'BEAUTIFUL BAD'--from author Annie Ward comes the psychological thriller everyone will talk about--a twisted novel about a devoted wife, a loving husband, and a chilling crime that will stun even the cleverest readers

Beautiful Bad

In the most explosive and twisted psychological thriller since The Woman in the Window, a beautiful marriage turns beautifully bad.

Things that make me scared: When Charlie cries. Hospitals and lakes. When Ian drinks vodka in the basement. ISIS. When Ian gets angry... That something is really, really wrong with me.

Maddie and Ian's romance began with a chance encounter at a party overseas; he was serving in the British army and she was a travel writer visiting her best friend, Jo. Now almost two decades later, married with a beautiful son, Charlie, they are living the perfect suburban life in Middle America. But when a camping accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending writing therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian's PTSD; her concerns for the safety of their young son, Charlie; and the couple's tangled and tumultuous past with Jo.

From the Balkans to England, Iraq to Manhattan, and finally to an ordinary family home in Kansas, sixteen years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion culminate in The Day of the Killing, when a frantic 911 call summons the police to the scene of a shocking crime.

Reviews

 

“Harrowing…. Evocative descriptions and strong senses of time and place complement the intricate, intelligent plot, which shocks and chills.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Beautiful Bad is beautifully written, beautifully twisty – and beautifully twisted. A dark thriller with real psychological depth." -JP Delaney, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Before

"As imaginatively constructed as it is compelling. Filled with unexpected twists, Beautiful Bad is a riveting read." –Sarah Pekkanen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Anonymous Girl

"You won't be able to tear yourself away from the page. With fascinating characters that chill and horrify, the ending will leave you staggered." –Liv Constantine, author of the national bestseller The Last Mrs. Parrish

"Annie Ward explores a battle-scarred marriage on the brink of disaster in this deft debut. As touching and thought-provoking as it is terrifying, BEAUTIFUL BAD will leave readers spellbound. A buzzworthy read!"  —Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl and When the Lights Go Out

“A well-constructed thriller… brilliantly conceived… would do Patricia Highsmith proud.” —Booklist

“Recommended for fans of Paula Hawkins, Ruth Ware, and Liane Moriarty.” —Library Journal


Annie Ward

 

Annie’s sophomore novel and first psychological thriller BEAUTIFUL BAD will be published by Harper Collins/Park Row books in March, 2019.

Annie received a BA in English Lit with an emphasis in Creative Writing from UCLA and an MFA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute. While studying at AFI, she sold her first short screenplay to MTV/ BFCS Productions. Starring Adam Scott, STRANGE HABIT became a Grand Jury Award Winner at the Aspen Film Festival and a Sundance Festival Official Selection.

After film school, Annie moved to Eastern Europe to work for Fodor Travel Guides, covering regions of Spain and Bulgaria. She remained in Bulgaria for five years spanning a civilian uprising and government overthrow. The novel THE MAKING OF JUNE, which Annie wrote with the Bulgarian revolution and Balkan crisis as its backdrop was sold to Penguin Putnam and published to critical acclaim in 2002.

During Annie’s five years in the Balkans she received a Fulbright Scholarship, taught at the University of Sofia, and script doctored eight screenplays for Nu-Image, an Israeli/American film company that produced a number of projects in Bulgaria for the SyFy Channel. She was later the recipient of an Escape to Create artist residency.

She lives in Kansas City, Kansas with her family.

https://www.annie-ward.com