Unleashed by Amy McCulloch

Unleashed is the sequel to Jinxed and this review contains ***SPOILERS*** if you have not read the first book in the series.  I highly recommend reading this series in order, so make sure you read Jinxed before reading this review.

Lacey Chu wakes up in hospital confused about how she ended up there, and even more confused when she realises almost a month has passed with her unconscious in the hospital.  Retuning home is somewhat surreal, especially with her mother acting strangely.  The feeling only gets worse when she discovers that she has been expelled from Profectus because she no longer has the required level of baku, and she can't even access the help they give scholarship students to buy a baku so they can attend.  Returning to St Agnes is a strange feeling, but that's nothing compared to the sudden reappearance of Jinx who warns her not to let her little baku Slick.  

The warning comes in time to stop Lacey from being updated by Slick, an act that would have wiped all ambition from her mind.  Suddenly it all makes sense, the sudden change in her mothers behaviour, and why she saw the changes she did in Monica Chan when she discovered her hidden in the depths of the Moncha building.  Discovering the secret is only part of the battle, how can she expect to bring down a corrupt company when everyone is so dependent on their baku?  With her friends by her side, and with a little help from Jinx, Lacey starts fighting back against the forces that are trying to control the world through Moncha, but is going to be an uphill battle and the other side is prepared to fight dirty and deadly to get what they want.

Unleashed is the sequel to Jinxed and completes a brilliant duology.  McCulloch has kept up the pace from Jinxed, keeping a strong focus on the characters who are at the heart of the story but also keeping up the tension and pace of the story.  I was a little surprised that I powered through the story so quickly, it was so absorbing and addictive that I didn't want to put it down, and it was so well written that it almost reads itself!  A must read series for fans of thrillers with just a touch of conspiracy theories and corporate bad guys.

If you like this book then try:

• The Jewel by Amy Ewing
• The Ones by Daniel Sweren-Becker
• Wither by Lauren DeStefano
• Honor among thieves by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre
• Red queen by Victoria Aveyard
• The girl of fire and thorns by Rae Carson
• The scorpion rules by Erin Bow
• Adaptation by Melinda Lo
• The forest of hands and teeth by Carrie Ryan
• XVI by Julia Karr
• The glass arrow by Kristen Simmons
• The 100 by Kass Morgan
• Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
• The testing by Joelle Charbonneau
• Proxy by Alex London
• ACID by Emma Pass
• Reboot by Amy Tintera
• XVI by Julia Karr
• In the after by Demitria Lunetta

Reviewed by Brilla

Jinxed by Amy McCulloch

Lacey Chu has one goal, to get into Profectus Academy so she can work for Moncha - the company that is the only place to work if you want to work on the next generation of baku.  It is a simple goal, one she has worked and studied towards for years - both officially and unofficially.  Officially she has worked hard at St Agnes to get the grades needed to get into Profectus, but she has also been unofficially preparing by repairing her mothers baku when things go wrong.  Lacey knows her father worked for Moncha before he disappeared, and dreams of proving herself as a companioneer.  

When she gets notification that she didn't make it into Profectus it is a bitter blow, but then she finds a badly damaged baku and it seems as though her fortunes are changing.  Jinx is unlike any other baku she has ever met before, although on the outside he appears to be like any other cat baku.  Baku are designed to replace smart phones, a creation that is part technology and part companion, something to keep you connected to the world but also to provide company.  As Lacey brings Jinx back to life and cleans him up it becomes clear that he is not your average baku, and when she is suddenly accepted into Profectus after all she finds that the world of baku is more complicated and twisted than she realised.  There is a dangerous secret hidden inside the world of Manchu and the baku, and uncovering the secret is just the start of a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Jinxed is a deftly written story that blends together some of the classic themes of science fiction and thrillers.  From the outside the world Lacey lives in is pretty much perfect, with a benevolent corporation that looks out for its clients and staff like a family, but that is just what is projected on the surface and Lacey is soon travelling down a twisted path learning the 'truth' about the world around her.  I connected with Lacey straight away, and her world spirals out in layers that make it easy to absorb what is happening in her life and in the world around her.  I loved the fact that McCullouch was not afraid to use elements of classic science fiction 'dystopian' worlds in her thriller, and that she didn't let her character development suffer to keep the story 'slick' and she didn't drift too much into cliché.  

This is a brilliant start to the series and I was very glad that I discovered this series after book two (Unleashed) had already been released because waiting too long for a sequel would have been torture!

If you like this book then try:

• The Jewel by Amy Ewing
• The Ones by Daniel Sweren-Becker
• Wither by Lauren DeStefano
• Honor among thieves by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre
• Red queen by Victoria Aveyard
• The girl of fire and thorns by Rae Carson
• The scorpion rules by Erin Bow
• Adaptation by Melinda Lo
• The forest of hands and teeth by Carrie Ryan
• XVI by Julia Karr
• The glass arrow by Kristen Simmons
• The 100 by Kass Morgan
• Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
• The testing by Joelle Charbonneau
• Proxy by Alex London
• ACID by Emma Pass
• Reboot by Amy Tintera
• XVI by Julia Karr
• In the after by Demitria Lunetta

Reviewed by Brilla

Desperate Creed by Alex Kava

Desperate Creed is the fifth book in the Ryder Creed series, and while it can be read as a stand alone novel I highly recommend reading the series in order starting with Breaking Creed, Silent Creed, Reckless Creed, and Lost Creed otherwise this review contains ***SPOILERS***.

The last few months have been a roller coaster for Ryder Creed - he finally found his long lost sister, but finding her was only the start.  Brodie has lived through some harrowing experiences, and even though she is now safe, those experiences have left a mark.  Ryder and Hannah have been patiently coaxing her along, giving her support and try to gently push her boundaries to help her adapt to life outside captivity, but it is a slow process.  With an impending visit from their mother looming over them, Brodie is more unsettled than usual and having terrible anxiety about the mother who she has been told wants nothing to do with a bad child like her.  Having Ryder there to act as a buffer is really important, but as fate would have it, a terrible storm is bearing down on them and it will bring tornadoes in its wake - which means that Ryder and his fellow handler Jason will be out on the road trying to help rather than at home to act as the buffer Brodie so desperately wants.

To complicate matters even more, Hannah's friend Francine “Frankie” Russo is about to enter the race of her life to make it to Hannah and Ryder.  When she receives a call early in the morning from one of her coworkers she doesn't think much of it, they have been working closely together, but when she hears his murder over the open phone call she realises she is in trouble.  Frankie goes to the Police for help, but there isn't a lot to go on and when she figures out that they know who she is she begins a race across the country to reach Hannah and Ryder, and their promised help from FBI agent Maggie O'Dell.  With the killers on her tail, it will take all of Frankie's skills and helpful paranoia to keep her safe until she can share her story with Maggie - but there is more than one storm bearing down on her, and it's not just the contract killers she has to worry about, there are killer storms out there too and they don't discriminate.

I love the Ryder Creed series, not just because of the amazing working dogs, but also because Ryder seems to get himself into all sorts of interesting situations - usually with FBI Agent Maggie O'Dell by his side or in hot pursuit.  Desperate Creed is something of a break from the other books in the series, mainly because the recovery of Brodie has added some rather spectacular changes into his life, which is great but also leads to some rather interesting things he needs to deal with.  The story arc was what you would expect from a Ryder Creed novel, but there was the interesting element this time of two very different stories that blended together across the novel - at times it risked making it feel like two different books, but it slowly eased together enough to make sense and make one story arc.  

There were a few things that were phrased oddly, or where there was what felt like spelling and grammar mistakes, but as I am not American this may be things we don't say that Americans do.  Not the strongest book in the series, but in many ways it feels like a transitional book, the series moving from being about a desperate search to find his sister, to his sister is home and he can start life as normal.  Not a bad book by any means, but not my favourite book in the series so far.

If you like this book then try:

• Breaking Creed by Alex Kava
• Killing trail by Margaret Mizushima
• Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
• Kill switch by Neal Baer & Jonathan Greene
• The edge of normal by Carla Norton
• The nowhere child by Christian White
• City of fear by Alafair Burke
• The vanishing season by Joanna Schaffhausen
• The slaughter man by Tony Parsons

Reviewed by Brilla

The spider heist by Jason Kasper

Blair is minding her own business, desperately trying to hold onto her third waitressing job, when a mysterious man offers her a job.  When she is unceremoniously fired from her job, Blair is left with little choice but to discover what he wants.  Her mystery man, with the mysterious job offer, turns out to be Sterling - and his offer really is too good to be true.  He has a buddy who needs some help to get his dating mojo back, and all Blair has to do is hang out with him at the bar and get him to loosen up - though she will get a bonus if she can get him to take her home.  It seems like a sweet deal, but when Blair manages to wrangle an invite back to his place she finds herself dragged into a very messy situation - messy for her, but also for the group of men who take her and her 'date' hostage.

Blair is not an ordinary waitress, she is a former FBI agent who left the Bureau under a cloud and after several months in prison.  Her skill set and training make her a terrible hostage for her would-be captors find that out the hard way, but they are determined to carry out their plan even with a trouble making Blair in tow.  When Blair is identified from footage taken at the bank, it causes a massive headache for the heist crew and for Blair, because now their carefully laid plans are slowly unravelling.  Blair knows that something isn't right with the heist crew and the way they are working, but can she figure out what is happening before her world implodes?  And will the heist crew be able to pull off their great escape, or will Blair and the intense FBI scrutiny about her being their lead to the downfall of the entire mission?

I picked up The spider heist because it was on a new books list and couldn't resist giving it a try after reading the blurb.  I read a lot of crime, thriller, and action books and I have a definite preference for books that are punchy and fast paced, without a lot of excess description to drag the story down.  Picking up the book to read the first few chapters and see what it was like turned into sitting still for a few hours and reading the book in one session because I didn't want to put it down.  Told from the different perspectives of (mainly) Blair and Sterling, the story unfolds with neither side being fully aware of what is happening with the other person, which adds some nice tension and a chance to understand the characters and story rather than having information rammed down your throat.  The other main characters add depth to the story, as well as providing opportunities for the story to grow and be more than a two dimensional cliché (which so many action/crime/thrillers can so easily become).  

A great read, and hopefully the next book in the series - The sky thieves - will be just as good!

If you like this book then try:

• The killing kind by Chris Holm
• Breaking Creed by Alex Kava
• The basement by Stephen Leather
• City of fear by Alafair Burke
• The better sister by Alafair Burke
• Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
• Spare me the truth by C.J. Carver
• Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz

Reviewed by Brilla

Lost by James Patterson and James O. Born

Detective Tom Moon is part of an FBI task force in the city of Miami, tasked with tackling international crime and people smuggling.  When the task force gets a tip off about a human trafficker bringing a group of children and teens into the States, they act on the tip and manage to capture him - saving the group from who knows what fate in the process.  Saving them from an uncertain fate should be the end of their involvement for Tom and the rest of the task force, but Tom can't help but stay involved in the process, especially when the authorities plan on sticking the children in a detention centre until they can be flown back to Europe.  Connecting with the kids gives Tom and greater understanding of how they ended up being trafficked, but also makes him more determined to bring down the smugglers - especially when he discovers that there might be a connection to a local Russian gangster.

Wrangling his way into the role of guardian angel taking the kids back to the Netherlands, Tom soon finds that he has set himself on a path that will see his case collide with that of national police detective Marie Meijer.  Marie is tough as nails and determined to stop people smugglers in their tracks, even if that means crossing paths with her own Russian gangster.  She knows who's to blame for the people smuggling, but it will take hard evidence to bring down Hanna Greete and her brother Albert.  For their part, Hanna and Albert have been caught between impossible choices, because they are now thoroughly in debt to the Russians, who want payment in blood or diamonds if they can't get cold hard cash.  It is a race against time, and with the Russians involved there is a strong chance that it will become a bloody mess.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I like reading (most) James Patterson books (there are some librarians who don't like him that much), and Lost was definitely one of the good ones.  You know what to expect with a good James Patterson book - strong lead character, a story that jumps into the action straight away, a supporting cast of characters that are more realistic than perfect, a conundrum or villain that has a high cost if you fail, and at characters on 'both sides' of the story.  For me personally I think I enjoyed this a little more because of the connection to the Netherlands, though not so enjoyable that the Dutch characters were not usually the 'good guys'.  

I have seen some reviews that have panned the book, saying it takes over 100 pages to get into the story, but I didn't see it that way - it feels like the start of a new series and with any new series their is always a certain amount of world building and character building that has to take place so you can settle in and enjoy the ride with an understanding of who-is-who and what-is-what.  This was a great read, and I really hope there are more books in the series because I liked Detective Moon and the fact he kind of reminds me of Detective Michael Bennett, but also has his own voice and story.

If you like this book then try:

• The end by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois
• The witnesses by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois
• Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
• The nowhere child by Christian White
• Vodka doesn't freeze by Leah Giarratano
• Spare me the truth by C.J. Carver
• Orphan X by Greg Hurwitz
• Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge 
• Crimson lake by Candice Fox
• The better sister by Alafair Burke
• The killing kind by Chris Holm
• Breaking Creed by Alex Kava

Reviewed by Brilla

The case of the spellbound child by Mercedes Lackey

The case of the spellbound child is the latest book in the Elemental Masters series, and while you can read it as a standalone novel you will get the best out of it by reading the books in the series that also feature Nan and Sarah.  This review contains ***SPOILERS*** for the rest of the series, so I highly recommend that you read these books in the series first: The Wizard of London, Home from the sea, A study in sable, A scandal in Battersea, and The bartered brides.

Nan Killian and Sarah Lyon-White have proven themselves to be shrewd and tenacious investigators for their patron Lord Alderscroft, combining their psychic and medium talents with good old fashioned detective skills learnt through their association with Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.  Their reputation of being skilled investigators has spread beyond their own social circle, and with the general public believing that the great Sherlock Holmes is dead, people are coming to Watson to solve their cases.  

Their association with Holmes leads them to Dartmoor, where a mother and father are desperate to find their missing children.  The children were sent out onto the moor to forage for food after they spilled the limited food the family had to share for dinner, but they never returned.  Searching for the children in the close knit communities of Dartmoor will be a challenge, because not only is magic involved but also because everyone knows one another and looks out for their neighbours.  As the team from London tries to untangle the mystery of what has happened to the children, they don't realise that they are in a race against time because the children are in danger, and their very lives are at stake.

The case of the spellbound child was a much anticipated treat after I started reading the series in December and read from start to finish in publication order - and it was much easier reading with the rest of the series so fresh in my mind.  This is another book in the series that features Sherlock Holmes and John and Mary Watson, and it is interesting how the series has split into two very distinct styles - the ones that are very much fractured fairytales with elementals and elemental magic as the focus, and these books in the series which are more about mysteries and untangling the mysteries with ghosts and mind reading as the main skills.  

The relationships between Nan and Sarah, their ward Suki, and their friends is interesting, but I can't help but think about the original books in the series a little wistfully as they were closer to traditional fairytales and just seemed to be about Lackey's imaghination and her world rather than borrowing from the world of Sherlock Holmes.  I have to say this was also another book where it was a struggle at times to figure out what was being said at times because of the 'accents' the people were speaking in and how they were written - this has bugged me with other series but seemed worse in this one.  A good addition to the series, especially after having read them all in the weeks leading up to reading it, but I hope we get a few more of the other half of the series again soon.

If you like this book then try:

• The Fire rose by Mercedes Lackey (not officially part of the series)
• The serpent's shadow by Mercedes Lackey
• The gates of sleep by Mercedes Lackey
• Phoenix and ashes by Mercedes Lackey
• The wizard of London by Mercedes Lackey
• Reserved for the cat by Mercedes Lackey
• Unnatural issue by Mercedes Lackey
• Home from the sea by Mercedes Lackey
• Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey
• Blood red by Mercedes Lackey
• From a high tower by Mercedes Lackey
• A study in sable by Mercedes Lackey
• A scandal in Battersea by Mercedes Lackey
• The bartered brides by Mercedes Lackey

Reviewed by Brilla

The lovely and the lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Kira is a survivor, her earliest memories are of living in the woods as a child, and her past has left scars - physical and emotional.  Years of patient support and acceptance from her foster mother Cady has enabled Kira to reenter society and find a place in it, even though at times her earliest survival skills take over making it difficult to fit in with everyone else.  The only time Kira feels truly understood is when she works with the search and rescue dogs that Cady trains, and with her own dog Saskia.  Life has a certain pattern and flow as Kira trains Saskia, and when they train with her foster brother Jude and neighbour Free.  The past occasionally intrudes, but she has it mostly under control as she focuses on turning 18 - once she is 18 she and Saskia can take the test to become a search and rescue team in their own right, a test that Cady thinks Saskia will fail.

Life has a certain flow and rhythm - one that is severely disrupted when Cady's estranged father turns up out of the blue and asks for her help with a missing child.  In asking for Cady's help, Bales Bennett is opening old wounds - not just for Cady, but as it turns out, also for Kira.  Along with Jude and Free and their dogs, Kira and Saskia find themselves working alongside other search and rescue teams in the Sierra Glades National Park.  It is challenging work, especially when the local Sheriff has made it clear he doesn't think teenagers belong on the front lines - unstable ones like Kira, and her unstable dog Saskia in particular.  As the search for the missing child draws out Kira will have to face increasingly unsettled feelings and force herself to face memories that are increasingly bubbling to the surface.  As secrets are slowly revealed it is all Kira can do to hold onto her humanity - but her instincts and survival skills may be the only thing that can save them all.

I always look forward to new books by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, not only because they are well written and have a great deal of depth and layers, but also because you very quickly connect with the characters and what they are going through.  I have a great deal of respect for working dogs and their handlers, and have been reading the Rider Creed series by Alex Kava for the past few years and so I was curious what this book would be like in comparison - and ended up finishing the whole thing in an afternoon because I didn't want to put it down!  Kira is a beautifully damaged soul, and it was not difficult to have sympathy for her while also admiring her personal strength and courage, and the courage of her foster family and the empathy and compassion they showed her.  Her foster mom and brother are clearly her pack, as is her friend and neighbour Free - as are the dogs that make up the rest of her pack/family.  
On top of all the amazing character development, there was an equally engaging and artfully developed story that kept you guessing what was happening as you slowly peeled back the layers chapter by chapter - usually through the eyes of Kira as she discovered a new secret or aspect of a persons personality.  There were no cliché story book villains, or men in black hats, everyone was a rounded personality with their flaws, faults, and finer points.  There are discoveries along the way that help you uncover hints and clues, and while my guess about whodunnit was right, that is partly because I read so many crime novels and thrillers, and the unveiling was in no way a disappointment.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Kira and her story and while this seems to be a standalone novel I can't help but hope that this isn't the last we have seen of Kira and her human and canine family because it is on par with the Rider Creed series and it would somewhat gratifying to spend more time in their company.

If you like this book then try:

• Little white lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• In another life by C.C. Hunter
• Holding smoke by Elle Cosimano
• Nearly gone by Elle Cosimano
• The stranger game by Cylin Busby
• I hunt killers by Barry Lyga
• The Christopher killer by Alane Ferguson
• Lost girls by Merrie Destefano
• Nickel plated by Aric Davis
• Dead to you by Lisa McMann
• Burning blue by Paul Griffin
• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Aftermath by Kelley Armstrong
• What waits in the woods by Kieran Scott
• Such a pretty girl by Laura Wiess
• Living dead girl by Elizabeth Scott

Reviewed by Brilla

Unraveled by Kate Jarvik Birch

Unraveled is the sequel to Perfected and Tarnished so this review contains ***SPOILERS*** if you have not read the first books in the series.  This is a series that really needs to be read in order so stop reading this review and read Perfected and Tarnished first!

Ella is no longer a pampered Pet from one of the best kennels in the country, she is a revolutionary fighting for freedom for herself and all the other Pets.  Over the past few months she has made some truly shocking discoveries about Pets and the world she lives in, and she has found true friends and fellow revolutionaries.  She has also found, and lost a true friend in Missy, and she is determined to do whatever it takes to free Missy from NuPet and their plans.  The rest of the world thinks that NuPet is doing the decent thing now they have been exposed, rehabilitating the Pets and setting them up for a bright and happy future in the world, but Ella and her friends know the horrifying truth - NuPet is going to exterminate the Pets.  

When a mission goes sideways and they are forced to operate as a smaller group without their usual resources it seems like an uphill mission for them, and when they are accused of a bombing things go from bad to worse.  Ella and her friends as being portrayed as terrorists, while a carefully controlled propaganda campaign is making NuPet look like the good guys.  Running from Congressman John Kimball and NuPet was hard enough, but now Ella and her friends have to hide from a public that wants them rehabilitated, and law enforcement officers who want to stop their criminal activities.  When another mission goes sideways the stress begins to show and the group slowly starts imploding, and with a traitor among them it is only a matter of time until they fail or are captured.  It is a race against time with limited resources - but Ella is used to being underestimated, after all, how dangerous can one Pet be?

Unraveled is the final (or so it seems) book in the trilogy that started with Perfected and Tarnished - and it is a very satisfying end to the series.  I only discovered it at my local public library because I was recommending the first two books and discovered Unraveled had come out last year.  Rereading this series from the start and completing it in less than two days made it much clearer that this series is much darker than you pick up reading them some time apart, and there are some really adult themes for a book series that reads so well.  The idea of slavery and being property seems so much stronger on a second reading, and it seems like it should have been written for adults rather than teenagers - mind you I might have stronger feelings about those themes after reading another series which stresses how little power women had in the past, how fathers owned their daughters until they married and then ownership passed to their husbands.  

The development of the characters over the course of the trilogy is also interesting, you can see changes in all of the main characters and not always for the good.  In many ways we discover more about the people around Ella as she develops an understanding of the world around her she loses the naivety of being a Pet and becomes more human in every way - she loses her vulnerability and innocence and comes to understand how complicated the world is.  She essentially goes from being a pretty ornament to being a fully realised character who rescues herself rather than waiting to be rescued.  There are some heavy themes, but Kate Jarvik Birch doesn't shy away from them, and this is a very rewarding series to read as a result.

If you like this book then try:

• The Jewel by Amy Ewing
• The Ones by Daniel Sweren-Becker
• Wither by Lauren DeStefano
• Red queen by Victoria Aveyard
• The scorpion rules by Erin Bow
• Adaptation by Melinda Lo
• The forest of hands and teeth by Carrie Ryan
• XVI by Julia Karr
• The glass arrow by Kristen Simmons
• The 100 by Kass Morgan
• Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
• The testing by Joelle Charbonneau
• Proxy by Alex London
• ACID by Emma Pass
• Reboot by Amy Tintera

Reviewed by Brilla

The nowhere child by Christian White

There's nothing special about Kim Leamy, she teaches photography a few nights a week, tries to keep in regular contact with her sister and stepfather, and likes to read.  She doesn't have a husband or partner, but she gets along fine and finds company with her lonely neighbour.  All that changes when she is approached by a man while she's on a break at Northampton Community TAFE - a man who shows her a picture of a missing child and claims that Kim is that child.  As it slowly sinks in that this man, this stranger thinks that she is Sammy Went all grown up, Kim slowly slides into a sense of confusion and betrayal - could the loving mother who raised her really be a kidnapper?  Kim could ask her if she hadn't died of cancer a few years earlier, and her stepfather Dean seems oddly determined for Kim to drop the subject, as does her sister Amy.

When Kim is shown more evidence that she is Sammy Went she makes the bold decision to travel to the small town where it all started to unravel the mystery herself.  Manson, Kentucky is a small town that keeps its secrets - now and in the past.  As Kim slowly comes to terms with her past, she must also come to terms with her 'new' family and the secrets and undercurrents of relationships that were all changed and twisted by the events long ago.  Kim may be struggling to understand what happened and tries to remember the past, the pastis just as frantic and hectic as the Went family struggles to cope with little Sammy's disappearance and the destructive secrets that are uncovered along the way.  Manson is home to many families, including those that belong to the Church of the Light Within - who have rigid religious ideas and use snakes and poison in their religious devotions.  What really happened to little Sammy all those years ago?

I am not ashamed to admit that I love a good crime novel - particularly ones that are fast paced with a twist or two in the tale.  I picked up The nowhere child after seeing it on the request shelf at my local public library (multiple copies of it) meaning lots of people were wanting to read it.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but what I got was a completely absorbing read that I finished in one sitting because I didn't want to put it down.  Christian White has cleverly used alternating chapters to lead the reader through a mystery in two different times, keeping the present moving at a brisk pace while slowly revealing the past and bringing forward hints and clues of what might lie in the future.  The pace is kept up but doesn't prevent character development and it is all too easy to understand how Kim can be so confused and off balance with the discovery that she is not who she thought she was.  The other characters around her come into focus during the course of the novel, like she is seeing some of them for the first time which makes it more realistic and believable.

I thoroughly enjoyed The nowhere child, as did my senior citizen mother, and I have already requested his follow up novel to see if it is as good as The nowhere child.  I read a lot of books and a lot of crime, and this was one of the stand out novels of 2019 for me which is quite impressive.  If White can keep up this standard of writing and keep his ideas fresh and interesting then he has a bright future in this genre - and I wouldn't be surprised if James Patterson comes knocking to collaborate as White also has a sparse, action/drama focused style.  Highly, highly recommended.
  

If you like this book then try:

• Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
• The vanishing season by Joanna Schaffhausen
• Black & Blue by James Patterson and Candice Fox
• Never never by James Patterson and Candice Fox
• Spare me the truth by C.J. Carver
• Vodka doesn't freeze by Leah Giarratano
• What was mine by Helen Klein Ross
• Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
• The starter wife by Nina Laurin
• City of the lost by Kelley Armstrong
• The better sister by Alafair Burke
• The wife by Alafair Burke

Reviewed by Brilla