About the Book:
The Hoax 
Paul Clayton
364 pages
Published Apr 1, 2021 by 2qt Limited
Meet Frankie Baxter. She’s trying to make ends meet and keep the boat afloat for her three kids. She’s harassed, sometimes impatient. but she’s a
fabulous mum. So imagine her distress when Henry, her youngest child, goes missing …
Henry returns safety accompanied by a stranger, Cora, a fairy godmother who starts to change the Baxter family’s lives in the best of ways. So why
do things suddenly start going wrong? Is Cora fulfilling their dreams• or is she the start of a nightmare?
Funny, terrifying and a real page-turner, The Hoax puts a whole new slant on psychological thrillers
My Review:
The Hoax is a Psychological Thriller that had me guessing the whole time as to who people are in this story.
Written in a dual timeline style, the first timeline focuses on the main character Frankie, and her three children. A harried mother, Frankie seldom has time to herself and doesn’t really have many friends. After her youngest child gets himself into a challenging situation, Cora, a nice but eccentric woman, helps the child and befriends Frankie. With Cora around, Frankie’s life becomes easier for her and the kids. Or does it?
The second timeline focuses on Lottie and Little Girl. 2 children that have found friendship in their orphanage. Lottie and Little Girl are different than the other children in that they both had a hand in becoming orphans and all is not as it seems with these two.
The story moves along at a fast pace and the reader is challenged with trying to determine how these two timelines will fit together when all is said and done. The ending, while certainly shocking, is highly unbelievable for several reasons. I won’t include any spoilers but I was shaking my head while reading it. To be honest it was a bit of a let down for me and I wasn’t very happy with it. I think to truly enjoy this book you must be willing to suspend disbelief with this one, especially towards the end.
Overall, the book was an enjoyable mystery to solve. The author did a great job unveiling pieces of information throughout to help the reader feel as if they were guessing what was happening without actually providing the answers to take you to the correct guess.
I would recommend for thriller lovers who are constantly looking for another thrill-ride.
About the Author: 
Best known to audiences for five series of the BAFTA award-winning Channel 4 sitcom “Peep Show” and for two series of the BAFTA winning comedy “Him and Her” from BBC 3. He has enjoyed stints as regular characters in soaps “Hollyoaks”, “Coronation Street” “Doctors” is well known to viewers from a considerable volume of the television. Most recently appearances in series 2 of “The Crown”, “Black Earth Rising”, “Wolf Hall”, “The Split”, “Holby”, “ This Time with Alan Partridge” “Shakespeare and Hathaway” “Breeders”.
He is currently well known and loved by thousands of sci fi fans for his role as “Mr Colchester – terminator in a cardigan”- the leader of the Torchwood team, in the Big Finish ‘Torchwood’ audio dramas.
He recently filmed “Danny Boy” for the BBC
He is the author of “So You Want to Be a Corporate Actor?” and “The Working Actor” and is a regular columnist and feature writer for The Stage.
He is patron of the children’s literacy charity Grimm and Co (www.grimmandco.co.uk) based in Yorkshire for whom he has staged young authors live dramas and facilitated six independent films written by 9 – 11 year olds.
His first novel “The Punishment” met with great reviews when it was published in 2019.
“”I LOVED this book. It’s funny, dark, sexy and sharp as a knife. A brilliant story with three intricately woven strands that keep you hooked all the way through. Definitely recommend!”
Follow him on: Claytoncast (Twitter) Claytoncastgram
Giveaway to Win 3 x paperback copy of The Hoax (Open to UK Only)
*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
Leave a Reply