My fave by Hayden!

Rating 2.5* out of 5. After "Poppet" by the same author this was really disappointing. It's a mix of elements causing this. One of them is that I hate books on organized crime and will steer clear if I know that's what's coming. Another is that I found one of the main characters, Zoe, extremely stereotypical. Very hard exterior, hiding literal and figurative wounds present and past. *yawn* Her sister Sally was a bit more real and likeable.

Anyway, a teenager, popular girl, wanna-be model, has been found brutally murdered. Lorne. Come to think of it I still don't really know why, but that's beside the point. So Zoe investigate together with the rest of her unit. Well, mostly on her own since she does not take to teamwork. It surprised me that none of her superios asked her how she really spent her days as she went after whatever trail took her fancy without reporting it anywhere.

Zoe's estranged sister Sally has her own problems. She is recently divorced and raising her daughter Millie on her own. They have both run up debt and are having a tough time making ends meet. The ex is not willing to help, or isn't allowed more like it, because of his new wife. So Sally takes a side-job working for a known gangster. Things rapidly go down-hill from there. Because Lorne went to the same school as Millie and her friends, Zoe and Sally's paths soon cross. They haven't spoken in years and years because of a childhood episode which was so appalling that their parents sent them to different boarding schools and generally kept them apart.

Sally's got guts, I have to give her that. She probably saves the whole story from a 1* rating. She had a lot more to her than I thought. She can't carry everything on her own though. There was nothing new in this book. The motive for the murder was weak and I felt it wasn't properly explained. I was travelling when I finished it and wasn't that concentrated, so it's possible I missed something because of that. Still. NO no no no - don't even think about it! Read something else, there are much more enjoyable books out there, I promise you.

Not Mo Hayder's finest work by a long shot.

this really was quite chilling to the end. Just when you thought you have everything figured out you're put back in your place.

The murder of a teenage girl brings two estranged sisters together. Zoe, the cop investigating the case, tries to keep her own past at bay when she discovers the murdered girl may have been involved in the porn industry. Sally, her sister, is unwittingly working for one of the most successful porn distributors in the UK. She'd rather not, but, since her divorce, she has not managed money well and poverty is restricting her daughter Millie's social activities. When Millie borrows money from a shady character, Sally's desperation reaches a breaking point.

At first, each sister's life seems quite separate from the other's. But as events unfold, their paths cross and intertwine. Hayder's novel is dark and creepy, containing a fair amount of graphic language, sex, and violence. The plot twists and turns and the ending is more disturbing than satisfying. Not for all readers but a good combination of gritty crime fiction and engaging character development.

This was pretty long and fairly gruesome, but listening to the British narrator made it much easier to stomach.

Quite good. A good solid crime book. Story of 2 sisters who have grown apart, and how a crime draws their lives back together, i enjoyed this. The characters were likeable. It was good to get a book with female main characters from mo hayder. A solid mystery which had a nice twist in the end, but the twist happening so late with an added cliffhanger, didn't sit well. Especially since this is a one off and a cliffhanger is an empty tease in this case. I would recommend this book. its good to read some one of genre books rather than everything being part of a series.