Description from Goodreads:
"Her first love confessed to five murders. But the truth was so much worse.
Dublin's notorious Canal Killer, Will Hurley, is ten years into his life sentence when the body of a young woman is fished out of the Grand Canal. Though detectives suspect they are dealing with a copycat, they turn to Will for help. He claims he has the information the police need, but will only give it to one person - the girl he was dating when he committed his horrific crimes.
Alison Smith has spent the last decade abroad, putting her shattered life in Ireland far behind her. But when she gets a request from Dublin imploring her to help prevent another senseless murder, she is pulled back to face the past - and the man - she's worked so hard to forget."
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Not having read anything by this author before, I didn't know what to expect but the blurb intrigued me so I gave it a punt via Jellybooks and, to be honest, I'm glad I did as this is probably a book that would have passed me by.
I'm not going to go into the plot as this is covered in the blurb and, probably, other reviews but I will say that the story is a slow burner building in intensity as it moves on so that it becomes a pretty good thrilling read that kept me engaged until the end ... you just have to be prepared to invest a little time in the beginning to get there.
The characters are well developed and believable; the writing style I liked very much with the majority of the chapters being either from "Alison ... now" and "Alison ... then" with a few being from the killers perspective and it all comes together at the end in a nice little twist.
Overall, a pretty good read and one I would recommend to readers who enjoy a book that doesn't smack you in the face straight away but gently pokes you in the same place every time ... it has the same effect but takes longer to get there.
"Jellybooks is a special treat for book lovers.
We offer free book candy to readers so we can collect data candy for publishers.
Jellybooks discovers the story behind a book, the story of the special relationship between reader and book. We provide free ebooks in exchange for receiving reading data back.
Jellybooks organises these test reading campaigns on behalf of publishers and authors, who are the sponsors of the test reading campaign. Most of the time, we test books that have not yet been published. Each test is different in its own way, but all campaigns are designed to delight you the reader and learn something new about the relationship between reader and book.
Readers do not have to read on the Jellybooks website. Instead they can use a wide range of ebook reading apps for reading the ebooks Jellybooks provides, but a few such as Kindle are not yet supported. The ebooks come with a special piece of software called candy.js that is embedded inside the ebook. This piece of clever technology records reading data such as when readers open the reading app, when they opened or finish a chapter, what device and operating system readers are using, at what time of day they read and much more.
Based on the data readers send us, Jellybooks figures out how many readers finish a book, where they drop off, how fast they finish it, if it is their first or second choice and much more. Jellybooks also asks readers for their gender and age so we can understand how engagement with books varies between men and woman, young and old. This and much more Jellybooks researches for each books, because no two books are alike. Each book is different in its own unique way just like each reader is unique and different in their taste and habits.
For Jellybooks and the authors and publishers we serve, it is all about discovering the relationships between books and readers. Sometimes it is just about why a book is so popular and at other times we figure out why something did not work and the possible reasons for a book not resonating with readers. An actor performing a play on stage may get roaring applause at the end of his or her performance or the theatre might be so silent you could hear pint drop. Authors and publisher don’t get such feedback unless they use the help of Jellybooks. We provide the missing reader feedback for authors and publishers.
Smarter publishers, better books, happier readers!"
I'm not going to go into the plot as this is covered in the blurb and, probably, other reviews but I will say that the story is a slow burner building in intensity as it moves on so that it becomes a pretty good thrilling read that kept me engaged until the end ... you just have to be prepared to invest a little time in the beginning to get there.
The characters are well developed and believable; the writing style I liked very much with the majority of the chapters being either from "Alison ... now" and "Alison ... then" with a few being from the killers perspective and it all comes together at the end in a nice little twist.
Overall, a pretty good read and one I would recommend to readers who enjoy a book that doesn't smack you in the face straight away but gently pokes you in the same place every time ... it has the same effect but takes longer to get there.
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Connect with the author:
Website: Catherine Ryan Howard
Twitter: cathryanhoward
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About Jellybooks (taken from their website)
We offer free book candy to readers so we can collect data candy for publishers.
Jellybooks discovers the story behind a book, the story of the special relationship between reader and book. We provide free ebooks in exchange for receiving reading data back.
Jellybooks organises these test reading campaigns on behalf of publishers and authors, who are the sponsors of the test reading campaign. Most of the time, we test books that have not yet been published. Each test is different in its own way, but all campaigns are designed to delight you the reader and learn something new about the relationship between reader and book.
Readers do not have to read on the Jellybooks website. Instead they can use a wide range of ebook reading apps for reading the ebooks Jellybooks provides, but a few such as Kindle are not yet supported. The ebooks come with a special piece of software called candy.js that is embedded inside the ebook. This piece of clever technology records reading data such as when readers open the reading app, when they opened or finish a chapter, what device and operating system readers are using, at what time of day they read and much more.
Based on the data readers send us, Jellybooks figures out how many readers finish a book, where they drop off, how fast they finish it, if it is their first or second choice and much more. Jellybooks also asks readers for their gender and age so we can understand how engagement with books varies between men and woman, young and old. This and much more Jellybooks researches for each books, because no two books are alike. Each book is different in its own unique way just like each reader is unique and different in their taste and habits.
For Jellybooks and the authors and publishers we serve, it is all about discovering the relationships between books and readers. Sometimes it is just about why a book is so popular and at other times we figure out why something did not work and the possible reasons for a book not resonating with readers. An actor performing a play on stage may get roaring applause at the end of his or her performance or the theatre might be so silent you could hear pint drop. Authors and publisher don’t get such feedback unless they use the help of Jellybooks. We provide the missing reader feedback for authors and publishers.
Smarter publishers, better books, happier readers!"
