Jaye Ford

I was fortunate enough to get an advance reading copy of this debut novel from former journalist and NSW local, Jaye Ford. The unofficial cover said that it was the most heart-stopping suspense novel from Random House, and although I can't 100% confirm that, it was one of the most brilliant books I've ever read. Rather than being an in depth police procedural, Beyond Fear is a quintessential thriller that focusses more on people than procedure and process. I've said in the past that a main show more character who has suffered previous trauma is more likeable and readers can relate to them more, and Ford has mastered that effortlessly.

We meet Jodie as she and her three friends, Corrine, Hannah and Louise, are taking their annual weekend away. They see it as a perfect opportunity for down time and a chance to relax from their busy lives as mothers, wives, and workers. It was Jodie's year to pick, and she has chosen a refurbished barn near Bald Hill in New South Wales. A tumultuous start to the weekend results in the ladies losing their car, and relying on local cop-turned-mechanic Matt for transport to town. The women are shaken, but it is Jodie who is completely distraught, and after an incident in the local pub, she is thoroughly rattled. Her friends do their best to be sympathetic, and as readers soon find out, the other women are completely unaware of Jodie's past - a past Jodie does her best to keep completely under wraps.

Jodie is clearly on edge, and as she grows more convinced something in not quite right at the barn, her friends become more distant and hostile towards her increasingly bizarre behaviour. Completely ostracised by her friends, Jodie becomes convinced she is losing her mind, convinced that maybe her devastating past has caused her to become a little unstable. She takes off from the barn, to cool down a little and try to settle her nerves. But her worst fears are confirmed when she returns to her friends and finds they are not alone.

I loved this book for many reasons, most of all because it is essentially a simple mystery tale. No complex forensic procedures, no grizzly murder scenes... Just a handful of complex characters, and an isolated barn in the middle of the night. It was a genuinely creepy read because you can put yourself completely in the position of Jodie. There have been times for all of us when we feel a little off, like something is not quite right. Beyond Fear recognises that, and shows that sometimes our gut instincts are right, no matter what our nearest and dearest think. I suppose it was creepier still because it is set in Australia, and it does not rely on elaborate serial killers to be more than terrifying.

If you're a fan of good crime and old-fashioned mysteries, I have no doubt you will love this book. It's strongest point is in its simplicity, and I will eagerly await Ford's next novel. show less

“She was waiting for traffic lights at the start of rush hour on a Monday afternoon when a man opened her front passenger door, got in and pointed a gun at her chest…
‘Drive’.”

Miranda Jack (Jax) is stunned when a strange man climbs into her car and forces her to drive north on the highway at gunpoint. He is highly agitated, pressing the gun barrel into her ribs while looking frantically over his shoulder, and when Jax asks what he wants, who he is, he roars at her; I’m already show more dead. That’s my name now. That’s what they called me. That’s me. Nice to meet you. I’m Already Dead.”
Two hours later, Jax stands trembling on the roads edge, the man’s gun in her hand, surrounded by police, and trying to understand what just happened. Brendan Walsh, her abductor, is dead, and Jax is wondering how much of what he told her during their crazed journey is true. The investigating detective seems certain that Brendan’s ravings can be dismissed as the paranoid delusions of a soldier suffering PTSD but Jax, a journalist, isn’t so sure. She needs answers… but the questions she is asking may prove deadly.

Thrilling from the very first page, Already Dead, is an exciting tale of suspense. I read it in a single sitting, absorbed by the intensity of emotion, the fast paced action and the complex characterisation.

Jax is an interesting protagonist. Still struggling with her husband’s unsolved murder barely 12 months earlier, it is because she has no answers about his death that she becomes obsessed with investigating Brendan’s. Ford brilliantly captures Jax’s vacillating emotions through out the story creating a believable and appealing character who draws on her instincts and inner strength to expose the truth.

Ford’s exploration of the issues associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Already Dead gives added depth to this work of crime fiction. Walsh has struggled to readjust to civilian life after two tours in Afghanistan and people are quick blame PTSD for his accusations. Jax, in the wake of the abduction, is also suffering from the disorder’s symptoms – nightmares and anxiety, exacerbated by her still fresh grief and a history of tragedy. After her ordeal Jax, and Detective Aiden Hawke, are quick to dismiss her continuing sense of unease as a reaction to the stress, allowing events to quickly spiral out of control.

Well crafted with page turning appeal, Jaye Ford’s fourth novel, Already Dead, is a gripping psychological thriller. You will never feel safe idling at traffic lights again. show less

When Miranda Jack is car-jacked on a motorway in Sydney it's just one more thing to go wrong in a life littered with bad times. As the story progresses and you find out how many hurdles Jack has jumped in her life you'd be forgiven for wondering why she keeps getting up in the morning. When something in her background and training as a journalist makes her seek to empathise with her abductor, that idea of keep them talking and engaged and they may develop some connection with you, it means show more she finds out quite a bit about Brendan Walsh. Including that they have met before, but not who he is scared of, who he is running from. Scared enough to make him eventually run into the oncoming traffic.

The previous connection that Jack discovers with Walsh is what keeps Jack, and the police, wondering about the likelihood of random abduction. As Jack's own life comes under threat, any randomness seems even more unlikely. And always lurking in the background is the realisation that her husband's killer, or the reason he was run down, has never been discovered. In a masterful piece of red herring sprinkling, there's enough possibilities here to keep the reader guessing right to the end.

ALREADY DEAD hits breakneck pace right from the outset. Whilst it might seem that having the abduction, the mad chase up a freeway and ultimate rescue of Jack, while she's standing on the side of the road with Walsh's gun in her hand, a difficult start to maintain tension from, Ford is very clever in the way that she does this. Alternating between the domestic, the almost banal nature of moving house, unpacking and raising a child as a single mother, moments of tension and suspense are inserted. From sitting in a café with a child, and an ex-soldier switching rapidly from reticence and quiet, to a bored child chattering; from a mother whose biggest worry is the possibility of a full-blown tantrum to a man who goes from caring friend to threatening in a sentence. All delivered within the space of a few paragraphs. It's the same with the possible romantic interest - a walk to a car is a touching and kind gesture that quickly becomes hot and heavy, and then sinister. Again within a few paragraphs.

At the basis of the thrills and scares in ALREADY DEAD is the exploration of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Walsh is a soldier returned from Afghanistan as are many other characters in the story. Jack is obviously suffering her own version of PTSD after the sudden, unexplained death of her husband, and then the car-jacking ordeal. Using these characters to draw out a picture of both the effects of PTSD and misinterpretation of those symptoms gives ALREADY DEAD an added depth.

Overall, the plot is cleverly executed with information released to the reader carefully, making everybody seems questionable at some point. Even when the ultimate in annoyance appears and we have a central character heading off into a typical fem-jep type scenario, there's an affirming twist which restores Jack's credibility despite some ancillary longing to be rescued.

A really good psychological thriller, ALREADY DEAD is also fast paced, with a strong plot and engaging characters, although if you spend a lot of time in idling traffic you'll probably find yourself locking your doors after reading.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-already-dead-jaye-ford show less

Jaye Ford's newest release Scared Yet? came highly recommended on the heels of her successful debut, Beyond Fear. In this psychological thriller, Ford introduces her protagonist Livia Prescott, who is the victim of a terrifying assault. Though she is able to successfully thwart her attacker, who disappears in to the night, shortly afterward she becomes the focus of a disturbing and sustained campaign of harassment. When the man who assaulted her is captured, Liv is stunned that the show more harassment doesn't stop, in fact, the anonymous threats escalate and the unknown stalker begins to target her friends and loved ones. Liv is scared but with everyone she knows a suspect, who can she trust and what will happen when she trusts the wrong person?

Ford has created an admirable character in Liv who readers are immediately able to relate to. It has not been a good year for Liv, her once strong and stalwart father is dying, she is embroiled in a bitter relationship with her ex-husband and the business she owns with best friend Kelly, is teetering on the brink of collapse. Yet Liv doesn't give in when she is attacked in the carpark after a long day at work, she fights back, making use of her pent up anger and frustration, and the boxing skills learnt from her father. The description of the attack is harrowing, for most women the possibility of an attack lurks in the back of your mind when you cross a deserted car park and it is all too easy to imagine yourself in a similar situation. You can't help but cheer Liv on as she blackens the attackers eye and then draw in a pained breath as he slams her head into the car boot. In the aftermath of the assault, Liv relies on her anger to hold the fear at bay, declaring she wasn't scared in a media interview, until the notes begin arriving, delivered to her work, placed under the windshield of her car and even hand delivered to her son. Liv responds practically to the implied threat, informing the police and making her home more secure which is a relief, since all too often authors rely on their protagonists making inane choices to put them in even more danger. Despite Liv's precautions her stalker is determined to breach her defenses by targeting her friends, continually taunting her with notes asking "Are you scared yet, Liv?"
Of the secondary characters, I am wary of saying anything much for fear of accidentally revealing who is, and who isn't, a viable suspect. I did feel that Ford did a credible job in fleshing out the supporting cast, while ensuring they retained the necessary ambiguity. The only real flaw for me in the story was the behaviour of Jason, I just didn't think his behaviour fit with what we are told about him and his history with Liv. It's a difficult point to articulate without a a spoiler but had there been some sort of past related incident, his actions would have made more sense to me.

The careful plotting ensured I was kept guessing, though when the identity of the stalker was revealed I wondered why I hadn't seen it. It's to the author's credit that I was suspicious of almost everyone at one point or another.
Ford builds the tension masterfully as the situation escalates and the pool of suspects widens. The final confrontation between Liv and her stalker is explosive and the conclusion is satisfying.

Scared Yet? is a taut thriller that places an ordinary woman in extraordinary circumstances. I turned the pages compulsively and read the entire book in a little more than three hours (despite it being 454 pages long and 2am when I finished). My copy of the book is adorned with a money-back guarantee sticker from the publisher but I would be shocked if anyone made use of it. Scared Yet? is just what it promises, a stellar read - a fast-paced, entertaining and engrossing novel of suspense. show less