A roller-coaster of a read. This starts with a kidnapping and a lot of questions and continues through the London underworld and a lot of lies. The race is on to rescue the kidnapped girl but the question is whether or not she's still alive and who was involved in the kidnap.

It's not a bad read but I really didn't connect with any of the characters. The only character I cared for was Emma, the victim. The story did keep the tension going and I wasn't sure what was going to happen until the end. It took me a while to get into it as well but when I got into it the pages flew. ( )

Having only read one other Kernick novel (Relentess) I was hoping for more of the same. Whilst this followed the same fast paced action, it was ten times better! The pages raced by as I started chapter after chapter, not wanting to put it down. I kept making guesses as to who was involved, thinking I’d sussed it out only to find my theories were completely blown out of the water.

Unlike ‘Relentless’ this feels more realistic. There are still a few aspects of the plot that I don’t feel were tied up very well but as with most crime thrillers it’s easy to establish the crime rather than draw it to a close at times. Having said that, I felt completely satisfied when I closed the covers. Almost every character has a secret, but is it a secret connected to the disappearance of fourteen year-old Emma?

With only 48 hours to raise the money her mother, Andrea Devern, pulls out all the stops. She contacts the only person she feels she can turn to but at what cost? As revealed on the blurb, Andrea’s husband Pat is also missing; at exactly the same time as her daughter. Therefore we have another clever point to consider – could Pat be involved in her daughter’s abduction? It really is a nightmare world to be in and Andrea is constantly at the centre of this hell as it unfolds over the course of a few days.

I can’t wait to go on and read Kernick’s other novels. I already own ‘Severed’ but I’ll certainly be acquiring his other novels. His writing is consistent with him being able to maintain the pace he establishes at the outset; for me this is crucial in a novel that takes place over a short space of time. There was no point where I wanted to put this book down. ( )