#cjsreads: The Missing Ones (Patricia Gibney) @trisha460 @bookouture

Another #cjsreads pick from Bookouture; I think we may be addicts.   They are truly a phenomenal publishing house and are always publishing amazing novels.  The Missing Ones by Patricia Gibney (releasing TODAY!)  was no exception!

 

Keep reading to find out about this book and to see what we thought!

Synopsis from Goodreads

 

 The hole they dug was not deep. A white flour bag encased the little body. Three small faces watched from the window, eyes black with terror.

The child in the middle spoke without turning his head. ‘I wonder which one of us will be next?’

When a woman’s body is discovered in a cathedral and hours later a young man is found hanging from a tree outside his home, Detective Lottie Parker is called in to lead the investigation. Both bodies have the same distinctive tattoo clumsily inscribed on their legs. It’s clear the pair are connected, but how? 

The trail leads Lottie to St Angela’s, a former children’s home, with a dark connection to her own family history. Suddenly the case just got personal. 

As Lottie begins to link the current victims to unsolved murders decades old, two teenage boys go missing. She must close in on the killer before they strike again, but in doing so is she putting her own children in terrifying danger? 

Lottie is about to come face to face with a twisted soul who has a very warped idea of justice. 

Fans of Rachel Abbott, Karin Slaughter and Robert Dugoni will be gripped by this page-turning serial killer thriller, guaranteed to keep you reading late into the night.

WHAT CHANDRA THOUGHT

3.5 stars

Detective Lottie Parker has a lot to contend with – she’s a single mother with 3 children she can’t seem to control, nor is home a lot due to her career. She feels she needs to prove herself in her career from a past incident where the victim really got to her. She won’t allow herself to open up to any man since her husband died, thinking this will be better for her children and for her own emotions. Then bodies start to pile up and it’s clear that they are connected to each other and to a children’s home where her own family has history. Can Lottie take this case on without making it too personal and balance the rest of her life somehow in the process?

Bookouture really knows how to pick them. I have yet to read a thriller by them that I haven’t liked. As a debut novel, this is fantastic. I rate it as a 3 1/2 star only because it felt about 150 pages too long. I found myself zoning out a few times in repetitive areas and didn’t feel full invested until about 60% of the way in. The author does a great job of building Lottie so you get a full sense of who she is, but I felt there needed to be a little more balance on the antagonist’s side as well to get a full, well-rounded story. I can only see the series getting better from here and I do look forward to continuing Lottie’s story since this is the first in the series.

Follow Chandra on Goodreads, Twitter, Instagram or her blog!

 

JESSICA’S THOUGHTS

I seriously don’t think that Bookouture has let me down yet. They know how to publish amazing thrillers! Much like Little Girl Lost, Blink, and Bad Little Girl, The Missing Ones is a great thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end. If you like puzzles and intertwining story lines, then this is one that should be on your list.

We start out with a bang, not only in the prologue but also in the first chapter. Children worrying about who will be next in the ground and a murder in a church that is followed by a suicide. Another thing that Bookouture is known for is having strong female character leads. We have Detective Lottie Parker on the case. As she follows all leads, she is brought to a former children’s home, St Angela’s. Where she has to face parts of her past and discovering that decades-old unsolved mysteries are connected to her victims.

I enjoyed all of the elements to this story. The murders, the children’s home, the church, the investigation. While it felt like, at times, that it was a lot packed into one book, it all was worth it in the end! If you enjoyed past Bookouture titles, or just want a good thriller then I highly recommend picking up this title! Patricia Gibney did an incredible job weaving a story and making the characters real. I’m excited for book two!

I give this 5/5 stars!

Follow Jessica on Goodreads or Instagram

MY THOUGHTS

Does Bookouture publish any poorly written books? Seriously?

The Missing Ones, by Patricia Gibney, is another Bookouture release that has me yelling from the rooftops. The novel opens with a bang. A murder in a church quickly leads to a suicide. Lottie Parker is called to the scene as lead investigator. It is clear the deaths are connected, but how?   Parker quickly follows the trail to St. Angela’s, a children’s home with a dark history and direct link to her past. When things begin to get personal, Lottie must give her all to the case or risk putting herself, and her family, in danger.

Lottie Parker, as the protagonist, was a real treat; I loved her no-nonsense nature. The plot not only encompasses Lottie’s professional life but also her home life; the reader is privy to her relationship with her children and their family dynamic. I loved this aspect of the novel; it really allowed me to connect with this character.

My favourite feature, however, by far was the italicized portions of the plot; I was flipping through the pages wildly to see how everything would fit together.

This novel had a little bit of everything: church politics, police procedurals, secret societies and family ties. Perhaps this novel, at times, tries to tackle too many things and I occasionally struggled to keep up with the perspectives and the narration, but once all the pieces of this intricate puzzle fit together, everything became crystal clear.

I can barely wait for book two! If you are a fan of any of Bookouture’s other publications, this one would be a no-brainer to add to your list. Also, if strong female leads are your forte, then look out for Lotte Parker. She is a force to be reckoned with! I gave this one 4/5 stars.

Follow Me on Instagram, Twitter, and Goodreads.

HUGE THANK YOU TO BOOKOUTURE, PATRICIA GIBNEY AND NETGALLEY FOR THESE ADVANCED COPIES IN RETURN FOR OUR HONEST REVIEWS.