Spiked: The Furious Feminist Thriller by Caroline Campbell (paperback)

Spiked by Caroline Campbell

"I tried to outrun you," she said, "but I realised it was impossible, because you are everywhere."

It starts with a body, as so many stories do. It ends with one, too, but we'll get to that. Daniel lies dead in a flat in London, violently murdered by his girlfriend, Daisy. He’s no loss to the world, but now she’s going to need her parents’ help to cover up the crime.

Maeve’s been dreaming of this road trip across Europe since she was a teenager. On it she’ll research a story she thinks the world urgently needs to hear, and try to fix her broken marriage to her bullying husband Simon at the same time. She just hadn't planned on bringing the bloody evidence of the murder their daughter committed with them, evidence that’s definitely passed its best-before date as their journey takes them from the nightclubs of Berlin and the darkest corners of Venice to the piazzas of Rome and the sun-soaked beaches of the Amalfi coast.

But someone knows what they’ve done. Someone is stalking them, someone who knows about Daniel. And as the couple travel south, and their persecutor’s threats grow more twisted and deadly, back in London the police are asking Daisy questions she can’t answer about Daniel’s disappearance.

The world needs to brace itself for the rage of a woman who’s had enough. From Prague to Munich, Venice and Rome, Maeve meets women who have devastating stories to tell about the awful things men do behind closed doors. And as the net closes in on Maeve and her family, she realises she's finally ready to turn a lifetime's worth of fury into a vengeance that will shake the world.

"Spiked is that rare discovery: a book that successfully addresses a dark and difficult theme via an engaging story, narrated succinctly with wit and humour."

"Fleabag meets Gone Girl in this electrifying and emotional feminist thriller, pulsing with wit and suspense, that will put fear and rage in your heart. It made me want to take to the streets and deal with violent men the way the book's heroines do."

"Angry, witty, heart-breaking and evocative, Spiked takes you on a thrilling journey across Europe and into the darkest corners of a world where men are women's greatest predators, in an original and fourth-wall breaking novel that I found myself unable to put down."

"I finished it feeling angry, yet hopeful. A must-read for anyone who cares about women's rights."