put it down. MARTIN ARELLANO  |  39 reviewers made a similar statement
The characters andplot were well developed and the story line unfolded well. Tucson Max  |  33 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
57 of 63 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Good effort - but needs more work June 13, 2012
Format:Kindle Edition
I read this book on my wife's Kindle - she downloaded it from Amazon after seeing an article about Rachel Abbott in a newspaper. Abbott has certainly done very well on the PR front and gained a lot of press coverage as an "Indy" author succeeding in the new world of self-publishing and e-books. But is "Only the Innocent" any good?

First point to get out of the way - I thought I was a confirmed print book dinosaur. My wife's Kindle has converted me to this new technology. It was light, easy to hold, easy to see (indoors and out) and the control on the font size is fantastic. I have to admit defeat. On my next holiday I will be packing a Kindle and leaving the usual dozen books behind. Well done, Amazon!

Now, to the book: I am a fast reader and zipped through the book in one session. I suspect that Rachel Abbott grew up with Agatha Christie novels and decided to write a traditional "locked room murder" with more sex and more violence thrown in for good measure and modernisation.

It starts off at a good pace, and keeps you turning the pages, or, if you are reading on a Kindle, pressing the button to see what happens. I was interested enough to keep reading, but in the end, it was more out of interest to see how this new author managed a finish to her work than to see what happened to the characters.

I think she has the skeleton of a good crime story here, but it really, really could have done with the attention of a good editor. The characters were all thin and two-dimensional. The dialogue grates as wooden and unrealistic. The detective came over as more believable than the other protagonists, and if she writes another book, I think he is worth developing. I can't say that I really cared about what happened to the rest of the cast. I guessed the "shocking twists" miles before they happened, and she irritated me intensely by using repeated coincidences, and a tedious back-tracking to a series of "old letters" to advance the storyline. Very clunky.

I give Rachel Abbot five stars for effort - writing her book, fighting through the publishing mire and then taking the self-publishing decision and successfully launching her debut novel as an e-book. She has obviously also done a very good job on the PR front - getting lots of press coverage, and probably much more than the average new author would have received from the efforts of a traditional print publishing house. For "Only the Innocent" I can only give her three stars - and say that she can obviously write pretty well, her story pace is good, but her next work should get more polishing, honing and hopefully, the attention of a professional editor before it is launched on the reading public.
Was this review helpful to you?
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Not your classic "who dunnit" January 3, 2012
Format:Kindle Edition
Rachel Abbott's Only the Innocent is not your average "who dunnit" murder mystery. The question that drives this thriller is not "who" did it, but "why". Abbott carefully constructed a world of mystery, depravity, sex, violence, manipulation and intrigue on so many different levels that I can honestly say you truly have to read until the last page to understand and appreciate the complexity of the story.

Philanthropist Hugo Fletcher is known world wide for his charitable works rescuing Eastern-European prostitutes from their dark world and giving them a second chance with a new job and foster family. However, there is a darkness to him that the flashing bulbs of the cameras hide. When he is found dead in the middle of sexual act, it is up to Detective Chief Inspector Tom Douglas to uncover the truth behind Hugo's all too perfect public persona and unmask the vileness that was known to only those closest to him. It seems everyone who comes in contact with Hugo has a secret and it's Douglas' job to weave through the tangled web of deception and perversion to find the killer.

I was most impressed with how Abbott carefully fed each morsel of evidence to her readers. We learn just enough as the story moves along but never enough to put all the pieces together. And without giving away any spoilers, I will say that even when Abbott made me believe I had all the information, she packed in one last punch at the end. She tied up loose ends that I wasn't even aware were there.

As with all murder mysteries, the story before the death is always important and many authors struggle with what we call an "info dump". No one wants to read, "Well Johnny, it went like this..." then read an entire chapter recounting every single step that led to the incident. Abbott gets around this by having Imogen, friend and sister-in-law of Laura Fletcher, read old letters that Laura wrote to Imogen about her life with Hugo, but never sent. (A sort of therapeutic practice for Laura.) At first I had to question how Laura could realistically recount precisely every word in a conversation she had with Hugo and I feared that it would indeed just be chapters of the dreaded "info dump". However, as the story progressed and Abbott started to rip away the story's complex layers, the letters became more realistic and heartbreaking in their content.

The complexity of the characters and the inner-workings of their relationships were entertaining. Almost every character had a motive for murder but it was through Laura that we learn what a real monster he was. I didn't always like Laura's character, but her weakness and drive to make her marriage to Hugo work made her story that more believable and interesting. The more I read about her life with him and what sort of man he was the more I understood why someone would kill him but even then the end-all reason knocked me back a few pegs. When everything was said and done I was left with the question that Abbott poses in her blurb, do you punish the guilty, or protect the innocent?
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A stunningly complex debut novel January 16, 2012
Format:Kindle Edition
Rachel Abbott has proved with this debut that she is a cracking writer. The book is a complex layered web, every chapter adding more and more layers of intrigue and pulls you in further. I don't do spoiler reviews, but by the end of the book I felt profoundly sorry for Laura, wife of the victim and very pleased that the murder victim had indeed met his end.

A man is found dead, obviously killed by a female and executed clinically and professionally. Will our boy in blue Tom put the pieces together, and when he does, will he follow his heart or his head?

I love thrillers, and have read many of them, and this one stands out as one of the best. I cannot wait for her next offering, Abbott made me as a writer want to tuck under the duvet and shut out the world till I had finished her story. Amazing stuff.

Rachel Dove, The Kindle Book Review
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars A good murder mystery
There were many conflicting reviews of this book. The bottom line is, it's a good story. The characters are likeable. Read more
Published 13 hours ago by Shani Little
5.0 out of 5 stars truly astonishing
keep me gripping my seat at every turn of the page. She needs to write more. chilling, heartwarming and honest
Published 4 days ago by reniecooney
5.0 out of 5 stars One Great Book!
I will now measure all books, by the standards set in this one. You will love reading the one. It's what great books are made of. Good luck putting this one down.
Published 7 days ago by Rosemarie Campbell
4.0 out of 5 stars Twisted but good
The plot of this book is certainly a dark one, and while perhaps the ending should have been a little predictable (even though I didn't guess it) it is still worth the time to... Read more
Published 8 days ago by Jonesy
5.0 out of 5 stars Good book
I really enjoyed this book. It is a great mystery and I love a good mystery story. I am looking for others. Read more
Published 9 days ago by Joan Cowan
5.0 out of 5 stars Abuse As a Way of life
We read so much about domestic abuse and its variations. Sir Hugo and his family have their own variations which make you wonder about how people view parental obligations. Read more
Published 9 days ago by elly
4.0 out of 5 stars Author tells the story.
I was surprised with the contents of the story. I would recommend this book, but not sure to whom. Too imagine a woman in this situation is horrific. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Joan
4.0 out of 5 stars Never saw it coming!
The ending was a complete surprise! Although it seemed a formulaic story, it was much more. Good beach or pool book.
Published 13 days ago by Susan Rose
5.0 out of 5 stars Only halfway through
I'm not even done with this amazing book, yet I know I have a new favorite writer. Usually I'm a very fast reader, finishing most books in one night. Read more
Published 14 days ago by CMH
4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Story
The book starts out slow but picks up quickly. The characters are all interesting and they keep you guessing right to the end.
Published 16 days ago by Kathy J. McGinn
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Book Extras from the Shelfari Community

(What's this?)

To add, correct, or read more Book Extras for Only the Innocent , visit Shelfari, an Amazon.com company.


More About the Author

Rachel published Only the Innocent in November 2011. It raced up the UK charts to reach the top 100 within 12 weeks and quickly hit the #1 spot in the Amazon Kindle chart (all categories) and remained there for four weeks.

Originally Only the Innocent was a self-published title, but since the success of the early version, the novel has been completely re-edited and the new version was launched in the US by Thomas and Mercer in paperback, audio and Kindle versions on 5th February 2013.

Rachel Abbott was born just outside Manchester, England. She spent most of her working life as the Managing Director of an interactive media company, developing software and websites for the education market. The sale of that business enabled her to fulfil one of her lifelong ambitions - to buy and restore a property in Italy.

Rachel lives full time in the completed property with her husband and two dogs, and is now able to devote time to her other ambition - to write fiction. Her second book is currently at the editing stage. For more information, see Rachel's website, or follow her on Twitter.

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?



Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


So You'd Like to...


Create a guide

Look for Similar Items by Category