fbpx

Digital Reads Reviews

This post contains affiliate links for products and services I recommend. If you make a purchase through those links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

My review

Having read other books by this author, this book falls short of my expectations. The story goes thus, Kirstie, a new mother with a 6 month old daughter, hears voices on the baby monitor — Let’s take the child and go.

Thinking it to be someone kidnapping her child, she rushes in and finds her daughter safe. But she is unable to let go of this matter. Cops are called, neighbors are suspected, husband thinks wife has gone mad, Kirstie becomes paranoid, develops OCD, locking the doors and windows all through the book, there is doubt cast on everyone. This happens for nearly 3/4th of the book.

The story picks its pace in the last 1/3rd. There are twists and explanations. Secrets are revealed and the story ends. And then there is the epilogue, which is both too much and too less, and I found it incongruous. It just added to the shock factor without adding anything to the story.

I read the book in a few hours, but was way disappointed. The story lacked pizzazz, all I read was Kirstie feeling scared, anxious, paranoid, sure that her daughter was going to be kidnapped. That went on for quite some chapters. I kept on waiting for things to happen in this book, but nothing really did. I didn’t like any of the characters in the book, and I was shocked that I couldn’t connect with the main character Kirstie.

The author Shalini Boland does have the talent to make us readers feel the emotions. I did feel all what the main character felt, the anxiety, the helplessness, and the paranoia. The haunting and the suspicious aura of the neighbours and the cul-de-sac added to the plot and Kirstie’s doubts. So the settings add flavor to the story.

This is an easy and fast read, the story starts well, falls short in the middle, and the ending is okay. The story is entertaining but definitely not a psychological thriller.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Bookouture, and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating : 3.5 stars

About the Author

Shalini Boland lives in Dorset, England, with her husband and two noisy boys. Before kids, she was signed to Universal Music Publishing as a singer/songwriter, but now she spends her days writing suspense thrillers and dark adventures.

Book blurb

Kirstie Rawlings is jolted awake by a child crying. Racing upstairs to check on her new-born, she is plunged into every parents’ worst nightmare. She hears an unknown voice in the baby monitor, saying: ‘Let’s take the child – and go.’

Is someone trying to steal her little girl?

In the bedroom, her daughter is safe asleep in her cot. Is the voice coming from a nearby house? But there aren’t any other children living on her quiet country road. The police don’t believe her. And neither does her husband.

Kirstie knows something isn’t right. She thought she could trust her neighbours, now she isn’t sure. Because someone is hiding a terrible lie. And they will do anything to stop Kirstie uncovering the truth. But is the danger closer to home than she thinks?

Product Details

Publication date : 27th March, 2018

Publisher : Bookouture

Language : English

Available on Amazon

Suspenseful mind games

29 Responses

    1. I am in the minority, everyone has liked it with 5 stars. But I kept on waiting for something to happen which would say psychological thriller and the book got over. But her previous book the secret mother was very good.

          1. Yeah, that’s how I felt about a book that continues to get rave reviews. Oh well. I can’t change my mind about it. I definitely wanted more!!

Awesome to see you here. Let's chat.

Digital Reads Media/ Reviews blog is featured on 

KINDLEPRENEUR

New Books Alert

Click on the cover

always amy
June 21, 2023
reckless
June 1, 2023

Authors, if you would like to have your books mentioned in my newsletter and post, kindly contact me here.

If, after subscribing to my newsletter, you would like to put your books for review, then the link is here

Send me the details of your book so that I could have them on the sidebar and in my newsletter

Before you go, subscribe to the newsletter

February – March Giveaway – 1 Amazon GC US$5

%d bloggers like this: