It was good, I did enjoy reading the book.

Enjoyed this book & four stars because I didn’t see the twist coming .....which is unusual.

This is the best book I've read in a long time. Really keeps you guessing until the very last sentence.

So much harm can be done by rumors, as we learn when Joanna moves back to her hometown so she and her six year old son can have a new start. Little Alfie had been bullied at his old school in the city and now Joanna and Alfie are living near her mom, where Joanna can work fewer hours and devote more time to helping Alfie adjust to his new school life. Joanna needs to adjust to, realizing she won't fit in the the mothers of Alfie's schoolmates unless she spends more time socializing with them but she has started out on the wrong foot, rushing away from the school after dropping Alfie off and avoiding contact with the mothers, when possible. To break the ice, Joanna mentions a rumor she heard about a child murderer living anonymously, in their little town. The rumor grows, with Joanna's name attached to the rumor, as the one who started it, and we get to see the harm that rumors do to innocent people.

Joanna starts getting threatening texts from the person who may be the child murderer. The murder was of a five year old boy by a ten year old girl, long ago. The girl served her sentence and was released as an eighteen year old, to live her life under a new name. But many people aren't prepared to let this child murderer live in peace, if they can figure out who she is and how to get her out of their town. And now the murderer is targeting Joanna for starting the rumors, even threatening Alfie with a photo of him stabbed in the heart. Joanna's scared but can't turn back time, can't shut the rumor down, the harm has been done and things are escalating.

The book contains so many characters, moms, kids, and older women who could fit the description of the child murderer. I had four older women pegged as likely candidates. There is also Michael, Alfie's dad and Joanna's partner, who is a journalist and wants to interview the murderer, if he can find her. Lots going on, with Joanna overthinking and then not acting on things she knows she should do, such as discuss a myriad of important issues with Michael, from the status of their relationship to how she is the one who started the rumors. Joanna frustrated me with all her thinking, overthinking, and then failing to do things she should have done and later regretting her inaction. The big climax seemed clunky to me, with lots of talking and thud of a resolution. The plot and story say a lot about how people handle things that make them uncomfortable, how people can't forget past offences despite the debt being paid, and how rumors can destroy so many lives. I just wish the telling of the story could have come together a bit more smoothly.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and Goodreads Giveaway, for this ARC.

Single mum (with an on-again, off-again partner) is desperate to help her son settle into his new school. So desperate, she repeats a rumour she’d heard about someone who might be living in their little town, someone who was responsible for a horrific crime when they were a child. In her bid to help her son settle and to try and make friends herself, she spreads more rumours and they escalate and spread like wildfire. Before she knows it, she’s suspecting everyone in her town. And then people start becoming violent, their violence directed at a possible suspect, and that’s when things turn dangerous. A very quick read and I did enjoy it, but found Jo’s actions a little too ‘out there’ - but I didn’t see the twist coming.

This was a good book but so predictable

Pretty good - easy to.figure out and a little slow in the middle but worth reading.

Joanna has moved back to her small hometown to get her young son, Alfie, away from bullies. Desperate to make Alfie's new life happier, she tries to befriend the local moms at a book group, where she lets slip a rumor that a child murderer from 1969 has taken up residence in their small town. As the rumor mill spreads the word, the fallout is quick and brutal, and Joanna's at the heart of it. The more she tries to fix things, the worse things seem to become: she and Alfie have found their way into someone's sights.

The Rumor is SUCH a good thriller, with plot twists and big reveals up until the very last page. I was committed from the first page. Lesley Kara takes the power of a rumor and weaves a gripping tale of revenge with it, complete with smart characters and a plot that works with our social media- and reality TV-obsessed society.

That was a very enjoyable read. No boring spots, plenty of twists and turns. And I was almost correct on who was Sally - the notorious child killer.
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Good quick read and lived up to its hype.