Behind Closed Doors by Susan Lewis

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS by Susan Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 382

Publisher - Arrow

Source - Bought

Blurb from Amazon

Don't miss this powerful and suspenseful novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of One Minute Later.

When fourteen-year-old Sophie Monroe suddenly vanishes one night, it looks at first as though she’s run away from home.

Her computer and mobile phone have gone, and she’s taken a bag full of clothes.

As the police investigation unfolds a wealth of secrets from the surrounding community start coming to light. And it seems everyone has something to hide.

For Detective Sergeant Andrea Lawrence, the case is a painful reminder of the tragedy that tore her family apart over twenty years ago. She is convinced there is more to Sophie’s disappearance than teenage rebellion.

But is the past clouding her judgement, preventing her from seeing a truth that neither she, nor Sophie’s family, would ever want to face?


My Review

Sophie is fourteen, living in a caravan style holiday place, seeking attention from boys/men to make up for the lack of attention at home. After a huge row with her stepmom Sophie goes missing, initially felt to be one of her stunts but as time goes on it seems it may not just be a teen acting out, is Sophie in danger? D S Andrea Lawrence is on the case and maybe a little clouded due to having her own sister go missing years ago. Can she remain impartial to get to the bottom of it and find Sophie?

Set in a smallish town, holiday homes/caravans style setting where lots of people have many secrets as the case becomes serious and the cops start digging it seems everyone has something to hide. Focusing on some shady characters, offences relating to under age girls, cover ups, lies, secrets, families, family pressure. It is a melting pot of gossip, scandal and shocking people who seem more interested in their own issues than a young girl going missing.

I think Lewis does well to weave a web of characters, often shady or at least make you question them. Page turner, riveting especially from a nosey stance because you want to know what is going on, what they are hiding and most importantly where is Sophie and can we get her back safetly, 4/5.

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Cut by Marc Raabe

Cut by Marc Raabe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 484

Publisher - Bonnier Zaffre

Source - The works

Blurb from Goodreads

Fast and furious - a stunning thriller debut for fans of Stieg Larsson

A boy is witness to a horrible crime. Decades later, his girlfriend is kidnapped by an insane serial killer. To save her, he must return to the events of the past. But how can he remember when forgetting was the only way to survive?

Gabriel's job as security guard takes him to a derelict mansion in Berlin late at night. The obscure scene there reminds him of the most terrible night of his life - the night his parents died. Soon after, he receives a desperate call. His pregnant girlfriend Liz is being attacked and cries for help. Gabriel alerts the police but they arrive too late. Liz has disappeared without a trace. The hunt for her turns into a frantic chase against time. The terrifying man from the past has returned and will not stop until Gabriel is completely destroyed.



My Review

Gabriel has a thing about basements, witnessing something as a child he now has a deep fear and would rather not go in. When he does a favour for a work colleague he finds himself facing his fears, getting caught up in a cat and mouse game and if that isn't enough his girlfriend has been kidnapped. Gabriel finds himself the focus of the police in a murder investigation as well as a psychopath, in order to find his lady he needs to address memories he has long kept suppressed.

The story splits between Gabriel and what is going on with him and Liz, before she is kidnapped, during and what comes next. Quite a lot of the book is suspense and you are engaged enough to keep turning the pages, I wanted to know what was coming next. However I did find some aspects of the book frustrating, some of the characters actions and behaviours. However, many have absolutely loved this book, I enjoyed it but didn't love it. It does keep the readers on their toes as I couldn't work out the why or what they were going to do next. 3/5 for me this time, I would read this author again but I won't be rushing out to find their other work.

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Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 4 days

Publisher - Harper Torch

Pages - 416

Blurb from Goodreads

All the creatures of the night gather in "the Hollows" of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party... and to feed.

Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining - and it's Rachel Morgan's job to keep that world civilized.

A bounty hunter and witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she'll bring 'em back alive, dead... or undead.


My Review

To be honest, I am a bit torn with this review, there are things I liked about this tale and things I didn't. Rachel Morgan is our main character, a runner for a company called Inderland Security (I.S.), a supernatural law enforcement agency. She has been given some pretty rubbish cases to chase up and has had enough. However, no one leave the agency by choice as Rachel will soon learn and spends the tale trying to get herself out of the contract that is put upon her head. With the help of Jenks (a fairy) and Ivy (a living vampire) she goes about tackling the task and needing all she has to stay alive.

The book has a mix of everything, even werewolves however, I think because there is so much breadth there wasn't enough depth. Ivy came across as a really interesting character yet she was in the background a lot. The spells seemed interesting enough but again your left with a lot of questions, did I mention, Rachel is a witch. She seems to be a kick butt kind of girl but has a lot of insecurities and makes some very questionable mistakes and impulse choices. Her whole relationship with Ivy confused me as they are colleagues and friends yet there is so much distrust and questionable dialog between them, in fact some of the dialog itself either annoyed me or made me snigger.

I thought the transformation spells and part of the book covering that was really well done but again, some of the interactions and dialog with the characters didn't flow naturally. That said "Go Turn yourself" or "Do you hear me you sodden sack of camel dung? Tag! You're it!". This is what I mean by being torn, some of it irked me and some made me laugh.

I think had the book had a glossary that may have helped a bit too. We know half the population of humans were wiped out by genetic bioengineering which resulted in a virus. Therefore all the species and creatures came out to live amongst humans however there was a lot of questions left for that too, well I had them anyways. An on the fence 3/5 for me this time, I would certainly read more in the series in the hope of getting the answers, hearing more of Ivy and seeing how the story plays out.

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