Gossip and rumors can ruin people's lives. When someone mentions that a famous child killer is rumored to be living in their small town, several people are shocked about it, but nevertheless, they gossip about the rumor. Jo hears the rumor and is unhappy about it, but when she goes to her neighborhood book club and someone is asking another member embarrassing questions, Jo repeats the rumor to draw attention away from the uncomfortable person. It then snowballs from there, people all over town start speculating who the child killer is, and if they know them.
Jo is a single mom, with a young son, Alfie, and a partner, Michael. Jo feels that Alfie is being singled out at school and Jo gets threatening tweets, which Jo believes is related to her repeating the rumor about a child killer.
Jo begins to suspect several of the older women in town. One day, the truth comes out, with frightening consequences for several people in the town. The final line of the book reveals a terrible secret (but one I was not surprised to read!).
This is a well crafted first novel. It was an easy read, and kept you guessing.
#TheRumor #LesleyKara

This book was nice and easy read. It had a good plot idea and a different one from all the other thrillers you can find.
The reading quality and the pace were nice and I found myself enjoying it and reading it without any difficulty and rather quickly.
The negative point in this book would be the lack of action and it did seem to go on a bit without much happening until the end. I felt like more spice and twists could have been added throughout the whole book to make me addicted to it.

The twist and the end was brilliant and I never saw that coming. I was completely blown away and loved the last hundred pages more than the rest of the book. It was just amazing for the author to think of such a twist.

Bit too predictable...

3.5

Felt like a British setting at times despite being set in U.S. Many characters and possible culprits. Good twist at the end. Nice debut.

Excellent premise, fast paced enough at the beginning to reel you in. After the disclosure it seems to speed up again, possibly too much, and ends fairly abruptly without hint of any further backstory or repercussions. Sub characters are not fully explored and quickly dismissed at the end. The final revelation is worthy of the 4 stars though - unsettling and not one you saw coming.