Reviews

Dark and disturbing with a narrative pace that made the book hard to put down, this was a quite good conclusion to the fairly loose trilogy of thrillers set in Exmoor.

sfoster2309's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

meg_ray's review against another edition

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3.0

I haven't read the previous books by Belinda Bauer, and at times I felt I should have to understand some references to previous books. It was however perfectly fine as a standalone, but after reading Finders Keepers I don't feel a sense of urgency to read the other 2 books Bauer has written.

The story begins when a teenager is terrifyingly snatched from her father's car, with only a post it note left behind on the steering wheel. 'You don't love her.'

However young Jess Took is the first of many children who begin to disappear, with only a note left behind telling worried parents they don't love their children. The press begin to call whoever is behind the kidnappings the Pier Piper, and the police have no straws to clutch at.

I had high hopes for this book, and I must admit I have high standards when it comes to the crime thriller genre these days, but this book failed to excite me for the most part. It did have its moments, but I found a lot of parts quite boring and it made the book as a whole distinctly average. I suppose it doesn't help for me that Bauer "hints" relatively early on as to who is behind the kidnappings and I then spent the rest of the time waiting for it to cut to this person for the inevitable close-knit ending.

Overall I found it quite average, though certain parts were quite gruesome which kept me interested.

andrew61's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

An enjoyable finale to the trilogy that has taken me some time to finish. The book brings Stephen (the boy from bk 1) and Jonas (police officer from bk 2) together in a plot that focuses on the snatching of children from cars with cryptic post it notes left behind saying 'you don't love them ' .
The writing is well plotted with interesting characters, although this Devon village certainly seems blighted by ill fortune so not a great advert for local tourism.
Definitely going to try more by belinda bauer.