Beautiful Losers: A Novel of Suspense (Kim Slade Novel) Paperback – 1 April 2016

Kim Slade has a chequered past and an uncertain future. The victim of a terrible accident as a child, Kim was horrifically scarred but now uses her terrifying experience and subsequent years as an object of ridicule for the good; in the treating of the young casualties of anorexia. Kim's comparatively normal life soon goes topsy-turvy, however, when she incurs the unwanted attention of a stalker. Thus begins this rip-roaring tale of suspense which appears on the exterior as a point-blank thriller but oozes with informed ease the dark and relevant secrets of modern day society.Early on in to the book we are introduced to Kyle Stannard. Stannard is an ex-model, once at the top of his game but reduced to nothing following a vicious attack. Stannard is Kim's counterpart and her paradox. He also reeks very strongly of stalker material. Sure, he seems the obvious choice. He's cold and calculating, at times seemingly apathetic, but what Seymour has set in motion here is a massive turning wheel of doubt. The paranoia surmounts everything. It soon dawns on you, as the spotlight is cast over each character in turn, that it could be anyone. Literally anyone. There's the subdued boyfriend with an equally tragic upbringing, the ex-Army friend who's apparently only looking out for Kim's safety, even the deceased brother came to mind at one point. Needless to say, when you reach the shocking and fiery conclusion you will be both surprised and relieved; once you have a chance to catch a breath that is.Whilst on the surface of things 'Beautiful Losers' perhaps unfairly falls into classic whodunnit territory, at its heart it is also an exploration of psychological and physical disorders and the contemporaneous perceptions of the same. It is particularly notable in its intimacy in a way that somebody who has experienced such a thing can only ever know to write. In the end though Seymour always perpetuates that hope can be found for people in the darkest of places. Kim, herself, knows that despite the unraveling of her life and the permanency of her scars, she can be somebody again, she can be beautiful.With this story, Seymour has crafted a realistic, satisfying and often blistering thriller which is so assured that it certainly doesn't feel like the debut of a series. But as it is, I know what I will be putting on my wish list next.

Beautiful Losers is a big departure from Eve Seymour’s previous acton thrillersfeaturing alpha male protagonists embroiled in the shadowy world of organized crimeand spying.Beautiful losers introduces us to Kim Slade, a clinical psychologist with more than her fair share of emotional and physical scars who falls victim to an unknown and increasingly menacing stalker.If you think Seymour is about to swap handguns for handbags, think again!This book gripped me from the first page to the very last - and Seymour has been justifiably awarded a five star review (magnifying glasses actually!) by crimesquad.com and accorded their ‘Author of the month’ status. Quite rightly in my opinion - More Kim Slade please.

Eve Seymour is one of those very few writers who can pace the intensity of a novel. Whilst her Paul Tallis series went for the jugular from page 2 and left you breathless, just not daring to imagine that the dynamic had any more build left in it, Beautiful Losers introduces a new character Kim Slade and whilst the overall pace is a little more laid back, the ever increasing dynamic remains and given a story line and character such as this, compliment this approach so well. Like a well crafted rock song, each dynamic is exceeded by the next

What starts out as a stalker-themed thriller eventually has many more dark forces added to the mix, taking this unpredictable tale of lust, envy and evil down many false twists and unexpected turns. An intuitively told chilling story of wanton greed.

Another great book

Clinical psychologist Kim Slade seems to be a successful career woman who converted childhood trauma into something positive. Slade has a fashionable flat, a second seaside home, a loving long-term boyfriend, a close-knit circle of loyal friends, a snazzy set of wheels, rewarding work and supportive colleagues.Oh yeah. She has something else, too. She has a stalker who wants to terrify her, isolate her, ruin her and then kill her.On one level, Beautiful Losers works as a race-to-the-end novel of suspense. The author throws a stack of suspects into the mix. Neither the reader nor Slade knows who to trust, as suspicion switches from unknown strangers to her most intimate friends. Seymour maintains the mystery all the way to the final showdown, scattering red herrings and the odd dead body en route.Then there’s way more going on in the subplots: body dysmorphic disorder; the life-rending implications of a rape accusation; the unspoken uncertainties of loving adult relationships; pushy parents and the anxieties they stimulate in their offspring; societal pressures to stay looking attractive into older age – almost every chapter repeats the book’s motif: there’s more to this than meets the eye. Slade’s personal uncertainty has the most resonance. She struggles to define herself as an individual. Is she dependent on her lover? Can she only be happy within the confines of that relationship? She just has to stay alive and out of jail to answer any of those questions…Slade has potential to be a powerful protagonist. She’s an intelligent, insightful woman with the head-shrinking expertise which should make her ideally equipped to size up and sort out a deranged, disturbed opponent. But she spends much of the time on the back foot, very much in the role of bewildered, out-manoeuvred victim. She could’ve out-thought her stalker but instead reacts without engaging her intellect – deleting emails, disposing of vital evidence, denying her peril rather than facing it full on. However, I appreciate that there’s an entire sub-genre of crime novel which demands ‘realistic’ reactions from its protagonists. And I guess most people would simply fall apart in this situation – we can’t all be Lisbeth Salander.There are several chapter conclusions which seem to signal a forthcoming change of direction, a new determination in which Slade rejects the role of passive victim and takes the fight to the enemy. My spirits would lift at these, only to plummet a few pages later when she returns to the same pattern of oddly inappropriate, banal, bourgeois behaviour.So it’s an absolute tribute to the writing that, despite how little I liked her, I was fascinated by Slade’s decline into distrust and disorder. I was intrigued by the potential identity of her tormentor, and keen to discover how the parallel plots involving a mid-life crisis, older woman and a neurotic, anorexic youngster were resolved. For me, the master-stroke involved Slade’s relationship with her lover and how rapidly she became convinced that he’d betrayed her. Who do you trust?This is a complex novel which aims to incorporate weighty contemporary themes into a page-turning thriller. It struggles in places to realise that ambition, but the pages sure do fly by. Beautiful Losers is listed as being the first Kim Slade thriller. Hopefully in the second, her intellect and grit will play a greater role.7/10There's a more detailed review over at: murdermayhemandmore.net