4 Stars from me
Goodness me this is proper ‘heart in the mouth’ stuff! My nerves were shot through reading this book about the naivety of a good woman and the pure cruelty of seemingly perfect psychopath (/ sociopath?).
Because it is true what they say:
The devil doesn’t come to you with a red face and horns. He comes looking like everything you’ve ever dreamed of.
Aidan sure was dressed up as the perfect charming man and the local community all fell for the act.
I raced through this book desperate to see how it would end – so many times urging Rachel to run but completely understanding why she didn’t.
The fact that this tense thriller was written by the author in a different language to her own makes it all the more impressive as the subtleties and nuances all landed en pointe.
Blurb: He took you and you have been his for five years. But you have been careful. Waiting for him to mess up. It has to be now.
Aidan Thomas is a hardworking family man and a respected member of his community. He’s also a kidnapper and serial killer who has murdered eight women. And there’s a ninth, a woman he’s renamed Rachel, imprisoned in a backyard shed where she fears for her life.
When Aidan’s wife dies, he and his thirteen-year-old daughter, Cecilia, are forced to move. Aidan brings Rachel along, introducing her to Cecilia as a family friend who needs a place to stay. After five years of captivity, surely Rachel is too brainwashed to attempt to escape – and no-one in the town has any idea of the terrible secrets the seemingly perfect father and widower is hiding.
Especially his daughter and the quiet, shy owner of the local family restaurant who has started to fall in love with him…
Read and Rated 