Matt Walters and his fiancée Kate are in London after discovering that Kate is pregnant, and they both know that the maternity care is better in England than in their adopted home of Sri Lanka. They have settled into their rented cottage and life seems to be going well as they connect with old friends, but then Matt comes home one night to find Kate missing. Her place in their bed is not empty though, a dead woman holding a cellphone has taken her place, and when the phone rings Matt discovers that his nightmare is just getting started. Matt's fiancée Kate has been kidnapped and if he wants to see her again he must follow the instructions of the man on the other end of the phone - a man who wants him to kill a man and take something from him. Matt was an actor once and even played a police officer, but he's not prepared to kill anyone - but when your loved ones are in danger you never know what you are truly capable of.
When Kate wakes to find herself in the trunk of a car she is confused and then concerned for the life of her unborn child. When she is pulled from the car by two men she knows she is in trouble, she has no hope of escaping from two captors - especially when they seem to be professionals. When her life is threatened it seems like she is in real danger, and when you have lived the life Kate has you learn to stand up for yourself and fight. Her captors have no idea who they have kidnapped, and Kate is not going to just sit by and wait to be rescued - she is going to make plans and fight for her life. Who has taken her and what do they want?
Everyone has secrets - but those secrets don't always get you killed. As Matt does everything he can to save his fiancées life he has no idea what secrets he will uncover. He has tried for a year to get Kate to open up and share her life with him, but she has always been so guarded and controlled. How much does he actually know about her and her past? Determined to save her, Matt does things he never thought he could, and it might all be in vain. Who has taken Kate and what do they really want?
Kill a stranger is a tense psychological thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish as you try and untangle what you know from what you think you know. Told from the point of view of the different characters the story moves at a breath taking pace and feeds you portions of the story as you race to figure out what is happening before the end. They say everyone has secrets, but those secrets don't usually get you kidnapped or extorted. This is one of the best thrillers I have read in a long while, and it really challenged me to figure out who was telling the truth (or at least how much of the truth they were telling) before the end. Highly recommended and hopefully there are more books by Simon Kernick of the same caliber for me to try next!
If you like this book then try:
- Sticks and stones by Katherine Firkin
- The vanishing season by Joanna Schaffhausen
- The nowhere child by Christian White
- Good me bad me by Ali Land
- The runner by Stephen Leather
- Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
- Vodka doesn't freeze by Leah Giarratano
- The coast to coast murders by James Patterson and J.D.Barker
- Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
- The tattoo thief by Alison Belsham
- Spare me the truth by C.J. Carver
Reviewed by Brilla
No comments:
Post a Comment