The Missing by C.L. Taylor

Description - You love your family. They make you feel safe. You trust them. Or do you…?

When fifteen-year-old Billy Wilkinson goes missing in the middle of the night, his mother, Claire Wilkinson, blames herself. She's not the only one. There isn't a single member of Billy's family that doesn't feel guilty. But the Wilkinson’s are so used to keeping secrets from one another that it isn't until six months later, after an appeal for information goes horribly wrong, that the truth begins to surface.

Claire is sure of two things – that Billy is still alive and that her friends and family had nothing to do with his disappearance.

A mother's instinct is never wrong. Or is it?

Publication Date ~ April 7th 2016

Published by ~ Avon

My thoughts - Sometimes when you start a book you are so desperate to read it, to rush through the pages and find out how the story will end but at the same time you want to take it slow and for the story to go on and on and never end, well this is exactly how I felt reading The Missing.

There are a huge amount of books out at the moment about missing children but The Missing is about a 15 year old boy which I felt gave this book a different edge.

C.L. Taylor's writing always completely draws me in and I just didn't know how this story would unfold and I was left with a gaping mouth. I really didn't guess how it was going to go, which was great as I love to try and guess.

Full of fear, suspicion, doubts and desperation The Missing is a brilliant thriller with a strong plot and characters, you really wont want to put it down. A seriously good read I would highly recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Play Dead by Angela Marsons

Description - The dead don’t tell secrets… unless you listen.
The girl’s smashed-in face stared unseeing up to the blue sky, soil spilling out of her mouth. A hundred flies hovered above the bloodied mess.

Westerley research facility is not for the faint-hearted. A ‘body farm’ investigating human decomposition, its inhabitants are corpses in various states of decay. But when Detective Kim Stone and her tea
m discover the fresh body of a young woman, it seems a killer has discovered the perfect cover to bury their crime.

Then a second girl is attacked and left for dead, her body drugged and mouth filled with soil. It’s clear to Stone and the team that a serial killer is at work – but just how many bodies will they uncover? And who is next?

As local reporter, Tracy Frost, disappears, the stakes are raised. The past seems to hold the key to the killer’s secrets – but can Kim uncover the truth before a twisted, damaged mind claims another victim …?

Publication Date ~ 20th May 2016

Published by ~ Bookouture

My thoughts - Play Dead is the fourth book in the Kim Stone series by Angela Marsons and after each book I read I always say "this is my favourite". To be honest though they are all blooming fantastic.

Angela Marsons has a way of writing stories that have you turning pages way into the early hours of the morning and I had this book finished in two sittings as I was totally engrossed as we are taken back to the Black Country with Kim and her team. They are sent to Westerley research centre (the body farm) where a new investigation gets under way as a fresh body is discovered.

Play Dead could be read as a stand alone book but really you would be best to read them all in order as Kim's character evolves in each book and she is fast becoming one of my favourite protagonists, even with her flaws she's a strong likeable character.

Angela Marsons has written another fast paced thriller that had me trying to guess who was guilty, with no luck right until the reveal. I'm not sure how she does it but this was another edge of your seat read that gave me goose bumps and took my breath away.

I cant wait for book five and highly recommend this to anyone who likes serial killer thrillers.

Thanks to Netgalley & bookouture for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

Other books in the series are Silent Scream, Evil Games & Lost Girls.

SEE HOW THEY RUN by Tom Bale

Book Description -

How far would you go to save your family?

In the dead of night, new parents Alice and Harry French are plunged into their worst nightmare when they wake to find masked men in their bedroom. Men ruthless enough to threaten their baby daughter, Evie.

This is no burglary gone wrong.
The intruders know who they’re looking for – a man called Edward Renshaw.
And they are prepared to kill to get to him.

When the men leave empty handed, little do Alice and Harry realise that their nightmare is just beginning. Is it a case of mistaken identity? Who is Renshaw? And what is he hiding?

One thing is clear – they already know too much.

As Alice and Harry are separated in the run for their lives, there is no time to breathe in their fight to be reunited. And with their attackers closing in, there is only one choice:

STAY ALIVE. OR DON’T.

Publication Date ~ 6th May 2016

Published by ~ Bookouture

My thoughts - I really am not sure where to start with this review, this book totally blew me away.

From the first chapter I was sucked right in and it seriously gave me the shivers. The hairs on the back of my neck were on end and I knew this was going to be a fab read.

All through the book Tom Bale's way story telling keeps you gripped, leaves you breathless and desperately wanting to read more. It's a real page turner with believable characters and shocks that will either keep you up all night reading or scared to turn the bedroom light off.

I never read the sypnosis before I requested this book and had only seen the cover reveal when Bookouture announced it and that was enough for me, it jumped out the page and screamed read me and I'm so glad I did. This is one of my top reads for 2016 and one I can't recommend enough. I'm so excited to see what's in store for Tom Bale in the future, I suspect it's going to be more absolute brilliance.

Now where's my ironing board?

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture  for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Games People Play by Owen Mullen

Book Description - On a warm summer's evening thirteen month old Lily Hamilton is abducted from Ayr beach in Scotland, taken while her parents are yards away. Three days later, the distraught father turns up at Glasgow PI Charlie Cameron's office and begs him to help. Mark Hamilton believes he knows who has stolen his daughter. And why.
Against his better judgement Charlie gets involved in a case he would be better off without. But when a child's body is discovered on Fenwick Moor, then another in St Andrews, the awful truth dawns: there is a serial killer out there whose work has gone undetected for decades. Baby Lily may be the latest victim of a madman.
For Charlie it's too late, he can't let go. His demons won't let him.

The stunning first novel featuring Glasgow PI Charlie Cameron. Games People Play will have the reader guessing to the very last page.

Publish Date ~ January 30th 2016

My thoughts - When the author contacted me via Goodreads and asked if I'd like to read and review his book I jumped at the chance. I'd seen Games People Play mentioned a few times on a couple of pages I follow on Facebook and it sounded like it would be right up my street and I wasn't wrong.

This book is a little bit different to what I've been reading lately due to the fact that the main character Charlie is a private investigator and not the police and it was a nice change. Charlie is a fantastic character and one I instantly liked. He has a past and through out the book it is slowly revealed and ties in nicely with the story.

I am ashamed to admit that this book took me ages to read, it had nothing to do with the book but my hectic life got in the way and it drove me crazy as I wanted to find out what was happening. From page one Games People Play draws you in and the descriptions of places had me picturing the scenes perfectly and there's also a mention to the town Hawick which isn't too far away from me which made it seem even more realistic.

Past and present storylines make this quite a busy book but the author has woven them together so well it was an easy read. With twists and turns the story keeps you guessing and I didn't know which way it would go. I really enjoyed Games People Play and will be recommending it to my friends. I'm looking forward to reading Old Friends and New Enemies, the second book in the Charlie Cameron series which is available now.

I have a great feeling that Owen Mullen is going to be an author to watch out for.

5 stars from me.