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My review 

There are two ways to be fooled, one is to believe what isn’t true, other is to refuse to believe what is true

The book starts with these beautiful lines, which immediately made me feel I am in for a thrilling ride, with mysteries untold and secrets unsaid. 

Rebecca’s husband, Chris is missing since the past four months, 112days and so is a teenager Kayleigh from the town of Shawmouth. Both disappeared on the same day, at the same time… Together?? 

The dirty insinuations by the people and the police investigation in that direction, the shock of her husband running away with a girl not even fifteen, caused Rebecca to have a nervous breakdown and she spent the first month in a daze, under medication, in bed. To escape the violence against her, she moves out of her house, rents a caravan and slowly after four months, starts her own investigation. Her search for the truth leads to shady localities, unsavoury characters, nasty school kids and the dark underbelly of the town. 

Sarah Wray has written the book in good English, with minimum swear words. There are unexpected happenings leading to shocking endings. Her flow of the story is a little different than what a normal psychological thriller ought to be. 

There are sporadic moments in the book which are sensitive, Rebecca’s visits to her mother who is at a care facility, her persistence inspite of opposition, her belief in her husband, her intentions are appreciated. Rebecca’s investigative methods are different but they lead to results at the end of the book, barring a few details which are not explained.  

There are few niggles I have to mention here

If the author’s intention was for me to get irritated, yes she succeeded. If she wanted me to read the book real fast, without enjoying, yes she succeeded… 

Rebecca just drinks and drinks and drinks and then wonders why she gets irritated fast and why her reactions are slow.. I just have one thing to say to that..  duh  

Just keeping a watch on a shady pizza place and needling school girls and then, coming back to drink is not investigation. 
A thirty five year old woman, getting bullied by a bunch of fourteen year old school kids and then hiding in her caravan is not investigation… Grow a backbone, woman… 

I wonder what genre this book aims for, its just blehhh. In 60% of the book, Rebecca has gone nowhere. She manages to irritate all her friends, become paranoid, lose her job, owe a huge credit card debt (her husband has a gambling debt), and yet have money to DRINK. 

Can I emphasize on drink more???? 

How is this a psychological thriller, it just ended up killing my thrill psyche and I couldn’t read this book fast enough for all the wrong reasons. 

I agree that what happened to Rebecca was horrible, she was collateral damage in a deed which had nothing to do with her and anyone in her position would lose hope and drink but this is fiction not a true incident book. There has got to be a strength in the main character. Pulling herself out of a difficult situation and turning her life around, thereby clearing her husband’s name would have made this book a better reading. 

If the author Sarah Wray has wanted to show the rising of the Phoenix, with the main character, then she has not done it, at least not with this book. This psychological thriller does not thrill only kills my brain cells. 
My rating : 2 stars 

About the Author 

Sarah Wray lives in Belfast with her husband and three children. She has a degree in Genetics from Belfast University and has worked as a medical research lab technician, a child-minder, a science teacher and has done voluntary work with disabled children. Her first children’s novel, The Forbidden Room, beat thousands of other entries to win the nationwide Wow Factor competition, and was long-listed for the 2008 CLIP Carnegie Medal. Reported Missing is her debut in the thriller genre. 
Book blurb 

Four months ago, Rebecca Pendle’s husband disappeared. So did 14-year-old Kayleigh Jackson.

Just a coincidence? Rebecca wants to believe so… But as the police start to draw parallels between Chris and Kayleigh, it’s getting harder for her to trust his innocence. Faced with an angry town that believes Chris has abducted the teenager, Rebecca tries to discover the truth.

But what she finds shocks her more than she ever thought. How well does she really know the man she loves? 

Product Details 

Publication date : 14th July 2017

Publisher : Bookouture 

Language : English 

Available on Amazon 

A book which does not thrill



95 Responses

    1. Yeah the cover and book blurb looked so interesting I thought I would love it. But she drinks so much that it kills my brain cells. Why would an author who writes children’s books write this way, I wonder.
      Parts of book are good. Real story is ok, nothing earth moving.. But i hated the main character. Wanted to slap her to make her face the reality

      Reply

        1. Oh yes, I don’t like violence and I wanted to slap her hard and wake her up… I want to know how the author justifies such a character

          Reply

  5. I enjoyed reading this review! Well, I don’t what to make of the book itself, but I could tell how strongly and vehemently you dislike drinking lol

    Reply

    1. Hahahaha I like drinking in moderation but this babe is drinking on every page and she mixes her drink. I dread thinking about the state of her liver. 😂😂

      Reply

      1. I drink in moderation, too! I used to love the feelings when I get tipsy – how everything feels uplifting and fun, but now I’d rather not drink. I only drink when I’m out with my friends.

        Reply

        1. Hahaha I thought so too. Jay she mixes her drinks beer with vodka with whisky and some cheap stuff and then she has a hangover the next day, she is irritable then goes to have more alcohol in the evening. Her liver must be floating in alcohol…

          Reply

          2. Hahaha… I stopped alcohol 7 years ago.. And I used to have 30ml vodka once or twice a year… Suddenly lost taste for it… 😂😂

          3. once or twice a year? hmmm… maybe you needed a different liquor.

            I’m doing a 30 day cleanse of sorts with it… will have a drink once or twice a week, but not my normal 10+… should make a nice little change in my metabolism!

        2. Hahaha she takes liquor then pukes then again imbibes … I got a hangover reading the same thing. And the author has described every day’s drinking. It took me 3 days to finish the book. Imagine that

          Reply

  9. I only gave this one 2.5 myself. My excitement in the beginning came from reading something similar in the news which had me thinking the book will be great…. it quickly died out though as I got into the story. 😦

    Reply

    1. I was excited in the beginning then the rest was pretty bad. I did not understand the author’s concept of a strong woman… She should stick to children’s books. I gave 2 stars for the first two lines and her English. There were no colloquial terms that I did not understand. That’s about it.

      Reply

      1. Definitely not my idea of a strong woman… but I felt the story just wasn’t there, spent the whole book waiting for something to happen then a rushed here you go at the end.

        Reply

          6. Yeah, very.. If i am not then when does more end. It’s never ending but happiness is in the today in the now

  15. I read this review several days ago but my phone and I were having problems working together. :). I wanted to tell you how much I loved the way you wrote about the book in general and how I was really cracking up when you were discussing your irritation with certain elements. It was so amusing.

    Also I forgot to tell you that I finished Sometimes I Lie. It was such a good book, and I definitely didn’t expect it to go where it did. The only thing that left a bad taste in my mouth was the very very end. It.was like she tried to hard to create something that would linger, but the story itself didn’t back that up. Did you like the ending of that one?

    Reply

    1. I think she left it ambiguous so that it generates more publicity. I liked the book Jo. But I like most books where women are strong even if they are mean..

      Reply

      1. I did, too. I just didn’t think that she left enough room for ambiguity to justify the ending. And definitely yes on the strong women in books (and life!).

        Reply

    2. Everyone came to know I hate drinking. Hahaha. I don’t mind the drinks Jo. But it’s not doing anything that gets me.. Going into debt scares the heck out of me… This one was living in a shitty caravan and drinking and going to meet shifty people.. Hahaha so I had to blast her…

      Reply

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