Stolen Ones by Angela Marsons

Stolen Ones by Angela Marsons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1.5 days

Pages - 324

Publisher - Bookouture

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

25 years ago he took a girl. Today he takes another.
One August afternoon, eight-year-old Grace Lennard skips into the garden of the childcare centre she attends and vanishes into thin air.

Hours before, Steven Harte walks into Halesowen police station and confesses to having information that will lead Detective Kim Stone to Melody Jones – the little girl who was taken from a playground exactly twenty-five years ago. But something about his confession is off and Kim dismisses his claims.

Arriving at the scene of Grace’s disappearance, Kim finds a chilling piece of evidence: the heart bracelet belonging to Melody. Now Kim must play Steven’s twisted game if she is to find Grace alive. But they’re going to play by Kim’s rules.

With only twenty-four hours to make every second of Steven’s interrogation count, and scan his behaviour for hidden clues, Kim and her team soon link Steven to the abduction of several vulnerable girls – two were kept for a year and then released, unharmed – but where are Melody and the others?

Then small bones are discovered in the grounds of a local park, and Kim fears the worst.

Kim may be close to convicting a killer, but there’s another who wants revenge against her – Dr Alex Thorne – the evil woman Kim did her best to keep behind bars. Alex is about to reveal a shocking secret to Kim that will hit her where it hurts the most. And if Kim lets Alex mess with her head, she might not be able to save Grace and find the other missing girls in time.

An edge-of-your-seat thriller that will leave your heart in your mouth. You will be totally hooked on the utterly addictive, number one, multi-million-copy bestselling Detective Kim Stone series.


My Review

Book fifteen guys! If you haven't read the others you should because 1. They are fab and 2. There is a huge backstory, the team have been through a ton. However you could read this as a standalone but as we see characters from previous stories and they are epic anyway, go read them.

Stone is on the case, a child goes missing from a public place and it looks like she hasn't been the only one, this has happened before. When Steve Harte, millionaire, walks into the police station voluntarily, hinting at knowing about child disappearances, teasing clues/information about an old missing child case. Stone has no time for his crap, she has a kid missing and an old case has no bearing on this or does it? When kids disappear, when crimes happen folk often say they have information, the admit to know, they know stuff so Stone has no time for Harte's nonsense and all Harte wants is to talk to Stone, tell what he knows, under his conditions.....

So this is different, we know a kid is missing, taken and someone rocks up to the police, wanting Stone and hinting at knowing stuff. It isn't often we have a potential bad guy coming into the cops espesh at the beginning so you immediately distrust what he is projecting and we, along with Stone have to go at his pace to see if he knows anything. Plus we have the investigation into the kid and if that isn't enough the B*TCH is back. Crack pot Alex since her arrest has never been able to quite let go of Stone and now she is reaching out, why now?

I love that we have two parts if you like, the investigation/Harte and Alex. Alex is the kind of character you love to hate, I mean she is a sicko who will use any and all people and means to get what she needs and just to entertain herself.

This book takes us in new directions, cat and mouse and you don't really know what is the end game, sometimes you can work out where the book is going. From the kidnap side I had no idea and Alex always keeps you on your toes. Page turner as always - suspense, shocking behaviors from some of the characters, twists, turns - you name it - you will be entertained as always and kept going from the start. Marsons always delivers that, when we were on the investigation I wanted more Alex, when on Alex I wanted to know what was happening with Stone and the team. 4.5/5 for me this time, I cannot wait for the next installment.

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The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 304

Publisher - Bantam Press

Blurb from Goodreads

Fast-paced and addictive, THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR announces a major new talent in thriller writing.

You never know what's happening on the other side of the wall.

Your neighbour told you that she didn't want your six-month-old daughter at the dinner party. Nothing personal, she just couldn't stand her crying.

Your husband said it would be fine. After all, you only live next door. You'll have the baby monitor and you'll take it in turns to go back every half hour.

Your daughter was sleeping when you checked on her last. But now, as you race up the stairs in your deathly quiet house, your worst fears are realized. She's gone.

You've never had to call the police before. But now they're in your home, and who knows what they'll find there.

What would you be capable of, when pushed past your limit?



My Review

You are feeling unattractive, tired and your six month old baby is clearly not welcome at your beautiful thin bubbly neighbours dinner invite. Your husband wants to go and talks you into using a monitor and regular checks on the baby, you reluctantly agree. When you get home the door is open, the baby is gone and you have no idea how this could have happened. This is what happens to Anne, Marco her husband is beside himself. Anne is going to be judged, it is almost the McCann's happening in a small neighbourhood. The detective is checking up on everyone and we all have our secrets we want to keep!

Oooh this is a great page turner, we build up an atmosphere between Anne and her husband, her husband and flirty neighbour the beautiful Cynthia. The evening ends quickly and there in begins the real story, the baby is gone, the investigation begins. All of our characters have secrets, who doesn't as the police investigation continues we learn more about each character. I suspected everything and everyone but didn't really see where the story was going. A decent pace, lots of themes that I can't really specify without giving away parts of the story and I never do spoiler reviews.

It is a story that gets you thinking, how well do you know anyone around you, how easy your life can change with one bad decision. This was my first time reading this author, I would absolutely read her again, 4/5 for me this time.

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