Review: THE BOYFRIEND, Freida McFadden

• 
  This edition read on my Kindle (AmazonAU)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CY337Q77
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hollywood Upstairs Press, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 1 October 2024
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 370 pages 

Synopsis  (AmazonAU)

She's looking for the perfect man. He's looking for the perfect victim.

Sydney Shaw, like every single woman in New York, has terrible luck with dating. She's seen it all- men who lie in their dating profile, men who stick her with the dinner bill, and worst of all, men who can't shut up about their mothers. But finally, she hits the jackpot.

Her new boyfriend is utterly perfect. He's charming, handsome, and works as a doctor at a local hospital. Sydney is swept off her feet.

Then the brutal murder of a young woman-the latest in a string of deaths across the coast-confounds police. The primary suspect? A mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them.

Sydney should feel safe. After all, she is dating the guy of her dreams. But she can't shake her own suspicions that the perfect man may not be as perfect as he seems. Because someone is watching her every move, and if she doesn't get to the truth, she'll be the killer's next victim...

A dark story about obsession and the things we'll do for love, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden proves that crimes of passion are often the bloodiest...

My Take

Another truly creepy tale from McFadden, centred mainly on the identity of a serial killer who targets young women. This one is a twisty snake, the identity and motive of the killer are elusive. 

The structure leaps between snatches of the past and the present, and sometimes things are a little misleading. 

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.5, THE TENANT

4.5, DO NOT DISTURB 

4.5, WANT TO KNOW A SECRET?

4.7, DEAR DEBBIE 

4.6, THE HOUSEMAID 

4.6, NEVER LIE 

Review: THE WOLF, Samuel Bjork

• 
  This edition read on my Kindle (AmazonAU)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BZV2P3QY
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Transworld Digital, 2 November 2023
• Charlotte Barslund (Translator) 
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 415 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781787636996
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1529193039
• Book 4 of 5 ‏ : ‎ Holger Munch & Mia Kruger  

Synopsis  (AmazonAU)

It was one of Sweden's most notorious unsolved cases: two young boys abducted and murdered, their bodies brutally, artistically arranged.

But eight years later, when two other boys are found in similar circumstances, it looks like the killer might be back - this time in neighbouring Norway.

Led by veteran detective Holger Munch, the investigating police are baffled. There are no clues, no leads to follow. In desperation, Munch drafts in a trainee from the Police Academy, Mia Kruger, a young woman with an uncanny ability to see beyond the facts. Little does he know that Mia is battling her own demons and will soon find that her life and that of the case are entwined in ways no one could have imagined....

My Take

Although this novel is listed as #4 in the Munch & Kruger series, in chronological terms it is the first in which Mia Kruger makes an appearance. A lecturer at the Police Academy alerts Holger Munch to unusual nature of one of his trainees, Mia Kruger. Munch invites her to join his newly created homicide team even though she is only in her early 20s and has not completed her police training.

In her first case Mia takes on the role of a profiler, in a case where two 11 year old boys have been murdered and their bodies have been posed symbolically. Munch gives Mia a lot of latitude because she is obviously able to see patterns which most detectives miss. The novel is very complex and comes to a conclusion when another two 11 year old boys go missing. 

My rating: 4.7

I've also read  4.4, I'M TRAVELLING ALONE #1 

About the author
Samuel Bjork is the pen name of Norwegian novelist, playwright and singer/songwriter Frode Sander Øien. 

Series
Holger Munch & Mia Kruger
   1. I'm Travelling Alone (2015)
   2. The Owl Always Hunts at Night (2017)
   3. The Boy in the Headlights (2019)
   4. The Wolf (2023)
   5. Dead Island (2024)
   6. The Bomber (2026) 

Review: MAIGRET IN VICHY, Georges Simenon

• 
  this edition from my local library
  
• first published 1968,
• this edition published by Penguin Random House UK Classics 2025
• translated by Ros Schwartz 2019 
• ISBN 978-0-241-78818-9
• 171 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

Inspector Maigret and his wife take a much-needed rest cure in the spa town of Vichy, where they quickly become used to the leisurely pace of life. But when a woman who they regularly pass by on their daily strolls is murdered, Maigret can't help but offer his assistance to the local investigation – no matter where it leads.

My Take

Maigret and his wife have slipped into a quiet routine in Vichy, taking the waters and walking for hours every day.  Maigret isn't really ill, just tired. On the recommendation of his doctor, they will be in Vichy for 3 weeks, taking the cure. They take delight in observing others who are doing the same.

And then a woman they see regularly is murdered. The detective in charge of the investigation is someone Maigret trained and he jumps at the chance to participate although he delights in not being in charge. He wants to know the woman's background and is even more curious when he meets her sister. The tale he eventually uncovers is a sordid one indeed: one of great duplicity. 

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

4.4, MAIGRET & the MAN on the BOULEVARD

4.5, MAIGRET & THE HEADLESS CORPSE

4.3, PIETR THE LATVIAN

THE LATE MONSIEUR GALLET

4.4, THE RULES OF THE GAME

4.2, THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE TRAINS GO BY

4.3, THE CARTER OF LA PROVIDENCE

4.3, LOCK NO 1. Maigret #18

4.0, MAIGRET IN NEW YORK

4.2, A MAN'S HEAD 

4.4, THE CAT 

4.4, THE TRAIN 

4.5, THE LITTLE MAN FROM ARCHANGEL 

Review: OUR HOLIDAY, Louise Candlish

• 
  This title read as an e-book on Borrow Box through my local library
  
• Format: eBook
• Imprint: HQ
• ISBN: 9780008614638
• Pages: 384
• Publication Date: 4th July 2024
• A Richard and Judy Book Club Pick
• longlisted for the 2025 Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year Award  

Synopsis (publisher)

Charlotte and Perry long for summers at Cliff View, their gorgeous holiday home overlooking the turquoise waters of Pine Ridge. And now that city friends Amy and Linus have bought a property nearby, they plan lazy weeks of sun, sea and sipping rosé on Charlotte’s summerhouse veranda.

But there’s trouble in paradise…

A rising tide of resentment towards second-home owners is heading their way and small acts of criminal damage are escalating into something more menacing. By the end of the summer, families and friendships will be torn apart and Pine Ridge will be known for more than its sun-drenched beaches.

It will be known for murder…

My Take

Set in an English coastal town where many locals are in temporary housing such as caravans, while there are many holiday rentals which are only taken up during August. A local campaign against second-home owners NJIA (Not Just In August) are particularly incensed by in-comers who are adding extra cottages to their land, and are conducting a campaign against them. There are several side plots which add to the story.

Highly recommended. 

My rating: 4.7

I've also read

5.0, THE OTHER PASSENGER

4.7, OUR HOUSE

4.8, THE ONLY SUSPECT

4.6, THE HEIGHTS  

Review: THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING FRENCHMAN, H. L. Marsay

• This edition read as an e-book on Kindle (AmazonAU)
• 
  ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CXP7YRDP
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tule Publishing, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 13 August 2024
  
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 276 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1962707633
• Book 3 of 4: The Lady in Blue Mysteries 

Synopsis  (AmazonAU)

Even in war, your enemies can linger too close to home…

While war and revolution continue to ravage Europe, Dorothy Peto embraces her new role at Scotland Yard as she and several detectives investigate a series of jewel thefts. Then Dorothy is tasked with assisting the inscrutable Inspector Derwent and the charming Colonel Lamarchant to find a missing French aristocrat. Their enquiries take them to a country house in Yorkshire, that’s been converted to a hospital for wounded soldiers and was the last place the Frenchman visited. However, the more questions they ask, the more questions they have.

When the body of a man suspected of being the marquis is discovered, the investigative team returns to London, but the dead man is a stranger. Dorothy speculates that the death, the jewel thefts and the missing Frenchman may be connected. She finds herself tangled in a web of conscientious objectors, Irish republicans and communist agitators, and not everyone is who they appear to be.

My Take

I must confess that I haven't read earlier titles in this series but this one seems to work well enough as a stand-alone. However while the story was interesting, it didn't feel particularly enriched by the historical period in which it is set.

It comes with this disclaimer: Inspired by the remarkable life of Dorothy Peto, the Metropolitan Police’s first female superintendent. 

My rating: 4.4

I have also read

4.4, A LONG SHADOW -#1

4.4, A VIKING SHADOW - #2 

4.4, A GHOSTLY SHADOW -#3

4.4, A ROMAN SHADOW -#4

4.5, A FORGOTTEN SHADOW #5

4.5, A CHRISTMAS SHADOW #6

Review: THE LITTLE MAN FROM ARCHANGEL, Georges Simenon

• 
  this edition from my local library
  
• first published 1956
• translated from French 2021 by Sian Reynolds
• ISBN 978-0-241-48706-8
• 186 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

The poignant story of an outsider falsely accused of murder from the celebrated author of the Maigret series

She was beautiful, full of vitality, and he was sixteen years older, a dusty, lonely bookseller whose only passion in life was collecting stamps.

Jonas is used to his young wife disappearing. Everyone in the town knows that she goes off with other men. This time, however, he tells a small lie to protect her, saying she is visiting a school friend. It is a lie, however, that eats into him like an illness, provoking hostility and resentment against this timid little Russian-Jewish bookseller, who always thought he had been accepted. As suspicion mounts, his true, terrifying isolation is revealed. 

My Take

Jonas had always thought of them as friends, but this time when his young wife disappears, the villagers turn on him. His background is that he is a Russian-Jew, whose family fled the Revolution, and he had almost forgotten that and thought they had too. But when young Gina leaves him they remember everything that makes him different and he becomes an outsider.

This is a sad story for there is no way back for Jonas as Simenon explores his final path. 

I read this to discuss with my U3A Crime Fiction Reading Group. Our focus this month is Georges Simenon. 

My rating: 4.5 

I've also read

4.4, MAIGRET & the MAN on the BOULEVARD

4.5, MAIGRET & THE HEADLESS CORPSE

4.3, PIETR THE LATVIAN

THE LATE MONSIEUR GALLET

4.4, THE RULES OF THE GAME

4.2, THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE TRAINS GO BY

4.3, THE CARTER OF LA PROVIDENCE

4.3, LOCK NO 1. Maigret #18

4.0, MAIGRET IN NEW YORK

4.2, A MAN'S HEAD 

4.4, THE CAT 

4.4, THE TRAIN 

Review: THE TRAIN, Georges Simenon

• 
  Read as an e-book on Libby per my local library
  
• first published in 1961
• e-Publisher ‏ : ‎ Melville House Publishing, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 6 October 2011
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 154 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1935554468
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1935554462

Synopsis (AmazonAU)

Against all expectations Marcel Féron has made a “normal” life in a bucolic French suburb in the Ardennes. But on May 10, 1940, as Nazi tanks approach, this timid, happy man must abandon his home and confront the “Fate” that he has secretly awaited. 

Separated from his pregnant wife and young daughter in the chaos of flight, he joins a freight car of refugees hurtling southward ahead of the pursuing invaders. There, he meets Anna, a sad-looking, dark- haired girl, whose accent is “neither Belgian nor German,” and who “seemed foreign to everything around her.” As the mystery of Anna’s identity is gradually revealed, Marcel leaps from the heights of an exhilarating freedom to the depths of a terrifying responsibility—one that will lead him to a blood-chilling choice. 

My Take

Marcel Feron has poor eyesight, and has had tuberculosis, so he is not required for war service. He is married, his wife is heavily pregnant and they have a 5 year old daughter. As the German tanks approach the French village where he lives, he and his neighbours flee to the local railway station with no idea where the evacuation trains will take them or what the future holds for them.  When they board a train the women and children are put at the front in the first class carriages and the men are allocated to the rear carriages, which are mainly cattle trucks. The train meanders through France and Belgium and eventually is separated into two sections and Marcel has no idea where his wife and daughter have gone.

However a young woman and he pair up in the rear carriages and become an "item" in ways that Marcel could not have envisaged when his journey began.  

This is really a novella although the story is "complete". It explores what happened during the evacuations at the beginning of World War II, the uncertainty that civilians felt, and the way people behaved once they were "released" from their normal lives. At one stage German planes strafe the railway lines and stations and some civilians are killed. Marcel will survive this episode of his life, and indeed locate his wife and child, and resume his life in the Ardennes. For those of us who have only ever read about the impact of war, this is a rare glimpse of "there but for the Grace of God ...."

I have read this for my U3A Crime Fiction Reading group where our author this month is Georges Simenon. 

My rating: 4.4

I have also read

4.4, MAIGRET & the MAN on the BOULEVARD

4.5, MAIGRET & THE HEADLESS CORPSE

4.3, PIETR THE LATVIAN

THE LATE MONSIEUR GALLET

4.4, THE RULES OF THE GAME

4.2, THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE TRAINS GO BY

4.3, THE CARTER OF LA PROVIDENCE

4.3, LOCK NO 1. Maigret #18

4.0, MAIGRET IN NEW YORK

4.2, A MAN'S HEAD

 4.4, THE CAT 

Review: THE MISSING CASE OF THE MISSING CRIME WRITER, Ragnar Jonasson

• 
  this edition published by Penguin Random House UK 2026
  
• English translation by Victoria Cribbs
• ISBN 978-0-241-71111-8
• 314 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

One winter evening, bestselling crime author Elín S. Jónsdóttir goes missing.

There are no clues to her disappearance and it is up to young detective, Helgi, to crack the case before it's leaked to the press.

As he interviews the people closest to her – a publisher, an accountant, a retired judge – he realises that Elín’s life wasn’t what it seemed. In fact, her past is even stranger than her stories.

As the case of the missing crime writer becomes more mysterious by the hour, Helgi must uncover the secrets of a very unexpected life, before someone else goes missing . . .

My Take

A central theme to this novel is why people disappear. Helgi occupies an office once occupied by Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir whom we met in THE DARKNESS  when she had been forced into early retirement and then disappeared. No explanation has ever been given for her disappearance and occasionally Helgi thinks of her.

However the case he is working on at present is the disappearance of a popular crime fiction novelist who has apparently ceased writing after publishing 10 very popular novels over a period of twenty years. He learns from her friends that she has done disappearing acts before.

Helgi has other problems on his mind too - a new girlfriend is being stalked by one he walked on after she had become violent towards him.  

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

4.4, THE MIST

4.5, WHITE OUT 

4.5, WINTERKILL 

4.6, THE MIST

4.6, RUPTURE 

4.7, THE DARKNESS 

4.7, REYKJAVIK - with Katrin Jakobsdottir

4.6, OUTSIDE  

Review: THE GAMBLER, J. P. Pomare

• 
  This edition from my local library
  
• published by Hachette Australia 2026
• ISBN 978-0-7336-5308-7
• 330 pages
• #2 in Vince Reid PI series  

Synopsis (publisher)

A highly charged crime-thriller - launching an electrifying new series featuring PI Vince Reid - by multi-award-winning prince of the twist, J.P. Pomare.

PI Vince Reid is visiting an old friend when he's offered a case he can't refuse: Why did a respected local woman open fire at a political rally, killing a promising young university graduate? It's easy money, he's told. A sure thing.

But as Reid delves further into the case, the stakes are higher than he imagined. There are invisible players pulling the strings. Will he walk away a winner or pay for the ultimate gamble with his life?

My Take

An intriguing thriller. The original investigation is concerned with why a young woman is shot dead at a political rally. Was the target the female politician? Did the shooter miss? Vince Reid begins by looking at the victim and her friends. And then he watches the CCTV footage of the shooting and realises something.

There is an interesting side story about scams and how they work, how you influence what victims believe.

Recommended. 

My rating: 4.5

I've also read

4.6, IN THE CLEARING

4.8, CALL ME EVIE

4.8, TELL ME LIES 

4.7, THE WRONG WOMAN

4.7, HOME BEFORE NIGHT 

4.8, 17 YEARS LATER

Review: WHISTLE, Linwood Barclay

• 
  This edition read as an e-book through my local library on BorrowBox
  
• eBook, Imprint: HQ
• ISBN: 9780008735005
• Pages: 432
• Publication Date: 5th June 2025 

Synopsis (author) 

Linwood Barclay enters new territory with a supernatural chiller in which a woman and her young son move to a small town looking for a fresh start, only to be haunted by disturbing events and strange visions when they find a mysterious train set in a storage shed.

Annie Blunt has had an unimaginably terrible year. First, her husband was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident, then one of the children’s books she’s built her writing and illustrating career on ignited a major scandal. Desperate for a fresh start, she moves with her son Charlie to a charming small town in upstate New York where they can begin to heal.

But Annie’s year is about to get worse.

Bored and lonely in their isolated new surroundings, Charlie is thrilled when he finds a forgotten train set in a locked shed on their property. Annie is glad to see Charlie happy, but there’s something unsettling about his new toy. Strange sounds wake Annie in the night—she could swear she hears a train, but there isn’t an active track for miles—and bizarre things begin happening in the neighborhood. Worse, Annie can’t seem to stop drawing a disturbing new character that has no place in a children’s book.

Grief can do strange things to the mind, but Annie is beginning to think she’s walked out of one nightmare straight into another, only this one is far more terrifying…

My Take

A thoroughly creepy read which I wasn't expecting (I didn't read the blurb before picking it up.) Don't let my description put you off - the story is well crafted and gets you thinking, plenty of little mysteries to solve.  I hope the blurb doesn't reveal too much - blame the author - it is from his site. He calls it a "chiller".

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

NO TIME FOR GOODBYE

TOO CLOSE TO HOME

4.5, FEAR THE WORST

4.6, NEVER LOOK AWAY

5.0, TRUST YOUR EYES

4.7, NEVER SAW IT COMING

4.4, BROKEN PROMISE

4.4, A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS

4.7. LOOK BOTH WAYS

Review: THE REDLINE, Adrian Hyland

• 
  This edition an e-book made available through my local library on BorrowBox
  
• ISBN: 9781761153556
• Published 25 / 11 / 2025
• Pages: 336
• QBD Books 
• #3 Jesse Redpath series 

Synopsis (publisher)

An open road. A dead cop. A killer in the hills ...I flicked on the torch, swept the surrounds. Nothing. Then I directed the beam into the trees on the other side of the road.

Up on a high, jutting branch, something moved. It may have been a white face, a pale body, a curved leg. Or it may have been none of those things. Was it human? Too quick for me to tell. A ripple, a blink and it was gone. But it seemed to leave an afterglow, an impression upon the fabric of the night.

I took a deep breath. What had I seen? It had appeared to be a pair of piercing eyes in a pale visage. It could almost have been an owl, so compelling was its gaze, so swift its departure. Maybe it was just a trick of the light, a distorted shadow?

There was a crunch of leaf in the litter below and it was gone.

Whatever it was, it sent a chill through me.

It's the festive season in the Windmark Ranges and Sergeant Jesse Redpath's day is going from bad to worse. It begins with her having to arrest the usual drunks and troublemakers and ends with the death of a colleague out on the Redline road. A death which may or may not have been an accident.

Jesse learns there have been other deaths and disappearances in the ranges, and that the local rumour mill suggests the perp is an elusive, semi-mythical character who goes by the name of 'Anarchy'.

Beneath the charm of a close-knit community, a darker truth festers, and Jesse's driven to expose it, no matter the disruption to the valley's fragile tranquillity.

My Take

Three years since we have had a novel from Adrian Hyland. 

Jesse Redpath is filling in for a colleague on leave and is a little older than we last met her but no less enthusiastic about her job. This novel turns out to be a fast pace thriller.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

5.0, GUNSHOT ROAD

4.5, CANTICLE CREEK -#1

4.7, THE WIREGRASS -#2

 
The Redline is the third in Adrian Hyland’s Australian regional crime series featuring Sergeant Jesse Redpath. The books are is set in a group of small towns in the fictional Windmark Ranges, a few hours drive from the centre of Melbourne. This entry is named after a local road that has earned the nickname “the redline” due to the drivers who redline their cars while speeding along it. 

Review: NEVER LIE, Freida McFadden

• 
  this edition from my local library
  
• large print, Gale Publishing, 2024
• ISBN 978-1-4205-1398-1
• 388 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

Sometimes the truth kills…

Newlyweds Tricia and Ethan are searching for the house of their dreams. They think they've found it when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace years ago. But when a violent winter storm traps them at the estate, the house begins to lose its appeal.

Stuck inside and growing restless, Tricia stumbles on a collection of audio transcripts from Dr. Hale's sessions with patients. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to the doctor's mysterious disappearance. 

My Take

McFadden is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.

There are multiple narrators in this story, and at least two time frames. Just when you think you know what has happened you are delivered a ball from left field and you have to make a re-assessment. 

Highly recommended. 

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.5, THE TENANT

4.5, DO NOT DISTURB 

4.5, WANT TO KNOW A SECRET?

4.7, DEAR DEBBIE 

4.6, THE HOUSEMAID 

Review: OUTSIDE, Ragnar Jonasson

• 
  this edition published by Random House 2022
• translated from Icelandic by Victoria Cribb
  
• ISBN 978-0-241-49366-3
• 324 pages  

Synopsis (publisher)

Four friends. One night. Not everyone will come out alive . . . 

In a deadly Icelandic snowstorm, four friends break into an abandoned hunting lodge, hoping to wait out the storm until morning.

But nothing can prepare them for what's inside...

With no other option, they are forced to spend a terrifying night in the cabin: watching as intently and silently as they themselves are being watched. As the night darkens, old secrets spill into the light, and tensions rise between the four friends. Soon it's clear that what they've discovered in the cabin is far from the only mystery lurking there.

Nor the only thing to be afraid of... 

My Take

The story opens with the group of four friends battling through a snow storm to find shelter in an abandoned hut. They have come to this remote area in Iceland to hunt ptarmigan but the weather has closed in.  They were university students together but haven't met for a number of years, so this is a sort of reunion. The snowstorm emphasises how treacherous Icelandic weather can be. The days are short and darkness closes in quickly. When they find the hut the door is padlocked and they need to break in.

Terrified by what they discover inside, they decide that two of them will go back for help.

We gradually piece together bits of the past through narratives from each of the group.

A very atmospheric thriller. 

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.4, THE MIST

4.5, WHITE OUT 

4.5, WINTERKILL 

4.6, THE MIST

4.6, RUPTURE 

4.7, THE DARKNESS 

4.7, REYKJAVIK - with Katrin Jakobsdottir

Review: JAXON WITH AN X, D. K. Wall

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on my Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08CF3HB3K
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Conjuring Reality LLC, Published : ‎ 21 July 2020
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1950293049  

 Synopsis (AmazonAU)

Six-year-old Jaxon Lathan disappeared while playing in a park. Ten years later, he’s found wandering a deserted highway.

The boy’s family races to the hospital to see him, but they are shocked at the sight. The bubbly youngster has been replaced by a scarred and emaciated teen. As they begin to bridge the lost years and rebuild their bonds, they must wrestle with their own guilt and demons.

Fearing other children are at risk, the sheriff follows the clues deep into the Great Smoky Mountains. He finds half-buried secrets, a twisted family, and his own missed opportunities. When he peels back the last layer of the mystery, the revelation shakes everyone.

All Jaxon has dreamed for years is to be with his family. Has too much happened or can he find his way home?

Jaxon with an X is an emotionally charged standalone literary fiction novel. If you like rural settings, broken families learning to heal, and stories of personal endurance, you’ll love D.K. Wall’s absorbing tale.

Empathy, compassion, forgiveness and hope. There is a light at the end of the dark, twisting tunnel.

My Take

The tale of a little boy who has been missing for ten years, one of a number of abductions, a case unsolved despite extensive application of police resources, and time spent in jail by the boy's father.  

A stunning read particularly as Australia has been reeling recently from the disappearance of 4 year old Gus Lamont. 

My rating: 4.5

About the Author
D.K. has lived his entire life in the Carolinas and Tennessee-from the highest elevations of the Great Smoky Mountains near Maggie Valley to the industrial towns of Gastonia and Hickory, the cities of Charlotte and Nashville, and the coastal salt marsh of Murrells Inlet.Over the years, he's watched the textile and furniture industries wither and the banking and service industries explode, changing the face of the region. He uses his love of storytelling to share tales about the people and places affected. Today he's married and living in Asheville. Surrounded by his family of rescued Siberian Huskies known as The Thundering Herd, D.K. is hard at work on his next novel.