8 reviews for:

The Other Side of Fear

Eoghan Egan

4.5 AVERAGE

pawsreadrepeat's review against another edition

4.0

I received an advance review and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you, Partners @zooloosbooktours and @eoghanegan for my #giftedbook and spot on the tour!

The Other Side of Fear is the second in the Ganestown Crime Series. I enjoyed Hiding in Plain sight so much that I knew I wanted to read this one too. Sharona Waters is determined to dig into loan shark Dessie Dolan's business and bring him to justice. When a young woman she's briefly met goes missing, a much darker story emerges.

This book is well written yet difficult to read at times because of the human trafficking element. I've attended several workshops on human trafficking and have learned the signs to look for yet this book hit home for me. Told with honesty this book accurately portrays that lifestyle and those who run it.

I appreciated Hugh's story trying to juggle a new job while caring for his mom with Alzheimer's. His relationship with his mom was well written and accurately portrayed. The author does an excellent job of weaving together subplots that give the story depth.

The book is fast paced and full of action. I was immediately hooked and couldn't stop turning the pages. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

terryh's review against another edition

5.0

I absolutely got lost in this.
There are a couple of stories in this tale but it just kept me wanting to know more and what was going to happen next.
There are strong family stories and trafficking that interlace and strong happenings that just made me stop & reread at times, some things very scary as we know they happen.
Recommend if you want to get stuck in to a great read.

sarahthereadingaddict's review

5.0

Really interesting book. I was totally gripped from start to finish.

I love a fast paced novel with a good story line and this book did not disappoint.

I really like the writing style and the pace of the chapters and pace throughout the book, it was exciting and scary and nail biting. I couldn't put it down, I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

It had an air of 'Taken' to it, which happens to be one of my favourite films so happy days. The difficult topics were really well written which made you understand what was happening without going into too much detail, which I though was good.

I can't believe I, along with my fellow admins, got a special mention in the acknowledgements too, thanks so much Eoghan. I am honoured.

catreader18's review

4.0

Narrated by an Irish accent really added to the story. Many times when I read I’ll make up words if I don’t know how to pronounce them but audiobooks take away that need! This is a captivating story of crime and human trafficking. The narrator help you feel as if you are in the story.

cassiecat's review

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Other Side of Fear Eoghan Egan 🎧4⭐️

The picture shows the back of a car with lights on in a snowy wood, in front of the car is a woman in a red coat. At the top of the image is a woman’s terrified face with a hand over her mouth 

#2 Ganestown Crime series. 

I had the audiobook read by Emily Rainsford. I do love Irish accents. The speed of the narration is fast. The tone is unchanging with no build up of tension, or variation in speed. There’s not enough difference between male voices for clear distinction. It didn’t make it one of the better audiobooks for me. 

A fusion between twisty gangland and twisty crime thriller. I must clarify that gangland isn’t my usual sub genre. 

We follow several characters Adam Styne finds himself in a mental health hospital following a violent attack on Sharona, and subsequent discovery of numerous bodies on his farm 

Ferdia finds himself up against loan shark Dessie Dolan

Hugh is trying to juggle a new job with looking after his mom Kathleen who has Alzheimer’s disease. 

Wanna be model Rebecca finds herself trafficked into prostitution. 

Sharona Waters is determined to investigate and bring down loan shark Dessie Dolan. 

They each have separate threads. It’s a dark, gritty, at times a viscerally raw delve into organised crime. It is also offset by some moving sensitive scenes especially around Kathleen. The chapters are long, I would have preferred the subdivisions to be separate characters. Ferdia is my favourite character. 

I enjoyed the storyline, it has a decent pace and interest throughout. I especially liked the ending. I think this is one where I would have preferred reading than listening. 

_lozzieloves's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Dementia, and Trafficking

chaptersofvicki's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

Having read the first book in The Ganestown series earlier this week and enjoying it I was looking forward to reading this one and I loved it a solid 5 star read! 

This book is much darker than the first one and it had me hooked. Reading about the girls who were victims of the trafficking was heartbreaking. 

I like how it is set in a small town, it goes to show that these sort of things don’t just happen in all the big cities. 

There are so many likeable characters but my favourites are Hugh and Ferdia. I felt for Hugh and what he was experiencing with his mother. Ferdia was great he wanted to right all the wrongs, maybe not in the best way but his heart was in the right place.

I can’t wait for the next book to see what happens next. 

Thank you to Zooloo’s Book Tours for having me on the tour and to the author for my gifted and signed copy of the book.

amothersmusings1's review

5.0

Irish crime writer Eoghan Egan is the author of “The Other Side of Fear”, the second in the ‘The Ganestown Trilogy’ and is an engrossing and addictive thriller that doesn’t hold back. Both this and the first book, can easily be read as a standalone.  Upon reading the first chapter I thought to myself - this is shaping up very nicely! - and knew that a first rate thriller lay ahead of me.

• Sharona Waters is determined to dig into a loan shark’s business and see him brought to justice. But when a young woman she's only briefly met goes missing, a much darker story emerges. Pulled into the ruthless world of people trafficking - a world built on violent brutality and sudden death - Sharona finds herself caught between crime and conscience, pursued by powerful and ruthless criminals and just one bad decision away from having her whole world crash down. —

With opening pages that wouldn’t go amiss in a Peaky Blinders episode, this often violent, hard hitting story really punches you in the gut for its emotional and traumatic sex-trafficking chapters.

I could clearly picture the scenes in my head as they unfolded and I was fully aware of the palpable fear radiating from the kidnapped girls and the brutal assaults on them. Rebecca was a very brave girl, she endured unimaginable attacks and it saddened me immensely knowing this horrendous crime goes on around the world. 

However, I liked how the author balanced a brutal storyline with a sympathetic thread, involving a character with a parent suffering from Alzheimer’s and how it mentally affects, not just the sufferer but the carer too, often a family member. This debilitating disease, which will resonate with many a reader, was handled perfectly and weaved its way into the storyline seamlessly, in a truly heartfelt and compassionate way. 

There was also a mental health theme regarding a criminal relocated to a mental assessment hospital, which the author obviously researched intensely.  

The amateur sleuthing of Sharona and Ronan was believable and their dedication and bravery were commendable considering the criminals they were dealing with.  The denouement was both tragic and satisfying in equal measures and quite literally broke my heart. A sure sign of a well written and executed story! 

If you’re sensitive to the subjects in this story, then I’d approach with caution but for me it was a five star read with hopes for further attention grabbing books from Eoghan Egan. 

#TheOtherSideOfFear - 5 stars 

You can order the book from the following link - https://www.reddogpress.co.uk/product-page/the-other-side-of-fear

Thank you to Sean Coleman at Red Dog Press for inviting me on the blog tour for #TheOtherSideOfFear and for my copy of the book in return for an honest opinion.