My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 1 day
Pages - 424
Publisher - Bookouture
Source - Bought
Blurb from Goodreads
An absolutely heart-pounding and addictive crime thriller
It’s a typical teenage bedroom with posters covering the walls and clothes littering the floor. But the girl lying on her bed, wearing a delicate chain around her neck, is lifeless. A circle of red stains her white vest top. How had the girl’s mother looked down at her sleeping child and pulled the trigger?
When Detective Kim Stone rushes to the scene of a house fire, she’s shocked to discover it’s claimed the lives of two teenage children and their parents. But this tragedy is not quite as it seems. Each body is marked by a gunshot wound and the mother, Helen Daynes, is holding the gun.
The case sparks painful childhood memories for Kim who suffered at the hands of her own abusive mother, but it just makes her more determined to uncover the truth. As Kim untangles Helen’s past, she finds a history of clinical depression. But did it drive Helen to murder her loved ones?
Then Kim uncovers a tiny, vital clue in Helen’s bedroom that throws the investigation wide open. Could someone else have killed the Daynes family?
Just as Kim feels she’s making progress, a deadly threat is made to her own life by a dangerous psychopath from her past. Biting back her fear, she keeps digging. And when Kim hits upon a shocking secret that changes everything she thought she knew about Helen, she realises that the remaining family members are in grave danger.
Kim is under pressure like never before, and the monster circling her is getting ever closer. Four bodies already. Four graves fresh in the ground. Who will be next? Can Kim find the killer and save herself before it’s too late?
My Review
If you haven't read the others just stop and go read them, it is a great series and you need to know the backstories to appreciate the dynamics of the team. Normally I tell you you can absolutely pick up and read as a standalone however the baddy you appreciate more if you read the previous books. Kim and co have came up against many a psycho but this one really pushed the limits and when someone wants revenge nothing will stop them.
As always Marsons does short chapters which I need as my concentration is all over the place and she has a knack for pulling you in from the opening pages. We see a few characters from previous books and Kim is pushed to new limits when she needs to go against everything she knows that gets results. Kim never gives her own safety a second thought, that of her team always but this time Kim knows she is the sought after prize and must adhere to the bosses rules.
We see an emotive side to Kim, she generally is a closed book and keeps her emotions locked up but when you can't do the thing you normally do and high pressure I feel we got a glimpse of a different side.
Warning, the prologue will pull you in, give you palps and for us a AW HELL NAW - so clear your schedule for going in because you won't want to put it down. Pacey, shocking, one very sick and twisted individual who thinks nothing of human torture in fact really gets off on it so a wee bit squeamish reading some scenes, more of the what done than super graphic details, 5/5 for us and as always we very much look forward to the next book!