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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated The Widow in Books
Jul 26, 2017
Great, no frills British psychological drama
It's rare to find psychological thrillers that aren't over the top. Instead of bodies piling up, this entire novel premises around one particular child abduction and how the people around were affected. The widow of the alleged criminal is a completely flawed person, battling her own demons whilst trying to live with him and the press / police constantly hounding her. She is by far imperfect. If I say anymore it may reveal too much. Looking forward to see this on the small screen.
A gripping read, but domestic violence, child abuse, incest, adultery, suicide, abduction, murder.... it did put you through the wringer a bit!
I felt it wasn't wrapped up as well as it could have been - some things left me feeling unsatisfied. A few inconsistencies - for example a character badly sprains or possibly breaks an ankle. This is a hindrance while it needs to be, but a few hours later it seems to be OK again.
If Olivia knew what she knew about her husband all along, I can't see why she didn't use it to her advantage earlier?
Gripping while it lasted, but I don't think I could read it again.
I felt it wasn't wrapped up as well as it could have been - some things left me feeling unsatisfied. A few inconsistencies - for example a character badly sprains or possibly breaks an ankle. This is a hindrance while it needs to be, but a few hours later it seems to be OK again.
If Olivia knew what she knew about her husband all along, I can't see why she didn't use it to her advantage earlier?
Gripping while it lasted, but I don't think I could read it again.
Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Mother May I in Books
Apr 18, 2021
Engaging Thriller
This book didn't waste any time getting going while still giving us a good feeling for the characters.
With the abduction of the youngest child of a content wealthy mother of three, Bree Cabbat, I did wonder if we were going to go down a path too frequently travelled in thrillers of late for me. But the twists hit early and hard leaving me gripped.
Jackson again demonstrates a writing style that gets me on board with characters I would usually have little regard for, making me desperate to find out their fate.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the copy.
With the abduction of the youngest child of a content wealthy mother of three, Bree Cabbat, I did wonder if we were going to go down a path too frequently travelled in thrillers of late for me. But the twists hit early and hard leaving me gripped.
Jackson again demonstrates a writing style that gets me on board with characters I would usually have little regard for, making me desperate to find out their fate.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the copy.
I am a huge fan of Mark Billingham and of his character, Tom Thorne, and have avidly followed the series and so I was absolutely thrilled to see a prequel was available which went back to the beginning in 1996 when "portable" phones are a novelty, smoking in pubs was the norm and England weren't doing too badly in the Euro's!
Tom is a young Detective Sergeant going through a bit of a rough patch after separating from his wife and experiencing recurring nightmares of an old case when along comes every persons worst nightmare ... the abduction of a little boy from a local park. The book follows the investigation into the abduction where everyone is a suspect and the mystery deepens when the body of one of those suspects turns up, quickly followed by the body of the boy's father.
This is a tense read written mainly from the perspectives of Tom, Cat (mother of the abducted child) and Kieron (the abducted child); the pace built up as the investigation progressed and I loved it. I particularly enjoyed meeting the characters that I have grown to love at the beginnings of their relationship with a particular highlight being the first meeting between Tom and Phil Hendricks which made me literally laugh out loud.
I would most definitely recommend this book and you don't have to have read any of the others in the series as this makes a really good starting point for those of you who haven't discovered the delight that is Tom Thorne and who have clearly been living under a rock!!
I was extremely lucky to have won a copy of this book via a Facebook competition but thanks also to Little, Brown Book Group via NetGalley for an e-copy in return for an unbiased and honest review.
Tom is a young Detective Sergeant going through a bit of a rough patch after separating from his wife and experiencing recurring nightmares of an old case when along comes every persons worst nightmare ... the abduction of a little boy from a local park. The book follows the investigation into the abduction where everyone is a suspect and the mystery deepens when the body of one of those suspects turns up, quickly followed by the body of the boy's father.
This is a tense read written mainly from the perspectives of Tom, Cat (mother of the abducted child) and Kieron (the abducted child); the pace built up as the investigation progressed and I loved it. I particularly enjoyed meeting the characters that I have grown to love at the beginnings of their relationship with a particular highlight being the first meeting between Tom and Phil Hendricks which made me literally laugh out loud.
I would most definitely recommend this book and you don't have to have read any of the others in the series as this makes a really good starting point for those of you who haven't discovered the delight that is Tom Thorne and who have clearly been living under a rock!!
I was extremely lucky to have won a copy of this book via a Facebook competition but thanks also to Little, Brown Book Group via NetGalley for an e-copy in return for an unbiased and honest review.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Call Me Mummy in Books
Mar 14, 2021
For a debut this is pretty successful and certainly had me reading way too late into the night.
This is a dark, disturbing and harrowing read but totally addictive. With fantastic characters and an all-too-real story line, this is a book that gets you hooked pretty quickly and doesn't let you go until the last full stop at the end.
Told from the perspectives of the kidnapper, the mother and the child, this provides insight from all aspects of the story which makes it all the more gripping. There are also snippets of social media posts which add a further dimension.
This book is about so much more than child abduction and, as a consequence, does contain swearing and abuse so if you are upset by these, I would probably give this a miss but if you "enjoy" (and I say that loosely) reading something on the darker side, then Call Me Mummy is the book for you.
Thank you to Serpent's Tail / Profile Books / Viper via NetGalley - I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.
Another author to look out for in the future.
This is a dark, disturbing and harrowing read but totally addictive. With fantastic characters and an all-too-real story line, this is a book that gets you hooked pretty quickly and doesn't let you go until the last full stop at the end.
Told from the perspectives of the kidnapper, the mother and the child, this provides insight from all aspects of the story which makes it all the more gripping. There are also snippets of social media posts which add a further dimension.
This book is about so much more than child abduction and, as a consequence, does contain swearing and abuse so if you are upset by these, I would probably give this a miss but if you "enjoy" (and I say that loosely) reading something on the darker side, then Call Me Mummy is the book for you.
Thank you to Serpent's Tail / Profile Books / Viper via NetGalley - I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.
Another author to look out for in the future.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Close to Home in Books
Dec 29, 2019
Absorbing
This is the first in a series of novels starring DI Adam Fawley and his team and what a start to the series this is. I actually missed this first time round and was only reminded I had it when I was sent book 4!
Packed with fantastic characters not all of which are particularly likeable but all of whom are well developed and with interesting stories to tell in their own right. The story line is a difficult one to read being that of child abduction and exploitation however this is not written in a gratuitous way but with care and attention although not is all as it seems and so begins DI Fawley's task of unravelling just what has happened to young Daisy.
This is a fast paced, gripping and absorbing story that had me reading it in quick time in order to discover the secrets and lies contained within the twists and turns of this excellent book and I highly recommend this to those of you who love a great police procedural.
Thank you to Penguin Books (UK) and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.
Packed with fantastic characters not all of which are particularly likeable but all of whom are well developed and with interesting stories to tell in their own right. The story line is a difficult one to read being that of child abduction and exploitation however this is not written in a gratuitous way but with care and attention although not is all as it seems and so begins DI Fawley's task of unravelling just what has happened to young Daisy.
This is a fast paced, gripping and absorbing story that had me reading it in quick time in order to discover the secrets and lies contained within the twists and turns of this excellent book and I highly recommend this to those of you who love a great police procedural.
Thank you to Penguin Books (UK) and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.
Midge (525 KP) rated The Nowhere Child in Books
Mar 11, 2019
Brilliant And Dark
“The Nowhere Child” is a debut psychological thriller by Christian White and it was so special! Several things cast their spell - my favourite genre; a very smart cover design; winner of the Victorian Premier Literary Award; and great ratings from the offset. It could only be a winner!
The book opens with an introduction to the main protagonist Kimberly (Kim) Leamy who is a photography teacher in Melbourne, Australia. Twenty-six years earlier, Sammy Went, a two-year-old girl vanished from her home in Manson, Kentucky. James Finn, an American accountant who contacts Kim is convinced she was that child, kidnapped just after her birthday. She cannot believe the woman who raised her crossed international lines to steal a toddler.
Jack and Molly Went’s daughter Sammy disappeared from their Kentucky home in 1990. Already estranged, the couple drifted further apart as time passed. Jack did his best to raise and protect his other daughter and son while Molly found solace in her faith. The Church of the Light Within, a Pentecostal fundamentalist group who handle poisonous snakes as part of their worship, provided that faith.
Now, with proof that she and Sammy are in fact the same person, Kim travels to America to reunite with a family she never knew she had and to solve the mystery of her abduction that will take her deep into the dark heart of religious fanaticism.
For me, Christian White’s writing is captivating and extremely well structured. Although the theme of a child being stolen is not particularly original, the clever telling of this story made it a joy to read. The chapters alternate between the past and the present, maintaining the reader’s attention. The chapters narrated in the past explore the impact of Sammy’s disappearance on her family and the community in which they live. The other chapters follow Kim’s pathway of discovery to the truth about her past.
The most gripping parts of “The Nowhere Child” were the chapters about the past, as the author unearthed long-buried secrets of Kim’s grieving family. It seemed that nearly every character from her past had something they wanted to be kept hidden. Revelations were made that included identity, betrayal, secrets, loss and a sinister cult. A tense story of menace and suspense, the story held my interest from start to finish and the way in which Christian White brought everything to a conclusion was just fabulous.
I loved “The Nowhere Child” and I would recommend it to anyone who likes this genre. It has left me eager to read more from this author in the future.
Thank you to #NetGalley, and HarperCollins UK for a free ARC of #NowhereChild in exchange for a voluntary, honest review.
The book opens with an introduction to the main protagonist Kimberly (Kim) Leamy who is a photography teacher in Melbourne, Australia. Twenty-six years earlier, Sammy Went, a two-year-old girl vanished from her home in Manson, Kentucky. James Finn, an American accountant who contacts Kim is convinced she was that child, kidnapped just after her birthday. She cannot believe the woman who raised her crossed international lines to steal a toddler.
Jack and Molly Went’s daughter Sammy disappeared from their Kentucky home in 1990. Already estranged, the couple drifted further apart as time passed. Jack did his best to raise and protect his other daughter and son while Molly found solace in her faith. The Church of the Light Within, a Pentecostal fundamentalist group who handle poisonous snakes as part of their worship, provided that faith.
Now, with proof that she and Sammy are in fact the same person, Kim travels to America to reunite with a family she never knew she had and to solve the mystery of her abduction that will take her deep into the dark heart of religious fanaticism.
For me, Christian White’s writing is captivating and extremely well structured. Although the theme of a child being stolen is not particularly original, the clever telling of this story made it a joy to read. The chapters alternate between the past and the present, maintaining the reader’s attention. The chapters narrated in the past explore the impact of Sammy’s disappearance on her family and the community in which they live. The other chapters follow Kim’s pathway of discovery to the truth about her past.
The most gripping parts of “The Nowhere Child” were the chapters about the past, as the author unearthed long-buried secrets of Kim’s grieving family. It seemed that nearly every character from her past had something they wanted to be kept hidden. Revelations were made that included identity, betrayal, secrets, loss and a sinister cult. A tense story of menace and suspense, the story held my interest from start to finish and the way in which Christian White brought everything to a conclusion was just fabulous.
I loved “The Nowhere Child” and I would recommend it to anyone who likes this genre. It has left me eager to read more from this author in the future.
Thank you to #NetGalley, and HarperCollins UK for a free ARC of #NowhereChild in exchange for a voluntary, honest review.
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Abducted in Plain Sight (2017) in Movies
Apr 8, 2021
Now this one has to be seen to be believed! It is a short documentary film of about 90 minutes, not a series, but it plays like a longer episode of a series – except by the end there is no more to tell. In and out, thankfully! It is the story of Jan Broberg, a relatively successful Hollywood supporting actress, who wrote a book about her abduction by a close family friend when she was a child in the 70s. As the story unfolds, especially if you are a parent yourself, you will be screaming at the screen in total disbelief and indignation every ten minutes, and twice as loud at the end!
I can’t go into the details without ruining it, but suffice to say that the series of events is one of the strangest stories, fact or fiction, that I have ever heard! The audacity and total manipulation of the offender, in conjunction with the insane naivety of Jan and her parents is mind-blowing! How he got away with it in any way for longer than a day is unfathomable enough, but this was abuse that went on unpunished for years. Is it the bible belt attitude to blame? I am… still… scratching my head on this one! How did these events and crimes ever happen? Just, wow! Do yourself a favour if you want to be shocked and have a good rant at the TV, watch this and see for yourself.
I can’t go into the details without ruining it, but suffice to say that the series of events is one of the strangest stories, fact or fiction, that I have ever heard! The audacity and total manipulation of the offender, in conjunction with the insane naivety of Jan and her parents is mind-blowing! How he got away with it in any way for longer than a day is unfathomable enough, but this was abuse that went on unpunished for years. Is it the bible belt attitude to blame? I am… still… scratching my head on this one! How did these events and crimes ever happen? Just, wow! Do yourself a favour if you want to be shocked and have a good rant at the TV, watch this and see for yourself.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated The Gates of Evangeline in Books
Apr 9, 2019
Charlotte Cates has started having dreams about young children now that her son has passed away. She is not sure what these dreams mean, but when they start to come to fruition, she sees that she may have a gift she may not really want. Sent to Louisiana to write a book about the abduction of young Gabriel Deveau, she believes she knows what has happened to him from one of her dreams. Will she be able to find out what happened to this boy? What other dreams will she have before she gets the answers she is looking for?
I started this book and at first I couldn't get into it. I put it down for a couple of weeks and then picked it back up. I'm so glad that I did. While some parts of this book were a little bit predictable, this was an overall good read. I was invested in the story and I was desperate to know what was going to happen to Charlotte, or Charlie as she likes to be called.
After the death of her own child, she was lost and unsure about how to continue her life. She wasn't really into her job and then came the opportunity arose for her to write about something, she thought she had first hand knowledge about. Leaving her home in Connecticut to live at Evangeline, the estate where Gabriel went missing, she uncovers a lot about the Deveau family that she never knew was possible.
At 75% I literally felt my heart begin to race. And it was difficult to put the book down from then on. Highly recommended.
I started this book and at first I couldn't get into it. I put it down for a couple of weeks and then picked it back up. I'm so glad that I did. While some parts of this book were a little bit predictable, this was an overall good read. I was invested in the story and I was desperate to know what was going to happen to Charlotte, or Charlie as she likes to be called.
After the death of her own child, she was lost and unsure about how to continue her life. She wasn't really into her job and then came the opportunity arose for her to write about something, she thought she had first hand knowledge about. Leaving her home in Connecticut to live at Evangeline, the estate where Gabriel went missing, she uncovers a lot about the Deveau family that she never knew was possible.
At 75% I literally felt my heart begin to race. And it was difficult to put the book down from then on. Highly recommended.
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated M (Movie) (1931) in Movies
Jan 28, 2021
The maestro of dark shadows, Fritz Lang already had 14 feature films under his belt by 1931, including the much loved and much borrowed from Metropolis in 1927. It is said that he was such a slave driver with cast and crew alike that he had very few friends and was detested as a man. His work spoke for itself, however, and was always miles ahead of anything happening at the same time in Hollywood. Take the dark, sinister and serious M as an example. It tackles the subject of child abduction and murder, homelessness, crime in general and the punishment of a mob – subjects American cinema would never have touched in 1931, let alone done with such an exquisite non- melodramatic feel.
Peter Lorre as the killer compelled by his own weakness and madness gives an unfeasably nuanced performance for the era also. He is mesmerically creepy and unforgettable. Images and motifs (such as the whistle that indicates the murderer is lurking) abound, creating a landscape of pure mood and disease. As a morality tale it touches on issues of vigilantism and true justice that still has some relevance today. It also works as an entertaining thriller, and there wasn’t a minute I felt bored or distracted. The only jarring element are the scenes where Lang cuts the sound entirely to create tension and focus – they feel like technical mistakes, not deliberate choices. Otherwise, I could not have been more impressed and pleasantly surprised by this Euro classic for all time. If I were making a list of the best films ever made that disregarded the limitations of the age, then M would definitely make the cut.
Peter Lorre as the killer compelled by his own weakness and madness gives an unfeasably nuanced performance for the era also. He is mesmerically creepy and unforgettable. Images and motifs (such as the whistle that indicates the murderer is lurking) abound, creating a landscape of pure mood and disease. As a morality tale it touches on issues of vigilantism and true justice that still has some relevance today. It also works as an entertaining thriller, and there wasn’t a minute I felt bored or distracted. The only jarring element are the scenes where Lang cuts the sound entirely to create tension and focus – they feel like technical mistakes, not deliberate choices. Otherwise, I could not have been more impressed and pleasantly surprised by this Euro classic for all time. If I were making a list of the best films ever made that disregarded the limitations of the age, then M would definitely make the cut.