Tyne and Wear 1999
Stephanie White had been begging and pleading with her parents for months to buy her a pair of rollerblades for her birthday, and now she finally had them on, she realised she had no idea how to stay upright...
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I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from the author. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.
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The Blurb
A GRUESOME MURDER
Twenty years ago, a young girl vanished from a quiet street in Northumberland. When her body was found in an attic close to her home, the whole neighbourhood was shocked.
A DEVASTATING SECRET
For her entire life, Dawn Shephard has never known her father. But when news breaks that a murderer is about to be released from prison, her mother has no choice but to reveal his identity.
THE ORIGINS OF EVIL
As Dawn digs into her father’s history, she lands on a chilling connection. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous it becomes. Just how far will she go to discover if a killer’s blood runs through her veins?
My Review
I recently won a whole set of books by this author in a giveaway, which I am absolutely thrilled with. This is the first of them that I have read, and it has left me wanting to dive into the rest.
The main character, Dawn, is easy to identify with. Raised by her mother with the knowledge that her conception was the result of a one-night stand at a party, she has never known the identity of her father. Until the day that the newspapers declare that the murderer of a young girl is soon to be released from prison and her mother decides to reveal that he is actually her father.
I could fully identify with Dawn as she learns this truth. I think any of us would feel as though the rug had been pulled from under our feet. I felt much sympathy for her as she begins to navigate her feelings. She is a well drawn character and the author did a good job of bringing her alive on the page. The secondary characters in the book are also well portrayed.
It is set in Newcastle in the North of England, beginning with the prologue in 1999 and the disappearance of thirteen year old Stephanie White. The narrative then moves to 2019, where the book is told from Dawn's current day perspective.
The book is perfectly paced for the genre, and there are plenty of twists and turns which kept me reading well past bedtime. It is a compelling and highly suspenseful story as we are drip fed little revelations along the way.
The author explains in his note at the back that the manuscript for this took twenty years for him to complete, making changes to the novel until he actually got it to where he wanted it before being published. It was a gripping book and, for us readers, it was worth waiting for.
I highly recommend this for lovers of the genre.
Book Details
ISBN: 978 0008618568
Publisher: One More Chapter
Formats: e-book, audio and paperback
No. of Pages: 384 (paperback)
Purchase Links
About the Author
Michael Wood is a crime fiction writer born and raised in Sheffield, South Yorkshire where his detective series featuring DCI Matilda Darke is set. He has worked as a journalist and proofreader, but is now a full-time author currently living in Newcastle in the Northeast of England. He is also the author of the Dr Olivia Winter series of psychological thrillers, as well as several standalone books. When he's not trying to think up ingenious ways of murdering people, he is reading books about ingenious ways of murdering people while drinking incredibly strong black coffee and biting the heads off a Freddo.
You can also find Michael at:
Other Blog Posts Featuring Crime Novels
Little Secrets by Victoria Goldman
The Saint Zita Society by Ruth Rendell
(book and media courtesy of the author)
(all opinions are my own)
(Bookshop.org affiliated)
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