Sheila Rawlings

Beneath the Fear Sheila Rawlings

She thought the nightmare was over. It was only just beginning.




Spoilt and indulged since childhood, Samantha Copeland believes bad things only happen to other people. However, after witnessing her husband's murder during a bank robbery in Oxford, that illusion is cruelly shattered.




Four months later, still struggling to accept Stephen's death by blotting out the memory, Sam retreats to a quiet coastal village in Cornwall, where she hopes to heal her fragile state of mind and re-evaluate her life. Reunited with her childhood friend, Suzy Fitzsimmons - now divorced with a child - the peaceful atmosphere initially seems just what Sam needs. However, that peace soon evaporates.




After meeting her enigmatic neighbour Tony Walker, and local handyman Nathan Scott - two very different men with secrets and agendas of their own - Sam begins to experience disturbing nightmares, closely followed by a series of unexplained and distressing events, including being stalked by a man uncannily resembling her dead husband. While everyone around her tries to convince her these things are simply a figment of her imagination, Sam soon begins to wonder who she should trust ... her friends or her own eyes.




To make matters worse, as both Tony and Nathan try to influence Sam's decisions, the growing rivalry between starts to escalate. Finally, things come to a head when a vicious fight breaks out between them, forcing Sam to relive her husband's death ... and, most importantly, who was responsible for shooting him.




Unfortunately, with both of the two men hiding their true motives, instead of the revelation helping Sam to come to terms with the trauma, she soon realises her own life is now in danger.