Book Review: THE GIRL YOU LOST by Kathryn Croft

Title: The Girl You Lost
Author: Kathryn Croft
Publisher: Bookouture
Read: January 2016
Expected publication: 5 February 2016



Synopsis (Goodreads):

Eighteen years ago, Simone Porter’s six-month-old daughter, Helena, was abducted. Simone and husband, Matt, have slowly rebuilt their shattered lives, but the pain at losing their child has never left them.

Then a young woman, Grace, appears out of the blue and tells Simone she has information about her stolen baby. But just who is Grace – and can Simone trust her?

When Grace herself disappears, Simone becomes embroiled in a desperate search for her daughter and the woman who has vital clues about her whereabouts.

Simone is inching closer to the truth but it’ll take her into dangerous and disturbing territory.

Simone lost her baby. Will she lose her life trying to find her? 

My thoughts:

For 18 years Simone Porter has struggled to put the abduction of her then 6-months old daughter Helena behind her and get on with her life, forging a career as a successful journalist whose empathy for parents with missing children nets her some interesting and heart wrenching stories. One day a young woman, Grace, knocks on her door, claiming that she has received information from a friend that makes her believe she might be Helena, Simone’s missing child. But before Simone can confirm whether the girl’s claim is true or not, Grace also disappears without a trace, and Simone is facing heartbreak and uncertainty all over again ....

I loved the premise of the story and was very excited to receive a copy from the publisher for an honest review. Unfortunately though the book did not grip me or deliver for me, for various reasons. Loathe to imagine the heartbreak a parent would face on losing a child in such horrible circumstances, I found Simone to be rather unemotional and rational on being faced with a girl who might be her long-lost daughter. And if her actions seemed out of character, the people around her also tended to act in a manner that was unconvincing and often bordering on the bizarre (some eye rolls and “yeah right”s being exclaimed quite regularly as I read on). This made me soon lose interest in the story as I struggled to connect to any of the characters or care what happened to them. For me, the story lacked credibility and emotional depth, and I found myself skipping pages just to get to the end and find out the answers. Sadly not the right book for me, but judging on other reviews many readers did enjoy it, so I will not give any spoilers and let people judge for themselves.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: BREAKDOWN by Jonathan Kellerman

Title: Breakdown: an Alex Delaware Novel (Alex Delaware #31)
Author: Jonathan Kellerman
Publisher: Random House (Ballantine Books)
Read: January 2016
Expected publication: 2 February 2016



Synopsis (Goodreads):

In #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman’s thrilling new blockbuster Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis investigate the murder of a Hollywood actress pushed to the limits of sanity.

Psychologist sleuth Alex Delaware is surprised to get the call when well-known TV actress Zelda Chase turns up half-naked, half-mad in the LA’s rural Westside. He has little connection to the starlet, save a psychiatric evaluation he performed on her adopted daughter several years ago, a child who has since vanished without a trace and whom Zelda refuses to talk about. When the actress turns up dead a few weeks later without a scratch on her, Delaware calls in police lieutenant Milo Sturgis to help him crack the case—or at least the wall of silence surrounding it. When the body of a second actress turns up with the same mysterious cause of death, Delaware and Sturgis start to wonder—is this a copycat case or a coincidence? When they uncover the death of another actress, a star from another era who vanished decades ago, never to be found, they realize they’re facing one of the their most baffling, mind-bending cases yet.

My thoughts:

I have been a fan of Kellerman’s Alex Delaware novels for a long time, and was very happy to receive a copy of his latest book from Netgalley. Even with 31 books of the series now in circulation, Kellerman has not lost his edge and manages to deliver a taut and interesting psychological thriller, featuring super sleuth and child psychologist Alex Delaware and his detective friend Milo Sturgis.

Alex is somewhat surprised and a little annoyed when he receives a call from the pushy manager of a newly established  but somewhat questionable mental health facility, who asks him to evaluate a patient of theirs. It seems that  Zelda Chase, a former actress who has fallen on hard times and now lives on the streets, has suffered a psychotic episode and has created a disturbance in a wealthy part of town by digging up a garden and babbling incoherently. Five years earlier, Alex had been asked by a colleague to evaluate her young son, Ovid, due to concerns that Zelda’s mental health had been deteriorating. However, Alex is unable to establish what has happened to the boy, as Zelda is not capable of rational answers and nobody seems to know anything about the fate of the child from the moment Zelda started living on the streets. When Zelda turns up dead on the property of a wealthy socialite a short time later, Alex suspects foul play and becomes even more concerned for the boy’s welfare – if he is still alive. Soon more deaths are being linked to the same neighbourhood, and the quest to find Ovid becomes a race against time ....

The novel is perhaps not as dark or fast paced as some of the previous ones in the series, but contains the same intelligent plot development and step-by-step deductions that are the hallmark of Alex Delaware’s investigations. I always enjoy the careful unravelling of the mystery and the attention to detail, and this novel is no exception. Alex’s role as psychologist really comes into its own here, as mental illness features heavily as a theme, as does the plight of so many mentally ill people who end up on the streets, vulnerable to falling prey to predators or questionable mental health facilities.

Breakdown is a slow but intelligent psychological thriller, and I very much enjoyed reading it. Recommended reading, especially for fans of the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: TIME AND TIME AGAIN by Ben Elton

Title: Time and Time Again
Author: Ben Elton
Publisher: Bantam Press
Read: August 2015



Synopsis (Goodreads):

It’s the 1st of June 1914 and Hugh Stanton, ex-soldier and celebrated adventurer is quite literally the loneliest man on earth. No one he has ever known or loved has been born yet. Perhaps now they never will be.

Stanton knows that a great and terrible war is coming. A collective suicidal madness that will destroy European civilization and bring misery to millions in the century to come. He knows this because, for him, that century is already history.

Somehow he must change that history. He must prevent the war. A war that will begin with a single bullet. But can a single bullet truly corrupt an entire century?

And, if so, could another single bullet save it? 

My thoughts:

I am very surprised that I hadn’t heard of this book before and stumbled across it almost by accident – because this is such a gem of a story! The blurb reads like a “been there – read that” story of going back in time and changing history – I have read several books with the same premise, some excellent, some very average. And yet Ben Elton manages to inject his own bit of magic to the story, and a very clever twist I did not see coming at all. Let’s just say I will never look at history the same way again!

Hugh “Guts” Stanton, a lonely ex-soldier and survivalist who has lost his whole family in a tragic car accident, is intrigued when he is summoned by an his old history professor, Sally Mc Cluskey, who poses a question to him: “If you could change one piece of history, what would it be?”  Only that this time it is not a rhetorical question, as Hugh is about to be sent on a very special mission – to prevent the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand which caused the Great War, and thereby ensure a better future for mankind. Despite careful planning however, things go wrong from the very start of the journey. Soon Hugh realises that every one of his actions can have far-reaching effects that may jeopardise his mission and take away his benefit of hindsight – and alter the fate of future generations in ways he had not expected.

I loved this book and could not tear myself away – and every time I thought I knew what was going to happen, the story took a completely surprising turn, proving all my predictions wrong. The historical details were fascinating as Hugh travels from pre-war Constantinople to Sarajevo, Vienna and Berlin, trying to blend into a society he only knows from history books. Elton has created characters which are engaging and interesting, from the disillusioned and lonely ex-special forces soldier Hugh to the ruthless Professor McClyuskey, and the vivacious Irish suffragette Bernadette who will influence Hugh’s mission in ways he could not predict. What a great movie this would make! With his premise that history can be totally changed by the smallest action, and the thrilling prospect of whether Hugh’s mission would succeed, Elton challenged my perception of history and reality as a whole in ways I had not expected. Time and Time Again is one of my favourite reads this year. Very highly recommended!

Book Review: THE MURDERER'S DAUGHTER by Jonathan Kellerman

Title: The Murderer's Daughter
Author: Jonathan Kellerman
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Read: August 2015
Expected publication: 18 August 2015



Synopsis (Goodreads):

#1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Jonathan Kellerman delivers a riveting standalone thriller featuring the unforgettable Grace Blades. Master psychologist by day, seductive adrenaline junkie by night, Grace has a very dark past—one that’s about to bleed into a terrifying present.

My thoughts:

I have been a fan of Jonathan Kellerman’s novels for a long, long time and was very excited to receive a preview copy of his latest book “The Murderer’s Daughter”, introducing an unusual and interesting new protagonist, psychologist Dr Grace Blades.  Grace is a fascinating character – growing up in a dysfunctional and abusive household as a very young child she learns very early to fend for herself, a trait which stands her in good stead when she is taken into foster care after the murder-suicide of her drug addict parents. Moved from foster family to foster family Grace learns to be self-reliant and introverted in order to survive, a skill aided by her brilliant intellect and ability to read people and give them exactly what they want to see.

Fast forward to the adult Grace and she is an accomplished psychologist treating patients with traumatic and violent pasts. With her uncanny ability to read people, she is highly sought after by victims of violent crime, who feel understood by a woman who has been through similar circumstances herself. One day the past catches up with Grace in the form of a new patient who is murdered shortly after seeking her out, and suddenly she finds herself on the run from a ruthless killer who will do everything in his power to silence her. To survive, Grace must once again rely on her intelligence and resourcefulness, and take a journey back into events of her past she would rather forget. 

I loved Kellerman’s new novel and was totally engrossed in it from start to finish. With Grace, he has given us an exciting new protagonist I would like to see a lot more of in future novels. Whilst Grace is not instantly likeable, often coming across as unemotional, manipulative, cold and calculating, she is also extremely clever and resourceful and does not shy away from taking matters into her own hand. Grace is also a fighter for justice, which redeemed her to me instantly and made me fear for her safety. Since the events of her present predicament are integrally linked with Grace’s past, the reader is taken on a journey into the young girl’s traumatic childhood and the events leading to her career as a psychologist. The glimpses into Grace’s childhood were fascinating and gave an insightful understanding of forming her later personality, the long-term effects of a violent and fractured upbringing on later life. Woven into a suspenseful thriller these details made the novel stand out for me, again showing why Kellerman has a firm place on my favourite authors list.

My only grizzle about this book is the awful title, which did not do it justice. Had it not been written by an author I have previously read and enjoyed, I would never have picked it up. With so many interesting elements to the story, a more tantalising title and cover can surely be found? So do not judge this book by its cover – a highly recommended read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE by Jane Isaac

Title: Before It's Too Late
Author: Jane Isaac
Publisher: Legend Press
Read: July 2015



Synopsis (Goodreads):

I concentrated hard, desperately listening for something familiar, the sound of life.

I heard nothing.

Just my own breaths and the wind, whistling through branches above... The thought made me shiver.

I am buried alive.

Following an argument with her British boyfriend, Chinese student Min Li is abducted whilst walking the dark streets of picturesque Stratford-upon-Avon alone.

Trapped in a dark pit, Min is at the mercy of her captor. Detective Inspector Will Jackman is tasked with solving the case and in his search for answers discovers that the truth is buried deeper than he ever expected.

But, as another student vanishes and Min grows ever weaker, time is running out. Can Jackman track down the kidnapper, before it's too late?

My thoughts:

When young Chinese student Min Li goes missing after a row with her boyfriend at the local pub in Stratford upon Avon, Detective Inspector Will Jackman is put in charge of the investigation into her disappearance. She is not the first young woman who has come to grief in the recent past, and Will holds grave fears for her safety. Is it possible that there is a serial killer on the loose in their idyllic town? Will’s investigations lead him into the secretive world of Chinatown, where policemen are not trusted and information is hard to come by. With time running out, Will is desperate for some clues that would help him find Min Li alive and reunite her with her parents in China before it is too late.

Before It’s Too Late is told from the third person perspective of the police investigation run by DI Will Jackman as well as a first person narrative of Min Li herself, as she is being held captive in a dark dungeon and fearing for her life. The glimpses into Chinatown and the cultural differences which hamper the investigation are insightful and interesting and add a whole different aspect to the story. Whilst the ending did not come as a total surprise, it was still a clever twist which made the story stand out from your average police procedural. I really liked the character of DI Jackman and would like to see him back in future novels.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.