THE DUTY BOUND DUET by SYDNEY JAMESSON

‘Take your worst nightmare. Throw in some of the most repulsive characters on the planet. Envisage the scariest scenario, and then put the person you love the most in the middle of it.’

If you love a dark and twisty read….GRAB THIS DUET! Thought-provoking and brilliant! 5 heart-pounding stars! Sydney Jamesson started her Duty Bound Duet with a bang and never let up – not from the first page of Duty of Care Book #1 to the very last page of The Caretakers Book #2. From start to finish this was an at times difficult, dark, twisty, utterly gripping and rewarding read. The writing was exquisite, no other word for it. We ate up everything about this duet. It was heartbreaking and at times horrific, but it was also a story about the triumph of love and unbreakable bonds. A story of good vs evil and so much more!

This is our second read by Sydney Jamesson. After falling in love with her standalone The Darkest Corners, we couldn’t wait to read more from this talented author, and her latest release blew us away! If you’re looking for a new ‘new to you author‘, we URGE you to add Sydney Jamesson to your list and pick up this rollercoaster duet! It was brilliant! Creative and thrilling, with subject matter so sensitive, we can only surmise the research and pain it must have taken for the author to bring this to life. We were reminded that day in, day out, people are living this horrific existence and that evil lurks at every corner. It’s certainly food for thought, and Sydney Jamesson does a stellar job of bringing that depravity into a work of fiction yet also making our hearts soar, as we hoped, with everything we had, that good would triumph over evil.

“When you have nothing, every little thing has value.”

You know us, we don’t do spoilers… ever, and we certainly won’t be spoiling any aspect of this duet for you as the shocks, surprises and twists that left our mouths agape, are such a huge element of the story, we want you to experience everything just as we did.

Emily Parsons (nee Derbyshire) and her sister Rita were inseparable. After the death of their beloved mother, they were orphaned at 12 and 5, with the older Emily pledging on her mother’s deathbed to always look after Rita and promising to give her the best life possible. And it’s a promise she takes very seriously, especially within the inner walls of the Summerville Children’s Residence – the cold stark place Emily and little Rita now call home.

‘Growing up, we didn’t have much of anything, but we had an abundance of love.’

It would be a place that would shape the girls into adulthood. The innocent, sweet Rita, would always be protected and loved, the fierce and protective Emily would see to that. The sisterly bond was beautiful and unbreakable, until the day Emily received news that would devastate her to her very core. Her twenty three year old beloved sister, Rita had committed suicide. Emily was bereft, making it her life’s mission to find out what could have possibly led her life loving sister to take her life.

“We have to accept that we may not see the people we love, but that doesn’t mean we love them any less.”

Little did Emily know it was a mission that would bring her face to face with evil, leading her to the underbelly of the criminal world and into a world of sickness and depravity where the mighty dollar is worth more than an innocent life.

Enlisting the help of a lonely rugged American PI/Hacker named Robert Blackmoor, Emily discovers a world she had only read about, and as we uncover the events that led to the loss of Rita, we become so uncomfortable and tentative about turning the pages, fearful of what we would find, but desperate to find out. Yes, it’s horrifying and ugly, but we revel in Emily’s bravery and tenacity to bring justice for her sister, and in the process find a man who understands on a level like no other.

‘He had become the unshakable pillar upon which I could depend to keep me standing when everything around me seemed to be falling about my ears.’

Told in present and past switches, we learn about the sisters in the lead up to Emily receiving the news of her sisters passing, feeling as though we were living their lives with them, experiencing their predicaments, such was the vividness of Sydney Jamesson’s painfully beautiful storytelling. We felt revulsion, pain, and anger. We felt sadness and hopelessness, yet somewhere deep inside was a feeling of hope.

‘Over time, I’d developed a thick, impenetrable skin whereas Rita had remained soft, well-intentioned and trusting.’

Whilst parts of this story were horrific, it wasn’t written for shock value, more to bring forth the integral core of the story, putting us front and centre, ensuring we experienced the plight of the characters through their eyes. With lead weight in our stomachs, we were torn between our eagerness to read on and the trepidation of what was to come.

‘The man across the hall had become my confidante and my saviour; he had given me the strength to overserve the darkest aspects of human nature, to come face to face with evil.’

Simmering under all the ugliness is a beautiful love story between the world hardened Emily, and the mysterious Robert, who’s own background story was heartbreaking and tragic. Two kindred souls with the same goal and the way their love story came to fruition was breathtaking. Robert and Emily made our hearts soar.

‘He trusted me enough to reveal himself: the man behind the bearded mask, the unseen cyberman without a name or public identity; the passionate man who had loved and lost and believed he might be able to love again.’

The Duty Bound Duet was an intense read, and one we couldn’t put down! From the gobsmacking end of the first book to the seamless way Sydney Jamesson took us deeper into an ugly world where human life is regarded as a commodity and where evil lurks in the second book – we couldn’t look away. This is a duet we’ll be thinking about and discussing for a long time to come. Now, that’s how you keep a reader riveted and entertained! And talk about a heart-pounding ride to the finish! Wow!

The Caretakers – the conclusion to this duet releases 25th August.