The Devil You Know by Trish Doller

The Devil You Know by Trish Doller
Series: No
Publisher: Audible Studios for Bloomsbury
Publication Date: June 2nd 2015
Source: Bought
Narrator: Susannah Jones

Eighteen-year-old Arcadia wants adventure. Living in a tiny Florida town with her dad and four-year-old brother, Cadie spends most of her time working, going to school, and taking care of her family. So when she meets two handsome cousins at a campfire party, she finally has a chance for fun. They invite her and friend to join them on a road trip, and it's just the risk she's been craving-the opportunity to escape. But what starts out as a fun, sexy journey quickly becomes dangerous when she discovers that one of them is not at all who he claims to be. One of them has deadly intentions.

Audio books have become my savior since I started my new job. I've got an hour on the bus to work and on the way back, and since physically reading on a bus makes me ill, I've taken to listening to audio books. Honestly, I doubt I'd even manage to finish more than 5 books a month right now if it weren't for audio books. 

The Devil You Know was a book I'd had my eye on for a while, and when I listened to the preview on audible, it definitely peaked my interest and I had to get it. I then decided to read it during bout of books since it's a relatively short audio book (5 hours 33 minutes). The Devil You Know follows 18 year old Arcadia who is dying to get out of her home town. Ever since her mother died she's been taking care of her little brother while her dad is off working or "fixing things" with her uncle. She's fed up and wants a break, so when she meets two mysterious guys at a campfire party, she decides to join them on a road trip along with one of her friends. But one of the guys isn't telling the truth and is playing a very cruel game. 

I actually really liked Arcadia, despite her naivety and her willingness to go on road trips with complete strangers just because she thinks they're hot. Arcadia has basically been forced to grow up far too soon. She works at her fathers store, and then comes home to look after her brother and do whatever chores need done in the house. She basically does everything. She's stressed and feeling the pressure of not having any freedom, which leads her to act out and run away with two strange guys. Generally, she does have her head screwed on straight, but she was extremely naive and very trusting, which got her in quite a bit of trouble.

Matt and Noah are cousins, and they decided to go on a road-trip for their last summer together. Arcadia invited Matt to the party after passing by his car on the road, and it's Matt she meets first at the party. Despite Matt being good-looking and funny, it's Noah that Arcadia really hits it off with. Within about 10 minutes of them meeting they're making out and practically ripping each others clothes off. Noah is hot-headed, but he's also extremely sweet and caring. He could come across as a complete dick sometimes, but generally, he was a sweetheart. Matt is the funny one of the two. He was also cracking jokes and trying to lighten the mood whenever something happened that threw them off course.

Despite the book being slightly predictable, I really enjoyed it. I could totally picture this as a horror movie and I was actually getting a little bit anxious towards the end because there was going to be a big showdown and I had no idea how it was all going to play out. I constantly wanted to scream at Arcadia about how stupid and naive she was being (like I do during horror movies) and to get her ass the hell out of there! 

Other than the thriller/horror aspect of the book, there was also a family aspect. After Arcadia ran off, her father had to fill in the role that Arcadia usually played, and he began to realise how much was on Arcadia's shoulders. It was nice to see that he finally started to understand why she wanted out, and I enjoyed seeing how their relationship had changed at the end. 

The Devil You Know was definitely a brilliant thriller that kept you guessing and there were a lot of red herrings that had me constantly questioning whether I really knew who the dangerous guy was. I'd definitely recommend The Devil You Know because it kept me on my toes until the very end and it was just a superb thriller.