Over the past couple of weeks, my faith in free books for Kindle has been tested with some very average titles and some decidely dodgy offerings. Phobia, unfortunately, falls into this latter category!

What starts off well, with a description of events that cause the main character, Matt Brewer, to contract a couple of life-debilitating phobias as an early child, descends into a predictable spiral as he tries to overcome his fears for the sake of his relationship leading to a descent into terror that forces him to approach his phobias head-on once and for all!

Anyone who has read any mystery-thriller in the past will be screaming at their Kindle or E-reader once they reach a certain point (which I won't go into too deeply to avoid spoilers but you will know when/if you get there!) to no avail. The main character seems to be a total dumb-ass who does nothing but ignore obvious signs of trouble, so totally is he self-consumed with his own problems and his own little world even when the clues are all there in front of him! Neither is he paticularly likeable! I have every sympathy for people who suffer from assorted phobias that deeply affect their life to their own detriment but with Matt Brewer, you just want to grab hold of him and shake him and tell him to just sort himself out!

This has a smattering of potential but for much of the book, not a lot happens and you keep waiting for a bit of action to liven things up. But when that does come along, it all seems a bit obvious and contrived.

Like I say, this was free for Kindle on Amazon at time of posting and, as a freebie, if you want to waste your time go ahead! But this reviewer was certainly less than impressed and is rapidly discovering that there is a reason why some of these books are available for free!