This is a slow burning thriller but a very, very easy read and it didn’t take me long to get through it at all. Following a really interesting and mysterious prologue, there are 2 timelines to follow, the past from the POV of Luke (a young boy in a care home) and the present from the POV of Wren (a probation officer),

I honestly couldn’t get along with the characters, the plot kept me engaged but I just didn’t like them. I found Wren annoying and unprofessional, as with any crime thriller, the character prioritises their work over family but she was just not a good person in my opinion.
I also found Luke to me a nightmare and despite his good intentions, I didn’t like him one bit.

The plot was really engaging, kept me on my toes despite the speed. I did guess a key point very early on but there was a lot more that I didn’t guess but which in my opinion, were more minor in the storyline.

So all things considered this was a pretty good book BUT I did guess a major plot line and that’s subsequently dragged my rating down. I don’t like to be able to guess a plot line, I want it to be so woven into the story that I can’t figure it out and all my guesses are wrong. Likewise, I really like character driven novels so when I can’t connect with them, it’s harder to enjoy it.

I did think that it wrapped up really nicely and definitely enjoyed it, well worth a read and hopefully, not as easily figured out as it was for me!

Thank you to Serpents Tail/Viper Books and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!