#BookReview The Girl Who Was Taken by Charlie Donlea @CharlieDonlea @KensingtonBooks

The Girl Who Was Taken by Charlie Donlea
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nicole Cutty and Megan McDonald are both high school seniors in the small town of Emerson Bay, North Carolina. When they disappear from a beach party one warm summer night, police launch a massive search. No clues are found, and hope is almost lost until Megan miraculously surfaces after escaping from a bunker deep in the woods.

A year later, the bestselling account of her ordeal has turned Megan from local hero to national celebrity. It s a triumphant, inspiring story, except for one inconvenient detail: Nicole is still missing. Nicole's older sister Livia, a fellow in forensic pathology, expects that one day soon Nicole's body will be found, and it will be up to someone like Livia to analyze the evidence and finally determine her sister's fate. Instead, the first clue to Nicole's disappearance comes from another body that shows up in Livia's morgue that of a young man connected to Nicole's past. Livia reaches out to Megan for help, hoping to learn more about the night the two were taken. Other girls have gone missing too, and Livia is increasingly certain the cases are connected.

But Megan knows more than she revealed in her blockbuster book. Flashes of memory are coming together, pointing to something darker and more monstrous than her chilling memoir describes. And the deeper she and Livia dig, the more they realize that sometimes true terror lies in finding exactly what you've been looking for.

**********

Confession, Summit Lake was not a favorite book of mine. However, I did feel that that book was good enough for me to wanna try another of Charlie Donlea's books and I'm glad I did because The Girl Who Was Taken is great!

First I want to say that I don't get really surprised that much nowadays when I read thrillers, at least it feels like that. I often have a hunch about what will happen, so getting totally taken by surprise is rare. Which makes this book a delicious treat because the last part truly pulled the rug out under my feet. I had several suspects in my head, but I was wrong. So wrong. And, that thrilled me!

Secondly, Livia, the older sister of Nicole that was taken is a marvelous character, she's a fellow in forensic pathology, and she is expecting to one day find her sister on the slab. And, when a body shows up that is connected to Nicole can she perhaps find answers and peace. I liked her storyline the most, not that the Megan's is bad or the flashbacks to when Nicole and Megan were taken. But, following Livia, as she discovers more and more about what happened that night is truly great.

Now, I will leave it to this. The book is great, and I don't want to give ANYTHING away. Instead, just read it!

I want to thank Kensington Books for providing me with free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

Summit Lake by Charlie Donlea

Summit Lake by Charlie Donlea
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Star reporter Kelsey Castle travels to Summit Lake in North Carolina to write an article about Becca Eckersley who was murdered in her parents home 2 weeks earlier. Is the police trying to cover up the murder and if so why? Kelsey must find out the truth...

**********

I initially gave this book three stars, but there are just some things that bothered me quite a lot. Things with the story that just didn't make sense. I will come to them later on, but first will I say that the book was not all bad, it was easy to read, the flashback story of Becca Eckersley, as we get to know her before she was murdered was quite good. I like Becca and it made me sad reading about her and knowing her fate. So, part of me enjoyed reading the book, but part of me was also a bit frustrated.

There are some things with the story that for me just didn't work out. Like for instance why the police didn't manage to figure it out by themselves? I mean it was not that puzzling case and if they just would have interviewed her close friends would they quickly have solved it. And, having a journalist receiving classified documents and information from the chief of the police and a doctor? Come one. A man that has worked 40 years as police would just hand over classified material to a journalist because he has been taken from the case? Because apparently there is a cover up? Why? There was no reason for a cover up, no explanation to why there even should be a cover up. Why would her father have tried to cover up his daughter's brutal murder? She hadn't done anything wrong. It felt more like incompetence than a cover up.

Then we have the thing that I can believe for a second any normal person would do. Keep an important secret after a person has been murdered. I mean I can understand if a priest couldn't talk. But, it was just not believable that an ordinary person would keep evidence. "I have in my had something that could help the police catch the killer, I will hide that". What?

Then we have the fact that the main characters, star reporter Kelsey Castle have returned to work after she's been on leave for a couple of weeks because as we learn during the progress of the story she was assaulted. And, I would guess that a woman would be quite traumatized by this. But, she has some bad moments now and then, but no biggie since the doctor is oh so nice. What? After an experience like that would someone need therapy, but she bounced back to work after a month on leave because she was tired of sitting at home doing nothing. And, she has no problem meeting a man after this. I'm sorry, I haven't been assaulted like she was in this book, but I'm sure it would make an impact on me.

Last, but not the least, the twist in the end. Which wasn't that big of a twist. I thought in the beginning of the book that it would be too easy if that person was the killer. Guess what? Yes, despite the author's brave attempt to throw out some red herrings was the ending not really surprising.

There we have it, the things that really bothered me, at least, the things that I remembered. And, that's just too bad because part of me enjoyed reading the book. But, there were just too many things that just didn't make sense, or made me annoyed.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!