by David Jackson
SYNOPSIS
THEY BELIEVE HIS LIES. SHE KNOWS THE TRUTH.
You can't lie to Izzy Lambert. Her highly developed empathic abilities allow her to read people's emotions with terrifying accuracy - and consequences. As a child her insights sparked her parents' divorce. As an adult she avoids getting too close to people for fear of what she might learn.
But now young girls are going missing in her town. The police have no suspects but, seeing her old school caretaker interviewed on the news about the story, Izzy comes to a chilling realisation: he knows where the missing girls are. When the police won't take her seriously despite the lives at stake, she will risk everything to uncover the truth.
REVIEW
Izzy Lambert has always struggled to keep close relationships with other people including her own family. Izzy has hyper-empathy and is extremely sensitive to the emotions of the people around her. Once she gets to know someone, she knows instantly if they are lying or telling the truth and can become completely overwhelmed by their feelings.
Izzy is watching the news with her partner when she sees a police report about a missing girl. The girl is a student at her former school and she immediately recognises the school caretaker giving an interview as the last person to see Rosie leaving the school grounds. The problem is that Izzy is 100% sure that Kenneth the caretaker is lying. Concerned about how to move forward with this information, Izzy meets with police detective Josh who promises to look into her accusations but unfortunately Izzy's 'gift' isn't concrete proof of any wrongdoing. This leaves Izzy with no choice, to convince everyone that her gut feeling about Kenneth is right, she will have to take matters into her own hands.
I read a LOT of crime and thriller books, so I always love it when an author comes up with a truly inventive twist on a murder mystery. Izzy and her empathy gave a really unique perspective to a murder investigation and allowed some very frustrating exchanges between Izzy and Josh, as she desperately tries to convince him that her suspicions about Kenneth are correct. At first I wasn't convinced that anyone would be bold enough (or reckless enough!) to push themselves onto a serious police investigation based on a feeling, but as I read on, it became clear that the resentment Izzy had towards her empathy and the trouble it had caused for her throughout her life, meant that she was determined to try and do something worthwhile with her 'gift', even if it put her own life at risk.
No Secrets is a highly entertaining thriller which will I'm sure will be a favourite with many book bloggers. Having Izzy working in a bookshop gave plenty of opportunities to add in discussions about reading, books and reading habits which was a nice addition to break up the main storyline. A few of the comments and relationships in the book had a black comedy side to them which I really enjoyed, I personally think that dark humour in a crime thriller can work really well and No Secrets is a perfect example. Lots of twists, some interesting characters and a few creepy moments in the woods... what more could you want!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Jackson is the acclaimed author of the crime thriller series featuring New York detective Callum Doyle. Pariah, his debut novel, was Highly Commended in the Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Awards. It is published in the UK by Pan Macmillan, and various audio and foreign rights have been sold. Follow-up novels in the series are: The Helper, Marked, and Cry Baby. The Guardian newspaper said of David’s writing: ‘Recalls Harlan Coben – though for my money Jackson is the better writer.’
More information about David and his novels can be found on his website at www.davidjacksonbooks.com, where he can also be contacted. He goes under the name @Author_Dave on Twitter.
Thanks to Viper Books @ViperBooks and David Jackson @Author_Dave for the opportunity to read and review.
Fiction: Thriller / Psychological Thriller
Publisher: Viper
ISBN: 978-1800810198
Pages: 320pp
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