Zaffre (22 Jun. 2017)
The Blurb . . .
Two girls go missing. Only one will return.
The couple that offers the highest amount will see their daughter again.
The losing couple will not. Make no mistake. One child will die.
When nine-year-old best friends Charlie and Amy disappear, two families are
plunged into a living nightmare. A text message confirms the unthinkable; that
the girls are the victims of a terrifying kidnapping.
And when a second text message pits the two families against each other for
the life of their children, the clock starts ticking for D.I. Kim Stone
and the squad.
Seemingly outwitted at every turn, as they uncover a trail of bodies, Stone
realises that these ruthless killers might be the most deadly she has ever
faced. And that their chances of bringing the girls home alive, are getting
smaller by the hour...
Untangling a dark web of secrets from the families' past might hold the key
to solving this case. But can Kim stay alive long enough to do so? Or will
someone's child pay the ultimate price?
My thoughts . . .
In the third instalment of Marsons D.I Stone series, the team are faced with
the agonising task of finding two young girls who have been kidnapped. Stone is
requested to lead the investigation by one of the mothers, who, it turns out
was in the social care system with Stone when they were younger. The team have
to take their investigation to the home of one of the parents due to a media
and force blackout. I'm not sure if this procedurally correct in real life
however I trust Marsons, and it made for an interesting read in terms of the
dynamics between the police and the victims’ parents.
Marsons' really got underneath the skin of the parents. The way she
portrayed their anguish and pain was utterly outstanding, the emotions
felt at every point of the investigation are written in such a way
that you can almost imagine that it is you going through this
horrendous event. Marsons really has you questioning yourself, what would
you do in this situation? How far would you go for the ones you love? And not
just in Lost Girls, she has a real ability with her writing to bring out your
deepest fears and face them head on (I typically get to these points when I'm
in a public place, ask the people I commute with - tears and gasps of shock on
the bus at 7.30 a.m. are quite amusing to my fellow passengers!)
The relationship between Stone and her team is beginning to really develop,
The characters are quite stereotypical, the dependable girl, the good looking
charmer, the hard-nosed boss and the side-kick who can control her with the
team dynamics being clear, Bryant is Stone's one and only friend, Stacey is the
dependable one, always there ready to back the team up with any information
they need and Kevin is the young womaniser, who so far has been a bit of a
liability, not always with his mind on the job and allowing his personal life
to interfere with his work. Over the last three books, the team have shone
together, really upping the ante as it were in regards to their understanding
of each other and, surprisingly Kevin has really come into his own in this one,
even changing Stones' opinion of him.
When the investigation starts to heat up, the pace runs at a million miles
an hour really getting your blood pumping, heart pounding and tears flowing!
I am glad that we don't have to read all about Stones' past in every book,
as a standalone novel you get enough information to know that something
terrible happened, but not too much so that people who have read the others get
fed up of it.
Once again Marsons has produced an exquisitely captivating story which will
leave you breathless, make you dig deep to your inner most fears and wonder in
awe at the brilliance Marsons’ continually produces.
I’d like to thank myself again for buying this book!
About the author . . .
Angela Marsons is the author of Amazon #1 Bestseller SILENT SCREAM.
She lives in the Black Country with her partner, their bouncy Labrador and a
swearing parrot.
She first discovered her love of writing at Junior School when actual
lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own
stories about them. Her report card invariably read "Angela would do well
if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people's".
After years of writing relationship based stories (My Name Is and The Middle
Child) Angela turned to Crime, fictionally speaking of course, and developed a
character that refused to go away.
She is signed to Bookouture.com for a total of 8 books. The second, third
and fourth books in the Kim Stone series, EVIL GAMES, LOST GIRLS and PLAY DEAD
are also now available.
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