Started reading: May 18th 2017
Finished the book: May 25th 2017
Pages: 434
Genres: Crime, Thriller
Published: February 12th 2015
Source: Bought the book
Goodreads score: 4.11
My score:
A young woman wakes up in a cold, dark cellar, with no idea how she got there or who her kidnapper is. So begins her terrible nightmare.
Nearby, the body of another young woman is discovered buried on a remote beach. But the dead girl was never reported missing - her estranged family having received regular texts from her over the years. Someone has been keeping her alive from beyond the grave.
For Detective Inspector Helen Grace it's chilling evidence that she's searching for a monster who is not just twisted but also clever and resourceful - a predator who's killed before.And as Helen struggles to understand the killer's motivation, she begins to realize that she's in a desperate race against time.
My thoughts
This is a nice fast paced series about Helen Grace and her team trying to solve mysteries and murders. I love the fact that the books are not stand alones, but the story continues only with different cases. I do think the other two books before this one were better, I'll explain to you why.
Pros
- Fast paced: The standards for a fast paced book in this series are high. You have short chapters and a lot of action and some great cliffhangers in this book. This standard was set in Eeny Meeny and M.J. Arlidge keeps up in the other books, as well as this book. A strong point which I'm sure will be there in the next books to come!
- Knowing what happens to victims: What's different to this series and also this book is that you have the POV of the killer and the victims. A lot of crime series only show the side of the police, but not this one. You follow the main characters as well as the victim and the killer. Nice!
- Personal lives of characters: In the first book you get to know the characters and you learn more about their lives. Their personal lives and the story is continued in the second book as well as this book. You feel like you know the characters and what happened to them in the past. And the writer builds on those things and nicely keeps the storyline about the characters going. It's not just the case-solving, but also personal struggles and the lives of the detectives.
Cons
- No real tension: The tension in this book wasn't that high for me. I never felt the ticking clock or the need to solve anything. I didn't feel the rush or the adrenaline and I can't really give you a clear explanation why. It just wasn't there for me.
- Killers reasons: I never felt the rush of finding out why the killer is doing what he's doing. It wasn't that big of a shock and I didn't feel that the explanation was sufficient enough for me.
- Other 2 were better: The other books were better and I gave those 4 apples and this one didn't really live up to the expectations, so it's 3 apples for this book.
Overall
Don't get me wrong after this review; I do like this series. Helen Grace is a very intriguing main character and the cases are bizarre, but this book just wasn't as good as the other two. I'll pick up book number 4 soon enough so you can expect a review for that one. I hope it will get 4 apples as I'm used to from this series.
Other opinions about this book
"Dark, twisted, thought provoking."
- NYT Bestselling author Tami Hoag
"Helen Grace is fiendishly awesome."
- NYT Bestselling author Will Lavender.
Memorable quotes from this book
"The ties that bind a parent to a child can never be broken; however awful their relationship might be, those ties just are.
Are you familiar with this series? Did you read it? What did you think?
If not; are you planning on reading this series?
