Nasty Little Cuts, by Tina Baker {Book Review}

If you need a bit of a break from your marriage, may I suggest you spend some time with Debs and Marc? Who are Debs and Marc you may wonder? They’re the very disturbed married couple featured in my latest read, Nasty Little Cuts.

What is Nasty Little Cuts about?

A nightmare jolts Debs awake. She leaves the kids tucked up in their beds and goes downstairs. There’s a man in her kitchen, holding a knife. But it’s not an intruder. This is her husband Marc, the father of her children. A man she no longer recognises.

Once their differences were what drew them together, what turned them on. Him, the ex-army officer from a good family. Her, the fitness instructor who grew up over a pub. But now these differences grate to the point of drawing blood. Marc screams in his sleep. And Debs hardly knows the person she’s become, or why she lets him hurt her.

Neither of them is completely innocent. Neither is totally guilty. Marc is taller, stronger, and more vicious, haunted by a war he can’t forget. But he has no idea what Debs is capable of when her children’s lives are at stake…

My Thoughts

Nasty Little Cuts is dark domestic suspense that depicts the disturbing downward spiral of a couple who once thought they had it all. The marriage is in trouble….shoulder deep….it’s dark, it’s toxic and on Christmas Eve, it all comes to a head.

The whole books takes place over the course of 3 hours. Each chapter is either a few minutes after the last chapter, or it’s a few weeks, months or years ago. The chapters around the past, give insight into how and why Marc and Debs are at this point. This story is really dark, and there are a lot of potential triggers, like sexual assault, domestic abuse, suicide, infidelity, to name but a few. So if you are somebody who can’t deal with those topics, you’ll have to stay away from this one.

The chapters are short and punchy. You could think that it would be very difficult to keep up with the constantly changing timeline, but it really wasn’t for me. Tina Baker is obviously a VERY talented writer, because to have the main story be taking place in a kitchen, over a few hours…..to keep me interested, to keep me turning the pages, that’s talent!

I think Tina does an amazing job of bringing all these characters and their personalities to life, Marc’s mother was done particularly well. I didn’t know whether to hate her or pity her.

My Rating

If however, you’re like me, and can read absolutely anything, and you love your books on the darker, more sinister side, you’ll definitely enjoy Nasty Little Cuts. This book has a 4.16 rating on Goodreads, and I’m going to go ahead and give it 4 stars. I’ve wanted to read ‘Call Me Mummy’ by this author for the longest time, so after reading this, I’m definitely going to try to get my hands on a copy.

Nasty Little Cuts  retails for around R355 and should be available at all leading retailers.

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by Jonathan Ball Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.