As far as crime thrillers go, this one
effortlessly earns it’s place on my bookshelf. In this novel we follow Alisha,
a police officer trying to find her way in her career after recovering from a
life shattering injury, when she finds an old friend from school reaching out
to her saying they need to talk. As is the way with books like this it sets in
motion a series of events leading Alisha to uncover the mystery of a friends
feigned pregnancy and a shady surrogacy ring operating right under the London
Metropolitan polices nose.
I love a good mystery/thriller and this
one does not disappoint, I found the pacing of the novel went well and although
it wasn’t the type of novel I would fly through in a few days, I did really
want to finish it to find out what happened. The author is able to incorporate a
number of plot twists where the story could have grown stagnant and several of
them were really unexpected and took the story in a completely new direction.
If you have read any of my other reviews
you’ll know I’m a sucker for anything fictional with a strong female lead, and
Alisha really doesn’t disappoint in this regard. Sometimes I feel that male
writers let down their female leads but Robotham really brings her to life and manages
to strike the right balance between her and her supporting cast. I really
enjoyed the fact that Alisha has a hobby which is not something just mentioned
once and then forgotten about until it becomes vital at the last second, but is
instead portrayed as a vital part of her life and a place where she actually
does lots of her thinking.
The relationship between Alisha and “New
Boy” Dave is shown in a really lovely way with him being supportive but not
suffocating and it allows him to be shown as a whole person who has a narrative
ongoing outside of what the main character has gotten tangled up in. All of the
characters had a clear motive in this book, even the baddies, which is
sometimes missed a bit in crime novels, where they can be mainly used as plot
points to progress the story.
The imagery in this book was also
another highlight which really allows us to see the world through Alisha’s
eyes, whether she is at a family lunch where her parents are trying to set her
up on a date or wandering the streets of Amsterdam’s red light district
searching for a missing girl.
Overall I would recommend this book if
you’re into crime or thriller novels, but if you’re new to the genre this one
might not be the one to convert you.
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