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jsberick's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
This was the first mystery I read that took place in New Zealand, so that was fun. I really liked our main characters. They were so open with their thoughts with the reader. I also enjoyed the killer reveal. I hope there’s more to come.
alanadcr's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
tinaha083's review against another edition
4.0
4.25 STARS!!!!!
I’m not really sure why people are calling this a thriller. This isn’t a thriller. This is a good, whodunit, mystery/police procedural. Anahera returns home to her remote village eight years after running away from family secrets. A young girl goes missing in an eerily similar way that some other women have gone missing. A cop with a past, who’s escaped to this remote area to hide from said past, is there to investigate in a town full of secrets. Secrets, secrets, and more secrets. The town is rife with them. Everyone is hiding something and, in the fashion of small towns, they don’t let the outsiders in. So our cop, Will, turns to Anahera for help.
I really liked Ana and Will. Their interactions as two people struggling with self-disillusionment and anger really worked for me. I enjoyed the multitude of characters, from Miriama, our missing girl, to Josie, our heroines best friend. Singh managed to craft a believable small town claustrophobia, complete with nosiness and gossip, while dealing with the subjects of grief, loss, wildness, and what home is. For a first attempt at a mystery, she did really well.
The setting plays a role all on its own. It’s beautiful, but treacherous. Welcoming, but destructive. A place for tourists to go and experience nature at the same time being a place where tourists go and don’t make it home. You feel the spray of the sea, the slipperiness of the rocks, the thorns and density of the bush. It lives all on its own.
The mystery itself was predictable in some ways but that didn’t stop me enjoying finding out the whys and wherefores and the how. This is common in seasoned mystery readers. Anyone who is one will see some of it from miles off, but miss other things entirely. Which I did.
In short, this was fun. Dark, disturbing, and a couple of times just plain creepy, but fun to read. I’ll definitely be checking out any other mysteries she chooses to write.
I’m not really sure why people are calling this a thriller. This isn’t a thriller. This is a good, whodunit, mystery/police procedural. Anahera returns home to her remote village eight years after running away from family secrets. A young girl goes missing in an eerily similar way that some other women have gone missing. A cop with a past, who’s escaped to this remote area to hide from said past, is there to investigate in a town full of secrets. Secrets, secrets, and more secrets. The town is rife with them. Everyone is hiding something and, in the fashion of small towns, they don’t let the outsiders in. So our cop, Will, turns to Anahera for help.
I really liked Ana and Will. Their interactions as two people struggling with self-disillusionment and anger really worked for me. I enjoyed the multitude of characters, from Miriama, our missing girl, to Josie, our heroines best friend. Singh managed to craft a believable small town claustrophobia, complete with nosiness and gossip, while dealing with the subjects of grief, loss, wildness, and what home is. For a first attempt at a mystery, she did really well.
The setting plays a role all on its own. It’s beautiful, but treacherous. Welcoming, but destructive. A place for tourists to go and experience nature at the same time being a place where tourists go and don’t make it home. You feel the spray of the sea, the slipperiness of the rocks, the thorns and density of the bush. It lives all on its own.
The mystery itself was predictable in some ways but that didn’t stop me enjoying finding out the whys and wherefores and the how. This is common in seasoned mystery readers. Anyone who is one will see some of it from miles off, but miss other things entirely. Which I did.
In short, this was fun. Dark, disturbing, and a couple of times just plain creepy, but fun to read. I’ll definitely be checking out any other mysteries she chooses to write.
bookfortbuilder's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
sionna's review against another edition
3.0
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own*
While I enjoyed this book, I can't say I was fully invested. The pages flew by, but I didn't completely care about the outcome? It was a weird feeling to say the least.
And yet, the mystery had me mostly in the dark and the different characters with their different perspectives did add to the story. The writing is flawless and it was interesting reading a book set in a different country (this took me a while to get, but totally made sense).
Do I recommend this one? If you like mysteries, suspense, romantic suspense -- this is totally a book you should pick up.
While I enjoyed this book, I can't say I was fully invested. The pages flew by, but I didn't completely care about the outcome? It was a weird feeling to say the least.
And yet, the mystery had me mostly in the dark and the different characters with their different perspectives did add to the story. The writing is flawless and it was interesting reading a book set in a different country (this took me a while to get, but totally made sense).
Do I recommend this one? If you like mysteries, suspense, romantic suspense -- this is totally a book you should pick up.
kateycakee's review against another edition
Didn't enjoy it. Reading it felt like homework
winding_detour's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is the first thriller by my favorite author Nalini Singh. She usually writes romance, but she really knocked this out of the park.
The air of unease that permeates the whole read was great. It really had me questioning the intentions of every character you meet. Perhaps the killer should have been obvious but I am new to the genre and the book kept me guessing the entire time.
The air of unease that permeates the whole read was great. It really had me questioning the intentions of every character you meet. Perhaps the killer should have been obvious but I am new to the genre and the book kept me guessing the entire time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, and Pregnancy
sleepytimebooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
raelovestoread's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this. A competent thriller set in an atmospheric cove. A missing girl, a whole village-full of awful menfolk, a couple of spiky central characters with baggage who can't wait to get it on... the elements were all there.
This book took me back to my early 20s when I'd just rediscovered reading and was reconnecting with the world of books through a sequence of mediocre-to-excellent thrillers. I liked the out of the way setting, the introduction of plenty suspects and the short, choppy chapters.
It took a while for things to get going. There was a lot of procedural searching at the beginning that didn't yield much juicy clue-age and I found most of the characters to be a bit two-dimensional. I found myself wavering between 3 and 4 stars right to the end.
What swung it for me was the fact that the ending I had thought up in my head and was expecting was more exciting and twisty than the actual ending. It wrapped up OK, but felt like a bit of a let down.
Still, not a bad first thriller.
This book took me back to my early 20s when I'd just rediscovered reading and was reconnecting with the world of books through a sequence of mediocre-to-excellent thrillers. I liked the out of the way setting, the introduction of plenty suspects and the short, choppy chapters.
It took a while for things to get going. There was a lot of procedural searching at the beginning that didn't yield much juicy clue-age and I found most of the characters to be a bit two-dimensional. I found myself wavering between 3 and 4 stars right to the end.
What swung it for me was the fact that the ending I had thought up in my head and was expecting was more exciting and twisty than the actual ending. It wrapped up OK, but felt like a bit of a let down.
Still, not a bad first thriller.