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calturner's review against another edition
3.0
A grim and dark crime debut from Rebecca Bradley. I found it to be a well written but disturbing novel, in fact it was probably a little bit too disturbing for my taste. It did take me a while to get into, but once the story got underway I began to enjoy it a great deal. DI Hannah Robbins is an intriguing character, and one who I look forward to seeing more of as the series continues. I do feel that the book could have done with a bit more humour to help break up the grimness, but overall I found it to be a good read and will definitely read the next book in the series once it's available.
A good, strong debut. 3.5 stars.
A good, strong debut. 3.5 stars.
melike_k's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Very gripping police procedural feels mainly realistic. Writing becomes a little convoluted and difficult to follow in areas but that is mainly because of the dark action packed nature of the book
h_loudavi5's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
katieeliza's review against another edition
3.0
With thanks to The Book Club for passing this book to me for review.
The plot was pretty solid but what prevents me from giving this book more stars is the writing style. Particularly at the beginning of the book, the author is so keen for the reader to know what is going on it can often feel forced. At times, the speech is often stilted too. This does improve towards the end of the book.
The plot is exactly what you would expect from this genre and it is, at times gripping.
The plot was pretty solid but what prevents me from giving this book more stars is the writing style. Particularly at the beginning of the book, the author is so keen for the reader to know what is going on it can often feel forced. At times, the speech is often stilted too. This does improve towards the end of the book.
The plot is exactly what you would expect from this genre and it is, at times gripping.
gcolston1832's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
alexjarvis's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't like this book as much as I had hoped. It sounded really interesting from the description but I was completely bored for the first half of it. I didn't care about any of the characters and everything was just kind of slow. There were also some parts of the writing that bothered me - mostly small things like missing or incorrectly placed commas. It's not that important of course but it still distracted me from the story.
It got better after the first half, though. I still felt like I didn't know enough about the main character to really care much about her but the story got more interesting at least.
The next part contains spoilers.
It was fairly obvious that Sally was going to die. Too obvious for my liking. Her behaviour was stupid and irresponsible (I know why she did it but that doesn't make it less stupid) and from the second she left that house it was completely clear that she was going to die. Even before that scene there were so many hints that something bad was going to happen to her, sometimes it seemed like that was all her character was about.
The ending was very abrupt. I know there's going to be more about "what happens next and how the team are coping with the events that occurred" in the next book and that's fine, the book still felt unfinished to me though.
All in all, the book was okay. It wasn't bad at all, I personally just didn't like it that much. I'll probably read the next one anyway though, maybe I'll like that one more.
It got better after the first half, though. I still felt like I didn't know enough about the main character to really care much about her but the story got more interesting at least.
The next part contains spoilers.
It was fairly obvious that Sally was going to die. Too obvious for my liking. Her behaviour was stupid and irresponsible (I know why she did it but that doesn't make it less stupid) and from the second she left that house it was completely clear that she was going to die. Even before that scene there were so many hints that something bad was going to happen to her, sometimes it seemed like that was all her character was about.
The ending was very abrupt. I know there's going to be more about "what happens next and how the team are coping with the events that occurred" in the next book and that's fine, the book still felt unfinished to me though.
All in all, the book was okay. It wasn't bad at all, I personally just didn't like it that much. I'll probably read the next one anyway though, maybe I'll like that one more.
fictionfan's review against another edition
4.0
A strong debut...
Since Rebecca is an online friend of mine it will be hard for me to avoid being biased. Nonetheless I'll attempt to be as honest as I can...
We first meet DI Hannah Robbins when she is called to attend a crime scene. The body of a teenage girl has been found – naked, bruised and battered. The girl has been sexually abused and then strangled. The pressure is already on Hannah and her team to solve the case quickly, but when a second body is found it becomes a race to find the perpetrator before any more murders are committed...
First off, this is a darker tale than I am generally comfortable with. When telling a story of sexual abuse and torture, particularly of children, it has to be handled with a good deal of sensitivity to avoid becoming unpleasantly gruesome and even voyeuristic. Fortunately Rebecca has avoided this pitfall on the whole – although it is made clear what has happened to the girls, she doesn't dwell too much on the details. The emphasis is much more on Hannah and the investigation, with only small sections devoted to describing the abuse of the victims, and even then Rebecca steers clear of being overly graphic.
Hannah's character is developed well – she is a dedicated and professional officer, and while she likes her red wine a bit too much, she's certainly not a stereotypical drunken maverick. When we meet her, she is in a fairly new relationship with Ethan, a crime journalist with the Nottingham Reporter, and we see her struggling to maintain her professional discretion while needing to have someone she can talk to so she can wind down at the end of the day. Ethan's character is a bit ambiguous – we're never quite sure if he's only involved with Hannah to see if he can get any inside information out of her. The other members of Hannah's team are interesting, and leave plenty of room for further development in future books. I enjoyed that the whole team were shown as professionals – although there is a little bit of departmental politics, it's clear everyone is trying to do their best to achieve the same end. I felt, however, that the overall tone of the characterisation was perhaps a bit bleak – I'd have liked to have seen a bit of humour to break up the darkness occasionally. Sometimes I felt we got too much information about Hannah’s feelings about the crimes - some of the work could have been left up to the reader.
The plotting is strong and well-paced, and builds up to an unexpected and dramatic climax. I didn't work out whodunit (I had my suspicions, but was completely wrong) but when it was revealed and I looked back, I felt Rebecca had given us the clues quite fairly, and had managed effectively to misdirect.
Overall the book is well written, and the second half particularly swept me along. There are a few grammatical errors, and the occasional use of regional colloquialisms in the main body of the text jarred me out of the flow from time to time – both common faults with self-published books. The book is written mainly in the first person from Hannah's viewpoint, but there are occasional sections in the third person – when we switch to the victims, which works well, and occasionally when we go to the viewpoint of another police officer, which in my view didn't work nearly as well, though I could see why it was done that way. Again it had the effect of breaking the flow a bit. Written in the past tense (hurrah!), the book very occasionally slips into the present tense for the briefest of periods in mid-flow, and I couldn't quite see the reason for this. But once I had become fully absorbed in the plot, these small problems were easily overlooked and I found myself well and truly hooked.
A strong debut, and I genuinely look forward to seeing how Hannah – and Rebecca – develop in future books. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Since Rebecca is an online friend of mine it will be hard for me to avoid being biased. Nonetheless I'll attempt to be as honest as I can...
We first meet DI Hannah Robbins when she is called to attend a crime scene. The body of a teenage girl has been found – naked, bruised and battered. The girl has been sexually abused and then strangled. The pressure is already on Hannah and her team to solve the case quickly, but when a second body is found it becomes a race to find the perpetrator before any more murders are committed...
First off, this is a darker tale than I am generally comfortable with. When telling a story of sexual abuse and torture, particularly of children, it has to be handled with a good deal of sensitivity to avoid becoming unpleasantly gruesome and even voyeuristic. Fortunately Rebecca has avoided this pitfall on the whole – although it is made clear what has happened to the girls, she doesn't dwell too much on the details. The emphasis is much more on Hannah and the investigation, with only small sections devoted to describing the abuse of the victims, and even then Rebecca steers clear of being overly graphic.
Hannah's character is developed well – she is a dedicated and professional officer, and while she likes her red wine a bit too much, she's certainly not a stereotypical drunken maverick. When we meet her, she is in a fairly new relationship with Ethan, a crime journalist with the Nottingham Reporter, and we see her struggling to maintain her professional discretion while needing to have someone she can talk to so she can wind down at the end of the day. Ethan's character is a bit ambiguous – we're never quite sure if he's only involved with Hannah to see if he can get any inside information out of her. The other members of Hannah's team are interesting, and leave plenty of room for further development in future books. I enjoyed that the whole team were shown as professionals – although there is a little bit of departmental politics, it's clear everyone is trying to do their best to achieve the same end. I felt, however, that the overall tone of the characterisation was perhaps a bit bleak – I'd have liked to have seen a bit of humour to break up the darkness occasionally. Sometimes I felt we got too much information about Hannah’s feelings about the crimes - some of the work could have been left up to the reader.
The plotting is strong and well-paced, and builds up to an unexpected and dramatic climax. I didn't work out whodunit (I had my suspicions, but was completely wrong) but when it was revealed and I looked back, I felt Rebecca had given us the clues quite fairly, and had managed effectively to misdirect.
Overall the book is well written, and the second half particularly swept me along. There are a few grammatical errors, and the occasional use of regional colloquialisms in the main body of the text jarred me out of the flow from time to time – both common faults with self-published books. The book is written mainly in the first person from Hannah's viewpoint, but there are occasional sections in the third person – when we switch to the victims, which works well, and occasionally when we go to the viewpoint of another police officer, which in my view didn't work nearly as well, though I could see why it was done that way. Again it had the effect of breaking the flow a bit. Written in the past tense (hurrah!), the book very occasionally slips into the present tense for the briefest of periods in mid-flow, and I couldn't quite see the reason for this. But once I had become fully absorbed in the plot, these small problems were easily overlooked and I found myself well and truly hooked.
A strong debut, and I genuinely look forward to seeing how Hannah – and Rebecca – develop in future books. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
stierbri's review against another edition
2.0
This book was okay. There wasn't a lot of character development and many of the players just seemed shallow to me. Even the sex scenes between the main character and her boyfriend left me feeling nothing. The author tells us how people feel instead of showing us.
Then there are the victims themselves. I don't feel anything for them. Everything is described very clinically. There is no emotion in this book at all. Overall I could not recommend this books. It's the start is a series and I don't intend to read the next one!!!
Then there are the victims themselves. I don't feel anything for them. Everything is described very clinically. There is no emotion in this book at all. Overall I could not recommend this books. It's the start is a series and I don't intend to read the next one!!!