Blurb: Don't Look
Desperate Mary Grace Winters knew the only way to save herself and her child from her abusive husband was to stage their deaths. Now all that remains of her former life is at the bottom of a lake.
Don't trust
As Caroline Stewart, Mary Grace has almost forgotten the nightmare she left behind nine years ago. Slowly she has learned to believe that her new life, and new identity, is here to stay.
Don't Tell
Then her husband uncovers her hidden trail. Step by step, he's closing in on her and everyone she loves. Now Caroline must decide whether to flee again or whether the time has come to stay and fight...
My review:
First off, this is a book with crazy serious subjects, and it's definitely a shocking book. If you can deal with it, it's an amazing book, if not, you don't want to read it. I read a book of hers which I've reviewed before and when reading it I hadn't realised that it was mid series of novels that linked through characters. So when picking up this one, I slowly came to realise that when Evie spoke about the man who almost killed her, I came to realise that this was explaining that story.
This book, like the other I've read from her, switches point of view to give you a full view of everything going on, you see the criminal & what he does, you see Caroline (the main character & victim) rebuilding her life, and you see all the other bits in between from so many other characters. It surprisingly isn't that hard to follow, you know who's talking, when we've changed setting and all that.
The plot is complex but not confusing, and it's (unfortunately in some parts) believable. You can break it down into three main plots. One, Caroline Stewart having turned her life around & finding love for the first time. Two, the police finding her car that she ran into a lake when she was running away, and investigating what exactly happened. Three, her husband's realisation that she ran away with his son, and his desperation to get his son back & get revenge on his wife. So it chops & changes trying to get the audience to go through each journey & find out what has happened while wondering when the other characters will realise what they already know.
The characters are extremely well developed and you can see the journeys they go through. Because there are so many I'll chose five to talk about. Caroline Stewart/Mary Grace Winters, Rob Winters, Tom Stewart/Robbie Winters, Max Hunter & Steven Thatcher.
Caroline is an amazing character. You see her determination throughout the novel, which (once you read the prologue) you know can't be easy. She will do anything to try and keep herself & her son safe. You can read that in her character and you can see that she's also hiding from who she was. Can't blame her really.
Rob Winters you can't have any sympathy for. He's a hideous character because of what he does, which is job (being part of the police force), you dislike it more. You get snippets from his past to indicate that he was brought up to be like this, so it's sad, but the anger & hate for him makes you forget about that. He isn't given any reason for you to like him as a character so you don't.
Tom Stewart/Robbie Winters is one of the best characters in this book in my opinion. He's fourteen but because of what he's been through, he seems a lot older. And you can see the reasons behind it so it's not something that you think shouldn't fit with his character. It's not like he's just mature for no reason, you know he's gone through a lot and you can see slowly how it's shaped him, made him guarded.
Max Hunter is at one point named as a "pompous, ungrateful, self-pitying sonofabitch" which makes me happy. In no way is he perfect, though he has aspects of perfection, you can also see his flaws, and that's comforting. Though you see him coming in on a white horse, you also see him as a human, with his faults and his pride and all the problems he has. You don't just see his faults, you see why he has the faults and what happened to lead him to where he is now. It's so refreshing to see all the reasons behind it.
And finally Steven Thatcher. He's the guy trying to find out what happened to Mary Grace Winters & her son. You see his family & you see him as a person first before you see him as an officer. You don't see that often so I really liked seeing this officer's backstory when he's not a full time main character.
Overall? If you like crime novels, Karen Rose is a must read author. I never get tired of her characters, her worlds, and the detail she goes into. In truth? Nothing massively exciting and proper happens until about 100 pages from the end, but the tension that she builds as you read the book and see one character realise something, then the next until things are too late is amazing.
Overall Rating- 8 out of 10
Would I read another- Definitely
Anything else- I'm starting to put the names of authors as well as blurbs up so if you like this please tell me and I'll continue to do it, if not tell me again and I'll switch it back.
Thanks for reading guys x.
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