Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall

Oh man, Our Kind of Cruelty is one of the creepiest books I have ever read, and that's saying a lot. I mean, I loved Helter Skelter, and that is a creepy book. Luckily, Our Kind of Cruelty is fiction, although I am sure there are many people out there like the main character of this book, so that almost makes it creepier.

(Source: Kelsey Darling)

Mike Hayes has everything when you look at him from the outside. He has a beautiful house; an amazing job; more money in the bank that he knows what to do with; and a gorgeous girlfriend, Verity, of nine years. But there is more than meets the eye. What he keeps hidden from the people who "know" him is that V actually left him a year ago and is married to another man. Despite what V says, Mike is positive that she still loves him, and this is all part of a game they used to play. He just has to watch for the signs, and when he gets it right, she will leave her husband and return to him and they will continue their lives together. Never mind that she does not return his calls or e-mails or professes her love for her husband; it is all just a rouse. Mike knows without her saying it that V still loves him and no one will understand this except for them and he will go as far as it takes to win the game.

When I started reading this, I did not realize that this book is 100% about a stalker. It is also 100% from his point of view. I have read books about stalkers, but it is from the POV of the person being stalked. Reading it from the stalkers view was a whole other level of wrong. You can read his words and feel like you are invading Verity's life.

(Source: Giphy)

"I took to walking home from work most nights, especially as the days were long and the warmth stayed late in the air....I didn't walk down Elizabeth Toad every evening, only sometimes, only when I felt like V wanted me to.

It was a few weeks before the wedding when a taxi pulled up outside number 24 and V and Angus got out....

V unlocked the front door and they went inside, closing the door behind them. I waited, but no one went into the drawing room. I thought it likely that the kitchen was in the basement and so I crossed the road and walked toward the black railings, taking hold of them and looking down. I had no idea what I would say if V saw me, but at that moment it didn't matter either. I could see a sink in the window and the lights were on, but the view was infuriatingly oblique.

There were some old stone steps running from the road to the well in front of the basement, which was dark and in shadow. I pushed the gate at the top of the stairs and it yielded. I checked the street, which was empty, and then walked inside. I kept my body flat against the wall, sliding down the mossy bricks. I didn't look into the window until I was at the bottom of the stairs, tucked behind a bend in the wall. And then I wished I hadn't.

The room was illuminated like a screen, bright and inviting, a huge kitchen stretching out into a dining area with a large table. V was sitting at an island in the center of the room on a high stool, sipping from a glass of wine. Angus was cutting something on a board on the opposite side of the island and whatever he was saying was making her laugh. Occasionally he would hold out a piece of cheese or meat, or whatever it was, and she would take it and nod and lick her fingers. But then he stopped chopping and leaned back against the wall of ovens behind him. He said something else and she looked up at him and I thought I might be sick because he eyes were wide and shining and trained only on him. And I knew that feeling too well, knew what it was like to have V look only at you." pp. 49-51)

One would think that your ex being engaged, soon to be married, to another man is enough reason to think "well, maybe they have moved on." If that does not make it clear, watching an intimate moment like that should do it. But everything that V "does," Mike perverts to make it fit his fantasy.

(Source: Giphy)

Aside from him being mentally unstable, he believes that this is all part of a game, the crave. When they were together, they would go out to a bar or club and V would sit alone at the bar and wait for a guy to come and hit on her. She would let him chat her up and think they stood a chance, and then when she could not take it anymore, she would touch the eagle necklace she always wore and that was his sign to swoop in an save her. He would tell the guy that V was his girlfriend and to back off. It turned them on; sometimes they could not even wait until they got home and would have sex in the bathroom. So to Mike, V's engagement/marriage to Angus is just one long crave. 

Part of me wondered if maybe it was a long crave. It would have been an interesting twist to the story.  But the further into the book I got, the more I knew that this would not be the case. This is purely a story of a man who is scarily infatuated with his ex-girlfriend and ends up ruining multiple lives.

(Source: Giphy)

The entire time I read this, I thought of the men that I have known, either personally or through friends and family, that have crossed lines, that said they cared when really they were hurting us, and I was extremely glad that I have not known a man the caliber of Mike. His actions were completely frightening. But then I also thought that there are men out there like him; that Aramainta Hall knew exactly what she was writing about. Women everywhere, every day have to deal with men (or men dealing with women, or any other variety of that sentence) that are exactly like this, and potentially worse. People live in fear, do not make new relationships, constantly look over their shoulders, move frequently because they are dealing with their own Mike.

I would definitely suggest this if you are looking for a psychological thriller that leaves you guessing and wanting more!

Rating: 8/10
Author: Araminta Hall
Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery
Dates Read: September 26-30, 2018