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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Piper Hadley and Tash McBain have been missing, presumed runaways, for three years. The police have stopped investigating. When Tash's body is found near a farmhouse where she once lived, and where the current family has been brutally murdered, the investigation is re-opened with a pressing need for answers. There's a suspect in custody, but Joe O'Loughlin isn't convinced he's guilty.
This series has been very hit and miss for me, and I've come close to giving up a few times. Thankfully this one is one of the ones I have enjoyed more, mainly because it focuses on Joe and the investigation.
The best part of this book in my opinion are the chapters written from Piper's point of view. They aren't easy to read (or listen to in my case), however they really caught my attention because they felt very raw and believable.
I still have issues with Joe as a person/character, particularly in how he acts with his ex wife and his children. I've said it before, but for a psychologist he is woefully lacking in self awareness.
I've got the next book in the series in a print copy that I picked up from a booksale, I'm interested to see if the format makes a difference to my enjoyment of the books or not.
This series has been very hit and miss for me, and I've come close to giving up a few times. Thankfully this one is one of the ones I have enjoyed more, mainly because it focuses on Joe and the investigation.
The best part of this book in my opinion are the chapters written from Piper's point of view. They aren't easy to read (or listen to in my case), however they really caught my attention because they felt very raw and believable.
I still have issues with Joe as a person/character, particularly in how he acts with his ex wife and his children. I've said it before, but for a psychologist he is woefully lacking in self awareness.
I've got the next book in the series in a print copy that I picked up from a booksale, I'm interested to see if the format makes a difference to my enjoyment of the books or not.
This book sucked me in from the first few sentences. The narrator of the audiobook was good and definitely enhanced the story. Some edge of your seat passages. The story is told from a few different timelines and voices, which keeps the drama going.
Some very disturbing descriptions of extreme abuse, torture, which don’t add much for me, but perhaps are needed for the ending.
Some very disturbing descriptions of extreme abuse, torture, which don’t add much for me, but perhaps are needed for the ending.
Very suspenseful and definitely had a hard time putting it down. The assault scenes were a bit too much for me, especially considering the author is a male
I’ve been quite the Michael Robotham fan lately.
This is an older Joe O’Loughlin and ex-cop Vincent Ruiz case. Yes, I appear to be reading them out-of-order. Not recommended. Can you read as stand-alones? Yes, but I believe you miss the essence of who the characters are from knowing their past history – as a team. So, don’t read them the way I have, go back to the beginning.
Let me just say this…
This is not the easiest story to read.
We learn early, through the narration, told partly through Piper Hadley’s diary entries, that at age 15 she and her best friend Natasha (Tash) were kidnapped and held captive for the last 3 years in a cellar by their kidnapper, a sexual predator they call George.
And…
Piper doesn’t like to think too much about Tash’s visits to George, but when Tash comes back bloodied from their last encounter, she finds a way to escape, promising to return with help to rescue Piper.
But then…
Tash fails to return and Piper’s narrative takes on a tone of desperation.
Joe O’Loughlin, a clinical psychologist and criminal profiler, and Robotham’s protagonist hero of the series, takes on the other part of the narrative to keep readers informed of what is going on above ground.
There is a gruesome murder of a couple and a barefoot body of a young woman is found under the ice of a frozen lake.
Are these deaths connected?
And…
Will they have anything to do with Piper or Nash?
We also deal with his own relationship with his daughter.
And…
For whatever reason, relationships of fathers plays an overriding role in this story – good ones, bad ones, monstrous ones. Even daughters aren’t saints either, but we know there is love here between the pages for some.
But…
Most importantly…
Will Piper be found in time?
What happened to Nash?
How will Joe O’Loughlin be challenged?
Spine-tingling, gripping, tense, taut, clever read. That will keep readers going to the last page.
If you love suspense, mystery, police novels, crime novels, and just plain intense reads - this should be number one on your "to read" list! Suspenseful and intense novel leaving you rooting for two missing girls to find their way away from their captor. Receiving two perspectives - one being a missing girl - the other being a talented psychologist trying to understand the severity of the crime, and where the missing girls might be being held captive. Gripping - couldn't put it down!
I couldn't put this book down. Like another reviewer, this was my first experience reading Michael Robotham, but I will seek out other books by him. A page turner....