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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Surrogate (Brennan & Esposito #1) in Books

Jan 14, 2021

Contains spoilers, click to show

4 of 250
Book
The Surrogate ( Brennan & Esposito book1)
By Tania Carver

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

A shocking double-murder scene greets Detective Inspector Philip Brennan when he is called to a flat in Colchester. Two women are viciously cut open and laying spreadeagled, one tied to the bed, one on the floor. The woman on the bed has had her stomach cut into and her unborn child is missing. But this is the third time Phil and his team have seen such an atrocity. Two other pregnant women have been killed in this way and their babies taken from them. No-one can imagine what sort of person would want to commit such evil acts. When psychologist Marina Esposito is brought in, Phil has to put aside his feelings about their shared past and get on with the job. But can they find the killer before another woman is targeted?

This is definitely a strange one for me! How I got through it I will never know I had to keep putting it down and regather my thoughts. Several times I asked myself do I want to keep going! This is not me taking anything away from the authors as the book was very well written, fast paced with short but well packed chapters. This was difficult for so many reasons dealing with delicate issues. Murder of both women and babies, mutilation , sexual and physical abuse, mental illness on so many levels as well as a few more I missed. The book had this draw to it you didn’t want to go on but you needed to go on! For the first book I. A series it kicks you in the gut straight away! A few times I thought I would physically throw up. So many emotions packed into 438 pages! I needed that last chapter I needed to see him get his woman I think after everything you go through you need that ending!!

Would I recommend this book? Without a doubt but it needs a trigger warning and it’s definitely NOT for the faint hearted!!

Kudos

mostlyinpyjamas (13 KP) rated The Roanoke Girls in Books

Nov 29, 2017

The Roanoke Girls

Amy Engel | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry

8.0

(14 Ratings)

Book Rating

A well written book with a dark theme.

This book is one of those that's not going to be for everyone. The subject matter is heavy, and for some may well be triggering.

It features child abuse, incest, suicide and murder. It's deeply unsettling and at times made me feel really uncomfortable. I don't think there's a character in this book who isn't very messed up.

However it is very well written, I'm not sure if enjoyed is the right word to use but I was completely drawn in, I had to stick with it. I liked the way the author interweaves the flashbacks with the current story. Often, I don't enjoy flashbacks in books, they can make a story feel too disjointed for me, but it worked in The Roanoke girls.

I don't feel like it sensationalises the subjects it deals with, it sets them out as the stomach churning matters that they are.
It's definitely a story that will get you thinking.

I don't usually read the reading group questions at the end of a book, but I did with this book because I was curious, and I feel that there's definitely plenty for discussion, so perhaps it would be a good book club book.

An example of the reading group questions.

"Do you think gran is right when she says mothers are judged more harshly than fathers? Why do you think that might be? Is it a fair standard?"

Overall I enjoyed this book.

Kudos

Erika Kehlet (21 KP) rated The Hidden Child (Patrik Hedström, #5) in Books

Feb 21, 2018

Had I realized when I picked it up that this was the 4th book in a series, I would have looked for the first book to start at the beginning. I didnt feel like I was missing anything starting at this point in the story, however. The relationships between characters were either evident or explained well enough that you can easily read or listen to this book without having read the previous books, and not feel lost.

A lot of Swedish crime fiction has a particular melancholy feel to it, and The Hidden Child is no exception. The author did injected occasional brief moments of humor into the story that helped lighten the mood, however, and they kept it from feeling too dark.

The story is told in both in the present, and through flashbacks, in the time around WW2. It follows the police investigation into the murder of a local historian, as well as the family drama unfolding as Erica Faulk digs into her mothers past. The two series of events turn out to be more intertwined than anyone could have imagined, and even though I could see where it was going, the story didnt give everything away at once and I didnt really know what had happened until the end.

If you are a fan of police procedural and / or historical mysteries, give this one a try!