So, as I’ve already mentioned, this month I’m getting my NetGalley to-read shelf down and next month is for catching up with friends books. Now, I should be putting a NetGalley book here but I haven’t had much luck with them unfortunately. I’ve reviewed one here, reviewed one on Goodreads but it wasn’t great so I’m not posting it on the blog and another two I only read a few chapters before saying they weren’t for me, so now I’m on to my fifth book. So, yes, I’m getting down them, but nothing to review here.
Luckily, just before I started on the Netgalley books, I read the Amazon number bestseller, Silent Scream by Angela Marsons who did a First Draft Q&A Here, so I am going to let you know my thoughts today!
Silent Scream by Angela Marsons
Genre: Crime
Even the darkest secrets can’t stay buried forever…
Five figures gather round a shallow grave. They had all taken turns to dig. An adult-sized hole would have taken longer. An innocent life had been taken but the pact had been made. Their secrets would be buried, bound in blood …
Years later, a headmistress is found brutally strangled, the first in a spate of gruesome murders which shock the Black Country.
But when human remains are discovered at a former children’s home, disturbing secrets are also unearthed. D.I. Kim Stone fast realises she’s on the hunt for a twisted individual whose killing spree spans decades.
As the body count rises, Kim needs to stop the murderer before they strike again. But to catch the killer, can Kim confront the demons of her own past before it’s too late?
My Thoughts:
DI Kim Stone is a great new character in the police procedural crime fiction genre. She has a great sense of humour masked as sarcasm and impatience, and I really loved her working relationship with DS Bryant – especially when there are some dogs involved! (I won’t add more for spoilers)
She is headstrong and though she isn’t a typical maverick cop, she does push boundaries, the legal guidelines that she knows she should be working to. It’s a need to get things done and done quickly that causes her to step over a few lines when she shouldn’t. It causes her superior a few headaches.
There are a great mix of crimes as people in the here and now are being murdered and a collection of bones are found on an abandoned site and the team are investigating those as well. These are woven in together really well.
There is also a backstory to Stone and this is sensitive but fed in well with the rest of the story and not just dumped on you.
The twist at the end is completely unexpected which is brilliant when you don’t see it coming. (Which I didn’t)
A really tight, well-written novel with great characters.
MarinaSofia says
I really need to get my Netgalley list of books down (or the number of reviews up), but it’s very slow progress, as I request far more than I can read. I invariably end up attracted to another book or have a more urgent request to review or something. I think I’m only about 65% with my reviewing, so soon they will stop responding favourably to my requests (now that might be a blessing in disguise)!
Margot Kinberg says
Glad you enjoyed this, Rebecca. I have been hearing some very good things about it, and Kim Stone sounds like an interesting character. And I always find cases that link past and present interesting. Hmmm…may have to give this one a look.
readingwritingandriesling says
Sounds like another good one….I am trying to get my NetGalley TBR down too – I have about 14 waiting to be read but do have a rating of about 93%….now it is about prioritising.
crimeworm says
Well both the review %ages mentioned are better than mine! Like Marina, I get my %age up, then request new books, which then dilutes it! I didn’t guess anything that happened at the end of SS (which I reviewed yesterday), and I love trying to guess whodunit – and I’m quite good at it, usually! I didn’t get it at the end of Shallow Waters either Rebecca – you and Angie totally blindsided me!
thebookishuniverse says
I see this book everywhere and im really curious to read it.
Really liked your review!
Jacqui Murray says
I do the same thing–don’t post reviews for books I don’t like. Maybe that’s why I always end up with 4 or 5/5 stars. I have a slew of quicky reviews I wrote and stuffed in a file folder.
crimeworm says
I don’t either Jacqui – considering how much work goes into a book, I feel really mean if I don’t like them! So I don’t write about them – although I always finish them, just in case they improve…I’ve read criticism that bloggers are too soft, but as we select what books we’re going to read, obviously we’ll pick something to our taste. It’s not as if we’re paid to review whatever we’re given, although that would be fantastic! But as we’re giving up.our own time, we’re reading for pleasure, first, blogging, second. I always seem to have 4 and 5 star reviews too – I just wish I had the determination to sit down and finish a book. That’s why I’m so impressed with Rebecca, particularly as she puts up with a lot of pain, AND writes one of the most entertaining crime fiction blogs in the blogosphere!
emaginette says
After a rave like this there is only one thing to do, get my copy. 😀
Anna from Shout with Emaginette