Century

Come Back For Me by Heidi Perks | #20BooksOfSummer

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Author : Heidi Perks
Title : Come Back For Me
Pages : 416
Publisher : Century
Publication date : July 11, 2019

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

A tiny island community is stunned by the discovery of a long-buried body.

For Stella Harvey, the news is doubly shocking, as the body is found in the garden of her childhood home. The home her family fled without explanation twenty-five years ago.

Now, questioning her past and desperate to unearth the truth, Stella returns to the Dorset island. But she quickly finds that the community she left isn’t as welcoming as she remembers – and that people in it will go to any length to protect their secrets.

But one thing rings true…
You can’t bury the truth forever. 

| MY THOUGHTS |

Heidi Perk’s previous book, Now You See Her, absolutely rocked my socks off so I couldn’t wait to see if her new offering would live up to that one for me.

The story starts off with a bang when eleven year old Stella is forced to leave her childhood home on Evergreen Island in the middle of a storm. Why are her parents so desperate to leave the island in these circumstances? Twenty-five years later, a body is found near Stella’s childhood home. Stella has always wanted to return to the island and this seems like the perfect opportunity. She knows these people after all. But the small community isn’t exactly welcoming and it soon becomes apparent there are a lot of secrets the island residents are keen to protect.

And just like that I was caught up in a murder mystery and the dynamics of a rather dysfunctional family all in one go. Quite clearly, Heidi Perks took a master class in plotting, knowing exactly what to do to keep a reader hooked. With seemingly every chapter ending on a cliffhanger, I couldn’t stop myself from absolutely devouring this book. Every theory I could possibly come up with was blown to pieces and there was no way I was ever going to predict any of the secrets hidden away on this island.

Come Back For Me is immensely atmospheric, compelling and utterly gripping. It’s the kind of book you just can’t put down, that has you flipping the pages faster and faster, desperate to find out what on earth is going on and how all the pieces of the past and the present fit together.

This is the second book I’ve read by Heidi Perks and it went down a treat. Her previous one still remains my favourite by her but she is now firmly on my radar and I absolutely can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. If you enjoy a well-plotted and unpredictable psychological thriller, then this one is most definitely for you!

Come Back For Me is available to buy!

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Other retailers : Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Waterstones | Wordery

Book 15 from my 20 Books of Summer list

This Week in Books (March 13)

~ noveldeelights ~ 21 Comments

Hosted by Lipsy Lost and Found, my Wednesday post gives you a taste of what I’m reading this week. A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words.

| LAST BOOK I FINISHED READING |

Kat experiences every mother’s worst nightmare when her only child’s body is found lifeless in an overgrown, abandoned quarry. 

Desperate to find out what happened, Kat questions those closest to her as she tries to piece together the last days of Grace’s life. But as a darker side to her little girl begins to unravel, Kat wonders if she ever really knew Grace. 

As Kat is drawn into a twisted game of lies, is she also in terrible danger? And will she be able to unlock her daughter’s final shocking secret? 

Even if the truth is unthinkable… 

| THE BOOK I’M CURRENTLY READING |

‘You shouldn’t be here. It’s too late… ’

These, heard over the phone, were the last recorded words of successful celebrity-divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, found bludgeoned to death in his bachelor pad with a bottle of wine – a 1982 Chateau Lafite worth £3,000, to be precise.

Odd, considering he didn’t drink. Why this bottle? And why those words? And why was a three-digit number painted on the wall by the killer? And, most importantly, which of the man’s many, many enemies did the deed?

Baffled, the police are forced to bring in Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, the author Anthony, who’s really getting rather good at this murder investigation business.

But as Hawthorne takes on the case with characteristic relish, it becomes clear that he, too, has secrets to hide. As our reluctant narrator becomes ever more embroiled in the case, he realises that these secrets must be exposed – even at the risk of death…

| WHAT I’M (PROBABLY) READING NEXT |

On a scorching July night in 1983, a group of teenagers goes camping in the forest. Bright and brilliant, they are destined for great things, and the youngest of the group—Aurora Jackson—is delighted to be allowed to tag along. The evening starts like any other—they drink, they dance, they fight, they kiss. Some of them slip off into the woods in pairs, others are left jealous and heartbroken. But by morning, Aurora has disappeared. Her friends claim that she was safe the last time they saw her, right before she went to sleep. An exhaustive investigation is launched, but no trace of the teenager is ever found.

Thirty years later, Aurora’s body is unearthed in a hideaway that only the six friends knew about, and Jonah Sheens is put in charge of solving the long-cold case. Back in 1983, as a young cop in their small town, he had known the teenagers—including Aurora—personally, even before taking part in the search. Now he’s determined to finally get to the truth of what happened that night. Sheens’s investigation brings the members of the camping party back to the forest, where they will be confronted once again with the events that left one of them dead, and all of them profoundly changed forever

I have no idea what this post is going to look like because WordPress is incredibly uncooperative lately and the preview doesn’t work. 🙄

Anyway! What are you reading this week? Anything I should keep my eye on? Let me know! Happy reading! xx

This Week in Books (March 6)

~ noveldeelights ~ 26 Comments

Hosted by Lipsy Lost and Found, my Wednesday post gives you a taste of what I’m reading this week. A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words.

| LAST BOOK I FINISHED READING |

Sometimes friendship can be murder…

It’s the weekend of Clarisse’s bridal party, a trip the girls have all been looking forward to. Then, on the day of their flight, Tamsyn, the maid of honour, suddenly backs out. Upset and confused, they try to make the most of the stunning, isolated seaside house they find themselves in.

But, there is a surprise in store – Tamsyn has organised a murder mystery, a sinister game in which they must discover a killer in their midst. As tensions quickly boil over, it becomes clear to them all that there are some secrets that won’t stay buried…

| THE BOOK I’M CURRENTLY READING |

Waking up beside the dead girl, she couldn’t remember anything.
Who she was. Who had taken her. How to escape.

Detective Abigail Boone has been missing for four days when she is finally found, confused and broken. Suffering retrograde amnesia, she is a stranger to her despairing husband and bewildered son.

Hopelessly lost in her own life, with no leads on her abduction, Boone’s only instinct is to revisit the case she was investigating when she vanished: the baffling disappearance of a young woman, Sarah Still.

Defying her family and the police, Boone obsessively follows a deadly trail to the darkest edges of human cruelty. But even if she finds Sarah, will Boone ever be the same again?

| WHAT I’M (PROBABLY) READING NEXT |

You’ve lost your daughter.

She’s addicted to drugs and to an abusive boyfriend. And she’s made it clear that she doesn’t want to be found.

Then, quite by chance, you see her busking in New York’s Central Park.

But she’s not the girl you remember. This woman is wasted, frightened and clearly in trouble.

You don’t stop to think. You approach her, beg her to come home.

She runs.

And you follow her into a dark and dangerous world you never knew existed. Where criminal gangs rule, where drugs are the main currency, and murder is commonplace.

Now it’s your life on the line. And nowhere and no one is safe.

Not a good week so far. I don’t know if it’s the books. Or me. I finished The Bridal Party on Monday and have had two DNF’s since. I’m hoping things will pick up this afternoon when I start Past Life.

How’s your reading week going? Good? Bad? Let me know!
Happy reading! xx

Gone By Midnight by Candice Fox

~ noveldeelights ~ 4 Comments
Author : Candice Fox
Title : Gone By Midnight
Series : Crimson Lake #3
Pages : 384
Publisher : Century
Publication date : January 24, 2019

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

They left four children safe upstairs.
They came back to three.

On the fifth floor of the White Caps Hotel, four young boys are left alone while their parents dine downstairs.

But when one of the parents checks on the children at midnight, they discover one of them is missing.

The boys swear they stayed in their room. CCTV confirms that none of them left the building. No trace of the child is found.

Now the hunt is on to find him, before it’s too late – and before the search for a boy becomes a search for a body… 

| MY THOUGHTS |

Gone By Midnight is the third instalment in the Crimson Lake series, a fact I was unaware of when I picked this one up to read. Now, luckily, this reads perfectly well as a stand-alone but I already know I’ll be making time to read the previous two as well because I can’t for the life of me figure out how these evaded my radar.

The premise of the story reminded me somewhat of the McCann investigation. Four eight year old boys are left alone in a hotel room while their parents go out to dinner. But when one of the parents returns to check on them, one of the boys has gone missing. The remaining three boys swear to high heaven that they never left the room and CCTV confirms none of them left the building. So surely the missing boy must be in the hotel somewhere but there is no trace of him.

This is the start of an amazingly intricate and complex investigation. Eight year old boys don’t exactly make great and reliable witnesses. For the longest time, I thought I knew exactly what had happened but I was proven wrong. I do so love it when an author manages to lead me in the wrong direction. Gone by Midnight is super tense, insanely addictive and has an incredibly delicious sting in its tail. Let’s not forget the amazing Australian setting.

I must say that while the search for the missing boy is intensely gripping, it’s the characters that really drew me into this story. Especially, Ted and Amanda. These two work together as a sort of private detective team but their backgrounds are utterly fascinating. I won’t be telling you what those are because I feel you need to find that out for yourself and to get a better picture of them, I recommend you start with the first book in the series. Now, I know I said at the start this can be perfectly well read as a stand-alone and that is still the case. You get plenty of background information so you don’t feel like you’ve missed out on anything. Yet, it’s also so immensely intriguing that the urge to go back and read the previous books to get the full picture is pretty hard to resist.

I honestly can’t believe this is the first time I’ve read a book by Candice Fox. Gone By Midnight had me hooked from start to finish and was just a fabulous treat.

With thanks to the publisher for my review copy!

Gone By Midnight is available to buy!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Bookdepository | Kobo | Wordery | Goodreads

This Week in Books (January 16)

~ noveldeelights ~ 25 Comments

Hosted by Lipsy Lost and Found, my Wednesday post gives you a taste of what I’m reading this week. A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words.

| LAST BOOK I FINISHED READING |

Single-mother bounty hunter Lori Anderson has finally got her family back together, but her new-found happiness is shattered when she’s snatched by the Miami Mob – and they want her dead. Rather than a bullet, they offer her a job: find the Mob’s ‘numbers man’ – Carlton North – who’s in protective custody after being forced to turn federal witness against them. If Lori succeeds, they’ll wipe the slate clean and the price on her head – and those of her family – will be removed. If she fails, they die.

With North due in court in forty-eight hours, Lori sets off across Florida, racing against the clock to find him and save her family. Only in this race the prize is more deadly – and the secret she shares with JT more dangerous – than she ever could have imagined. In this race only the winner gets out alive…

| THE BOOK I’M CURRENTLY READING |

They left four children safe upstairs.
They came back to three.

On the fifth floor of the White Caps Hotel, four young boys are left alone while their parents dine downstairs.

But when one of the parents checks on the children at midnight, they discover one of them is missing.

The boys swear they stayed in their room. CCTV confirms that none of them left the building. No trace of the child is found.

Now the hunt is on to find him, before it’s too late – and before the search for a boy becomes a search for a body…

| WHAT I’M (PROBABLY) READING NEXT |

Emily Jacobs, a nurse, is in hospital for a minor operation. When she wakes in the night, woozy with anaesthetic, she sees the doctor frantically trying to resuscitate the woman in the bed next to her. In the morning, she is told that she must have had a nightmare. The bed has been empty all along . . .

When Emily returns to work she discovers a bracelet that she believes belonged to the missing woman. Soon, she becomes convinced that her colleagues at the hospital are hiding a terrible secret. 

What if she’s wrong? What if her own troubled past has affected her more than she knows?

But what if she’s right? 

What else could they be capable of?

Looks like I’m in for some great treats again this week! What about you? What are you reading this week? Let me know! Happy reading! xx

Don’t Let Go – Harlan Coben

~ noveldeelights ~ 8 Comments

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Author : Harlan Coben
Title : Don’t Let Go
Pages : 368
Publisher : Century
Publication date : September 26, 2017

aboutthebook

Suburban New Jersey Detective Napoleon “Nap” Dumas hasn’t been the same since senior year of high school, when his twin brother Leo and Leo’s girlfriend Diana were found dead on the railroad tracks—and Maura, the girl Nap considered the love of his life, broke up with him and disappeared without explanation. For fifteen years, Nap has been searching, both for Maura and for the real reason behind his brother’s death. And now, it looks as though he may finally find what he’s been looking for.

When Maura’s fingerprints turn up in the rental car of a suspected murderer, Nap embarks on a quest for answers that only leads to more questions—about the woman he loved, about the childhood friends he thought he knew, about the abandoned military base near where he grew up, and mostly about Leo and Diana—whose deaths are darker and far more sinister than Nap ever dared imagine.

mythoughts

It’s always a treat to read a new Harlan Coben book so I was quite pleased when my request to view Don’t Let Go on Netgalley was approved. However, this one didn’t quite work for me.

Fifteen years ago, Nap’s brother Leo and his girlfriend were found dead on railroad tracks. That same night, Nap’s high school girlfriend Maura disappears. All these years, Nap has been trying to find out what really happened that night and it looks like he might finally get to the truth when Maura’s fingerprints turn up at the scene of a murder.  Are current events connected to those from fifteen years ago? Can Nap trust the people closest to him?

Don’t Let Go is quite a quick read with a rather likeable main character who plays by his own rules and it seemed to have oodles of potential. While I thought the story was entertaining and enjoyable with many witty chuckle-out-loud moments, I also felt it was trying just a little bit too hard at being funny and lacked the suspense it needed to be a truly gripping thriller and keep me hooked.

As always, Harlan Coben excels at naturally flowing conversations and fast dialogues. He also kept me guessing until the end as I tried, and failed, to figure out the connections and what really happened. It’s always a good thing when I can’t predict the outcome and this one completely took me by surprise. But overall, I feel things just fell flat. I’ve read and enjoyed quite a lot of this author’s previous work but I’m sorry to say that, while Don’t Let Go is entertaining, I just felt somewhat disappointed in this one. However, this will in no way stop me from reading another Harlan Coben book in future.

Many thanks to Random House for my advanced copy, which I received via Netgalley and chose to review honestly!

Don’t Let Go is available now!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads