Two people are abducted, imprisoned, and left with a gun. As hunger and thirst set in, only one walks away alive.It’s a game more twisted than any Detective Helen Grace has ever seen. If she hadn’t spoken with the shattered survivors herself, she almost wouldn’t believe them.Helen is familiar with the dark sides of human nature, including her own, but this case—with its seemingly random victims—has her baffled. But as more people go missing, nothing will be more terrifying than when it all starts making sense....
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Arlidge is a UK author and his books have only been making their way over here in recent months. I first heard this book starting to pick up buzz just a few months back. It felt like it was getting that "highly anticipated" feel around it but then it seemed to drop off book radar almost as suddenly. I found myself still curious about the story though, so when I came across an ARC for it, I jumped at the chance to see what everyone was getting hyped about!
First off, always interesting to lead in with a female serial killer, because you just don't see that come up that often.Then, the more I read of her, the more I was thinking "huh, this lady reminds me a lot of Jigsaw from the Saw movies." I like the style of the short chapters -- I think with this kind of story, that helps keep the pace quick -- but as the story progressed the intensity seemed to slack a bit, the scenes where it could have been written very dramatically with a strong amount of tension, just felt rushed. As did the ending. I think my issue with this story is that many elements weren't explored enough. It is introduced that Helen, the emotionally tormented detective, uses BDSM as a way to try to expel her inner demons but I didn't feel like I got to know her that well to really feel her struggle enough to emotionally impact me. There are only brief glimpses to explain that she grew up in an abusive home with drug addict parents. Now she only has meaningless, quick hookups with men, no serious relationships. As an adult, it's also briefly explained (and I mean, like a sentence or two briefly) that Helen has to keep working to keep the voices at bay, but again, that character trait is not all that well developed.
The characters were interesting, but I didn't feel like they had quite enough depth to keep me gripped to their storylines. While reading, I do remember thinking that this had potential to be a pretty good crime movie though, and then sure enough on Goodreads I read in Arlidge's bio that he is a tv producer specializing in "prime time crime serials" for UK television!
If you like this Helen Grace thriller and are eager for more, Helen returns in Pop Goes The Weasel and The Doll's House.
Note To U.S. Readers: Heads up, this one is a little heavier on the UK slang / terminology (ie. cops are "Detective Inspectors", weight of people given in stones, etc.) but no worries, there are enough contextual clues throughout the storyline, I didn't find it all that difficult to keep up with what was being said or described.
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