Blog Tour: The Missing by C.L.Taylor

"When fifteen-year-old Billy Wilkinson goes missing in the middle of the night, his mother, Claire, blames herself. She's not the only one. There isn't a single member of Billy's family that doesn't feel guilty. But the Wilkinsons are so used to keeping secrets from one another that it isn't until six months later, after an appeal for information goes horribly wrong, that the truth begins to surface.

Claire is sure of two things – that Billy is still alive and that her friends and family had nothing to do with his disappearance.

A mother's instinct is never wrong. Or is it?

Sometimes those closest to us are the ones with the most to hide…"

My Review 

So if you read my review of The Lie, you'll know I'm a big fan of C.L Taylor. She's the queen of gritty, suspense-filled thrillers, and The Missing is no different. 

The story centres around Claire, who are dealing with the aftermath of her son, Billy going missing. This is an intriguing and gripping topic for the story to focus on... you immediately want to know what happened, why Billy went missing and if he is dead or alive. 

The suspense is heightened at the start of each chapter, which focuses on a online chat between two anonymous people. It's not clear who they are (although I had my suspicions for one of the people from early on) but the way they talk has you hooked... it's obviously linked to Billy's disappearance and so it's another mechanism to try and get you to fit the pieces together. 

As you'd expect from the topic of this story, it's an emotional roller-coaster filled with ups and downs. You really feel for Claire, who is struggling to deal with the unanswered questions Billy's disappearance creates. She tries her best to keep her family together as one unit, but as everyone deals with the situation in different ways, she struggles to do so. C.L. Taylor has wonderfully crafted their emotions so you really feel their pain and will for them to get answers, even if it's not the answer they hoped for. I found this such an interesting plot and think that C.L Taylor executes it brilliantly - it's clear she did a lot of research to get it right. The emotions, the police procedures - its all expertly crafted and is so realistic it's easy to get lost in the story and so absorbed that you begin to forget it's fiction. 

I'll admit, I really wasn't sure how the story would end, but they way it does is so good. I obviously don't want to say too much and spoil anything, but you won't be disappointed. I don't think it's an obvious ending, I was surprised by it, but once you know what happened and who's involved you sit back and think 'ohhh, of course!'. 

As expected, The Missing is a brilliantly written, clever story filled with complex and intriguing characters that will hook you in from the very first page. An absolute must-read, but make sure you have plenty of time on your hands as you won't want to put it down!

*A big thank you to Avon, the publishers of The Missing for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

Book review: Deadly Obsession by Nigel May

Amy Barrowman grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. So when she falls in love with millionaire Riley Hart and he asks her to marry him she can’t believe her luck. She has found true love and her happy ever after. 

Riley Hart is a Millionaire Man about Town. Men want to be him and women want to bed him. But to achieve Riley’s status, you have to tread on a lot of toes and make a lot of enemies. 

When Riley is gunned down at the nightclub they own, Amy is determined to avenge his death. She receives a mysterious letter detailing a list of suspects including Riley’s sworn enemy, actor Grant Wilson. But with an obsessive passion brewing between her and Grant and a dangerous assassin trailing her every move it would seem Amy has opened a deadly and tempting Pandora’s Box. In settling the score for her husband has Amy put herself into terrible danger? 

If you know me well by now, you'll know that picking up a bonk-buster style novel isn't usually for me. However, when I read Scandalous Lies by Nigel May (you can read my review here) I was pleasantly surprised - it was a gripping, well-written story with some added steamy sex scenes. Deadly Obsession is Nigel's new book and will be released on 19th February. I was very excited when I received a copy through NetGalley to read and eagerly started reading. 

What struck me first about Deadly Obsession is how dark and twisted it is. Nigel May usually explores tense and intriguing storylines, but this one is another level. It follows the main character Amy, who is dealing with the murder of her beloved husband, Riley. After a few months of grief, all she knew becomes questionable when she receives a hand-written letter from her dead husband, explaining he's actually alive. Amy starts to try and find out the truth- finding out on the way her husband, who she believed to be running a wealthy plastics business, was actually a high-profile gangster, running a crime empire. 

I enjoyed watching her find out the truth, even at times if it was difficult, and there were many twists and turns throughout the story that keep you on your toes. You couldn't really trust anyone, which kept me hooked.... would anyone be able to help her get to the truth?

There is such a range of different, gritty characters throughout Deadly Obsession that keeps the story interesting. I really felt for Amy and, as time passed, Riley made me so irritated. His past is so dodgy and it's clear he's spent the whole duration of their relationship lying through his teeth. Nothing is as she thought and it's extraordinary how different his life actually was, instead of what she thought. Grant Wilson, actor mega-star and Riley's life-long rival is a charming addition to the story and I was rooting for Amy to fall for him as he seemed so kind and supportive. I will say that there are lots of characters in Deadly Obsession and occasionally it was hard to keep up, or someone would be mentioned and I'd have to think about who they were and how they fit into the story. However, after a while I got into it and began to remember how the large cast fit together. 

If I'm being honest, this book didn't absorb me as much as previous Nigel May books did. Certain parts just didn't hook me in as much as others have. I also found the sex scenes slightly awkward - I know I've admitted that I don't usually enjoy this genre anyway, but in this story the sex scenes just didn't add as much to the story as they have in previous books... I felt some were put in just so it could fit into the bonk-buster genre and that didn't really sit well with me. I know that though is more down to my personal tastes and I can imagine that if you're a fan of steamy romance, then this will definitely be a story you want to read. 

Overall, Deadly Obsession is worth a read. It's a gritty, crime-ridden plot with an outstanding twist. Seriously, I didn't see the ending coming at all. You're taken down so many different routes on this story that it's really hard to imagine just how it will end and it's a really shocking ending that I really enjoyed. So, for me, Deadly Obsession was an enjoyable story but maybe not my favourite by Nigel May.  When it comes out next month, I'd definitely recommend it if you're a fan of bonk-busters with a gritty plot and an intriguing twist. 

*A big thank you to the publishers of Deadly Obsession - Bookouture - for an advance copy of the book via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review