Day: September 23, 2021

I think it is admirable when an author has a well-liked series but decides to give something else a try. It’s easy to stay with the familiar, and much harder to strike out in a new direction, because you run the risk of alienating a fan base.

The author has a popular crime-thriller series (Gina Harte), but this is a standalone novel is part crime thriller, part psych thriller. Wisely, the heroine in this novel is quite the opposite of Gina, which is one reason I think this is a successful attempt.

Marissa experienced a horrific event when she was a child and then was put in another awful situation. This has essentially laid the course of her life. She blends in, is invisible, and prefers not to be noticed. However, somebody has been paying closer attention to her than she knows…and that’s not good.

Especially when people connected to Marissa start turning up dead. And she has no real memories of the time frames when the crimes occurred.

This book almost ends up being more of a psychological twist on the reader than on the characters. I thought the author did a great job of making Marissa non-descript to the point where she almost was invisible. That’s how I think she saw herself, but it’s also how I took her in the bigger picture.

There are periodic flashback chapters from various past events in Marissa’s life as well. At first, they seem to be unrelated or simple background for her character, but as the plot picks up, the reader sees that there is more to them than meets the eye.

I don’t want to say too much more because of my dislike of plot spoilers. Let’s just say that everything happens for a reason in this book. Sometimes there are red herrings or false leads. I really didn’t get any of those because ones that seemed like it, well….

Yeah, I’m thisclose to giving something away.

But as Marissa uncovers the secrets of her past, the reader will start to see where things are connected. And just when you think both you and Marissa have things figured out, you probably don’t.

I enjoyed this book by letting it just take me for the ride. I would recommend it to anyone willing to do the same.   

Author Bio

Carla started writing more seriously ten years ago after having flirted with musical theatre and occasional writing in her youth.

Since then she has written & produced several stage plays, has four self-published books, has acted in several independent films and is currently in the final stages of production of her feature horror film, Penny for the Guy.

She now writes full time as well as co-owning a film, photography & video production company located in the heart of Redditch town centre.