Review: STORM CHILD, Michael Robotham

• 
  This edition available from Amazon on Kindle
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C7RPW5K1
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner (July 2, 2024)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 333 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1668030993
• #4 in the Cyrus Haven series

Synopsis (Amazon)

The mystery of Evie Cormac’s background has followed her into adulthood. As a child, she was discovered hiding in a secret room where a man had been tortured to death. Many of her captors and abusers escaped justice, unseen but not forgotten. Now, on a hot summer’s day, the past drags Evie back as she watches the bodies of seventeen migrants wash up on a Lincolnshire beach.

There is only one survivor, a teenage boy, who tells police their small boat was deliberately rammed and sunk. Psychologist Cyrus Haven is recruited by the police to investigate the murders—but recognizes immediately that Evie has some link to the tragedy. By solving this crime, he could finally unlock the secrets of her past. But what dark forces will he set loose? And who will pay the price? 

My Take

In his "acknowledgements" at the end of the novel, Michael reminds us that he has now been publishing for 20 years and in that time has published 18 novels. Most of them are listed at the bottom of this review. And I have been reading his offerings with great delight for all that time.

This latest one has delighted me as well.

Evie's past, which she rarely talks about, comes back to her as she watches bodies wash up on a Lincolnshire beach. Evie is now 22. She came to England with people smugglers when she was 9. She was the sole survivor of that circumstance and for a number of years has been sharing a house with Cyrus Haven, a forensic psychologist, a former pupil of Joe O'Loughlin, who featured in earlier Robotham novels. Cyrus becomes involved in investigating this latest case of people smuggling through its single survivor, and through Evie's glimpses of her past.

This one deserves your attention, but is probably best read in sequence with the earlier Cyrus Haven novels so you get the full story, and appreciate the character development and serious thought Robotham has put into it.

Highly recommended.

My rating: 5.0

I've also read

• BOMBPROOF
• SHATTER #3
• SHATTER (audio)
• BLEED FOR ME #4
• 5.0, THE WRECKAGE #5
• 4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY #6
• 5.0, WATCHING YOU #7
• 4.8, IF I TELL YOU... I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU (edit)
• 5.0, LIFE OR DEATH Shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Gold Dagger
• 4.8, CLOSE YOUR EYES
• 5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS
• 5.0, THE SUSPECT #1 (audio)
• 4.8, LOST #2 (audio)
• 5.0, THE OTHER WIFE
• 4.8, GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL -Cyrus Haven #1
• 4.8, WHEN SHE WAS GOOD -Cyrus Haven #2
• 5.0, WHEN YOU ARE MINE 
• 5.0, LYING BESIDE YOU - Cyrus Haven #3
• 5.0, THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS