3.5 Stars from me
I have done this series the disservice of not starting at book one… So I realise there is a back story that I could have benefitted from in advance of diving in, but, nonetheless, taking the story in this book on its own merits it was good but a little confusing in places.
This cold case follows two timelines, the present day and also a journey back to 2009 when there was a case of 3 abducted teenagers, Oliver Littlewood, Lee Ellis, and Jemma Vickers. Even though two of the three are eventually rescued, one is found brutally murdered and the kidnapper manages to escape – until years later when he confesses to the murder.
There is a huge amount going on in this book, including navigating the two timelines, notions of the dark web, and the multilayered seedy underbelly of society, but also there is a sea of characters to keep track of and I have to admit that I struggled to do that at times.
Towards the end of the book, most things dropped into place for me and I found the winding up of the case to be exhilarating and cleverly orchestrated.
Blurb: Years ago someone got away with murder… But time’s up. 2009 During a summer heatwave, teenagers are going missing. Junior officer Alex Finn takes the case and fears that the disappearances are linked. In a race against the clock to find and rescue the children alive, Finn and his team are only partially successful. Two of the children are saved, but they were too late for Oliver. And the killer got away. 2023 DI Alex Finn is still tormented by the cases of his youth – none more than so than the 2009 kidnappings. And it seems someone else has not forgotten either. They want answers after all this time, and with a gun in their pocket and their sights set on Alex, they’ll do anything to get what they’re after…
Read and Rated 