The first hint of trouble comes with an absence. There's no email in Lesley O'Connor's inbox when she looks for a missive from her 18-year-old daughter, Alex. It's alarming because Alex was meant to be contacting her parents to find out her A Level results. It's even more worrisome because Alex and a friend, Rosie Shaw, are supposed to be enjoying an adventure in Thailand. They contact the police to report that the last time they had heard from Alex was when she said she was in Bangkok. Both sets of parents meet with Detectives Bob Sparkes and Zara Salmond to ask for help in contacting the British Embassy in Thailand and reporter Kate Walker soon gets involved in trying to find out what's become of the missing girls. But Kate has her own private concerns -- her own son, Jake, hasn't phoned home much since he bunked off to Phuket after leaving his university studies over 2 years ago. Something is truly amiss in Thailand and this mystery must be solved as worries for the teenagers mount. NO SPOILERS.
What a great story! Told in alternating points of view, the reader hears the voices of Alex, Kate, Bob, and Lesley who describe events in detail as they happen. The shifts in perspective were easy to follow and lent a great deal of tension and suspense to the evolving tale. You can feel the parents' anguish intensify as it all unfolds and you can imagine the frustration experienced by the police and by Kate as they try to find out information from officials on foreign soil. The writing was excellent and I had difficulty in putting the book down as more and worse is revealed. I definitely liked the style in which this was told and just sat quietly as I tried to take it all in after I turned the last page.
I had read the first book in the Kate Waters series and do have the second (which I'll definitely go back to), but I wanted to read this by publication day as I was grateful to NetGalley and Berkley for the e-book ARC to review. This is definitely a book I can recommend as I understand all too well that "protecting our children changes who we are. Who we seem to be."
And lastly, call me overprotective and whatever, but I can honestly say that there's no way on earth I'd let my 18-year-old daughter go off backpacking in Thailand with a girlfriend. Oh yes, I know that bad stuff can happen anywhere -- even in your own backyard -- but it just seems way too risky of a venture.
This is book 3 of a series. I read book #1 and didn't have any issues with missing #2 as far as being able to read as a standalone. I do plan to read #2 shortly as well.
Genre -- a mix of police procedural/crime thriller with a reporter aspect and also family drama
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