Oh. My. God. This book!!!

I just finished it and I'm still trembling. I requested it on Netgalley because it seems like the worst that could happen to a mother, to have your child taken from you. Still, I judged Tori when she took a pill to relieve some of her stress or grief to have lost her husband so suddendly. Sometimes, I stopped reading just because I wanted to much to know what was going to happen, I knew it couldn't be good, Toni was a mess (sorry, not sorry). But there are so good twists in the story, I could never in a million years have known how it was going to end. It is a gripping read and you won't be able to stop either.

I spent most of this book thinking I knew what was going on. I was wrong. This truly has a surprise twist. I enjoyed this book and read most of it in one sitting which is rare for me. If you like suspense, I strongly recommend this book.

After reading Slater's fantastic Safe With Me , I jumped on the chance to read another book written by her. And I was not disappointed.

After losing her husband, Andrew, in Afghanistan, Toni Cotter has lost everything she values in her life: her soulmate, her house, her career, and perhaps her sanity. The only thing she is determined to cling to life for is her 5 year old daughter, Evie. Together with her mother, and the occasional help of her husband's old sedative pills, Toni trots through mountains of debt, grief and uneasiness by applying to a job in an estate agency nearby, enlisting her mother with picking Evie up after school at St. Saviour's Primary. Meanwhile, Evie is disintegrating into a shell of her former self - she hates her new school, and her mother's drug induced indifference to the world is shattering the joy that had once bubbled within her. On the other hand, school TA assistant Harriet Watson seems determined to help Evie, one way or another.

Then, Evie disappears. As readers, we slide in and out of the past and present, analysing memories from 3 years ago that, when pieced together, could help us figure out what happened that fateful night. There's one patient, though, who knows just that: only she can't move, speak, or even breathe for herself. She yearns for a way to communicate, through whatever means she can find, what really happened to Evie Cotter.

This novel was everything I expected it to be - everyone became a suspect and, at times, Slater induced self-doubt at my ability to string together the relevant clues. All of the characters were given sufficient thought, each were many-layered with the good, the bad, and the ugly - something I look forward to, especially in a world where authors are afraid of introducing controversial characters. If you're looking for a well-written novel that keeps you on your toes, something so captivating that you read it in a day just to find out what happens, then Slater is the author to go to. Blink was a breeze to get through, and I am highly anticipating another novel.

This book was fabulous!! Right from the start I was hooked and it kept my interest the entire time. The twists in the plot were so well done.... this without is a definite must read!!!!

Lots of twist and turns,keeps you guessing till the end,a real page turner

An absolute blinder of a book. I am not sure there are enough superlatives to cover how I feel about this thriller.

Full of twists and turns, and breath holding tension I would say to not read this book would be wrong on many levels.

This was a fantastic read, I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed the story line and the characters, it flowed beautifully and I just had to keep reading to see what happened. Loved it!

A gripping storyline, an edge of your seat read! The best compliment I can give a Thriller is that I never saw that ending coming. Never!
When Toni and her five year old daughter Evie move closer to Toni's Mom, after the death of her husband, everyone is tense, sad and not paying any attention to the world around them. That's what grief does to you.

But there is always someone watching...judging..waiting to exploit that type of grief. Here in one of the most horrific ways possible, stealing a child.

This is a terrific, edge of your seat rollercoaster ride of a tale! And I loved every minute of it and at the end it did what I expect a good Pshycological Thriller to do. Shock and Awe!!

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Bookouture for this one!

I don't think I trusted one peron in this book except Toni.

My feelings about this book are simple really - I loved it! This is a page turner of a read, and as far as psychological thrillers go, this one had me truly gripped. The characters were believable and I loved little Evie. The whole story moved at a good pace and the dialogue was spot on. This gripping story is told in short chapters that alternate between the present day and three years earlier. The story flows well even with the alternating chapters. The author expertly lines up numerous suspects and creates many different scenarios and as the reader, you are never quite sure which way the story is going. And as with most psychological thrillers, I eagerly awaited the twist, which in this story did not disappoint. I highly recommend this easy and clever read.

My rating: * * * * *

Many thanks to author K. L Slater, Bookouture publishers and Netgalley for my review copy. It was my pleasure to write an honest review.

Well this one started off so well, a great premise, a woman thought to be in a vegetative state but actually suffering from locked in syndrome. We get the beginning of the story told through her eyes before we go back in time three years where we get the back story. From here on in we jump back and forward in time as the blanks are very slowly filled in.

Present day and Toni Cotter and her five year old daughter Evie have just moved up to Nottingham to be near her mother. A fresh start after Tonis husband was in a freak accident while serving in Afghanistan. Upon returning home he died shortly afterwards.
Living in run down rented accommodation, Toni is struggling both mentally and financially to come to terms with what has happened to them. She begins to start taking pills to help her cope, pills left over from her late husbands prescriptions. They heavily sedate her, leaving for her long spells unable to function and indeed many times asleep for hours on end while her daughter watches TV downstairs.

She decides to look for work to try and make ends meet, after relying on her mother for financial support for far too long. She applies and gets a part time job in a local estate agents while she enrolls her daughter in St Saviors Primary School. Evie comes home after the first day and tells here mother she doesnt want to go back to the school. First day nerves her mother thinks and she persuades her to keep attending but as she does, the once bright outgoing girl becomes more and more withdrawn in to herself.

One evening Toni is late collecting here daughter, very late and to her horror there is no sign of her daughter. Someone has taken her!

Blink as I said started off with so much promise. A nice set up at the start, with plenty of mystery and of course the whole "locked in syndrome" line was a really interesting line to take. It promised much as a novel.
The further in I read though the less I liked it. For one, the central character I had little or no empathy with. She was just plain annoying making one stupid decision after another. I know she had the sedatives she was taking to deal with and of course her grief, but if she were a real person I would definitely be getting social services involved! It was hard for me to care about her or her plight so the main point of the book therefore for me would be how strong the story was.
It started from a high starting position but gradually went on a downward curve, climaxing with a frankly outlandish and totally unbelievable finally.

There were characters you felt that were clunkily written in to the story as red herrings which was pretty annoying. One character in particular seemed to be one that would be of real interest to the reader if fleshed out, but once the character had been used as a red herring was never heard form again.

The writing was pretty good and the story fairly zipped along but I just found the whole thing unsatisfying with little empathy for the main character and the whole story a little preposterous, the ending in particular being a bit ludicrous. 2.5 stars from me Im afraid.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Bookouture and K.L. Slater for an ARC in exchange for and honest review.

WOW! I loved this book! This is an excellent psychological thriller which keeps you guessing right to the end. I felt for Toni and Evie and wanted it to work out for them after what they went through. The story flashes from the present day to 3 years earlier but it is easy to follow. I found I was doubting everybody but that's a good sign of a thriller well told!
The author's first book Safe With Me was one of my favourite' reads in 2016 and I'm looking forward to her 3rd!

WOW,What a corker of a book,gripping story,believable untrustworthy characters and not just one but two totally jaw dropping unexpected twists.oh and the title is just ingenious,once you have read the book then you will understand what I mean.

This engrossing tale is told in chapters that alternate between the present day and three years before until the two time frames converge towards the end of the book.The chapters are narrated by Toni cotter who is the mother of five year old Evie and Harriet Watson who is a teaching assistant at Evie`s primary school.There is also the thoughts of a mysterious person who is a patient at Queens medical Centre,a number of pages from a diary written by a unknown person.A couple of chapters that are narrated by young Evie and later in the book some chapters that are voiced by a nurse called Nancy.Although the story is narrated by more than one voice the chapters are named and dated so the story is very easy to follow.There is no break in the flow of the story when there is a change in time frame or character.The mystery of what has happened to Evie is gripping and intense,any one of a number of characters could have been involved in her disappearance.The story is jam packed with so many twists,turns and red herrings that keep the reader guessing and devouring the pages as fast as possible in eagerness to find out what is going to happen next.

I thoroughly enjoyed this intense psychological thriller just as much as I enjoyed reading Safe With Me,unfortunately now I have the long wait for KL Slaters next book

Blink.

5/5

This had me hook line and sinker.

I always take note of Titles and book covers and this sure told a great story.

It's a Mums worse nightmare. Your child going missing.
I've read lots of stories of children being taken, blaming the parents because they allowed them to swim in the pool, walk to the shop only three doors away, play in they're own back garden.

just what was the Mother thinking not keeping an eye on them! <\b>

This story wasn't what happened. Not in any of those instances mentioned above, but, for the Mother, it was the same.
Not only has this Mum got her own guilty feeling but, her daughters gone. And cruelty prevails by the public masses.

Lots of distinctive characters within these pages. I thought I had it figured out.
This authors mind is very very clever, you don't get this until right at the very end.
Then you are gasping, panting and your jaw drops, I kid you not.

So where does the title come in?

I'm not telling.

Blink, and you may miss it.
Blink and no one may see.

Got you guessing? I really hope so.

This is the authors second psychological thriller.
I'm now going to fit in her first one. I've found a new author I can stalk! I mean.....follow.

My thanks to Bookoutour one of my favourite publisher via Net Galley for my copy

Set in Nottingham, the real location here is inside the mind of a mother and her loved ones following the disappearance of a little girl going missing.

The story flits from narrators and from present day to the days leading up to Evie's disappearance. The action never flags and the build up to the day itself, although slower than the rest of the book is still moving and gripping.

This book made me think -there have been similar cases in the news where we are quick to judge the parents or someone close before we have the facts. or to judge someone even by their hair when the parents seem the most guilty....who was responsible for this little girl going missing? As I delved deeper the black and white merged into various shades of grey.

Brilliant book keeps you guessing throughout . Cannot put it down book had a few late nights with this one.

Amazing story that just twists your hearth into pieces . Twisting at every chances So you don't know what is what or who to trust

Slater is without doubt becoming one of my most favourite Authors. Blink is a Stunning Novel. Loved the way we got different sides of the story from such different perspectives. It's an addictive, heart stopping read which you won't be able to put down until it's shocking conclusion.

I’m always checking out the latest authors that Bookouture are publishing. I’m already a fan of Angela Marsons and Robert Bryndza and now I have just added K.L. Slater to the list. In her second novel, Blink, we meet Toni Cutter who is settling into her new life in Nottingham with her five-year-old daughter, Evie. Toni has had a tough year, her husband was killed on active duty in Afghanistan and she is now trying to move forward with her life.

There were a few characters in the book which really got under my skin, including Toni’s mother during some scenes in the book. When we are inside Toni’s head we can see her frustration and when people ask questions about her past and what brought her to Nottingham I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

K.L. Slater does a fantastic job of lining up a list of suspects; there were so many characters who I had my suspicions about. But the twist towards the end took me completely by surprise. I actually had to put the book down for a moment and stop before I could carry on. It really took my breath away. K. L. Slater pulled this off brilliantly and that wasn’t the only twist up her sleeve. I haven’t been this impressed by a twist since I read I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh. This book is perfect for fans of Linda Green’s While My Eyes Were Closed. I loved it. I highly recommend!

While not exactly gripping from the first page, it was interesting enough to keep me going. The whole book was like this. I enjoyed it, but wasnt loving every word. And the "reveal" near the end....well I just didnt buy it.

I love the author and will definitely keep my eye out for more but I'm afraid Blink just wasnt for me.

K.L. Slater has done it again with her latest book, Blink. From a creepy beginning to the twisty end, this book keeps the reader on the edge of his or her seat. Hang on for the ride. Toni, the main character has recently lost her husband in a war accident, and is looking to start over. Toni and her little daughter Evie, relocate to a new, not so nice neighborhood and begin to put their lives back together. After enrolling Evie in the local school, Toni gets herself a part time job at a real estate office, while Toni's mum helps to look after Evie. Through a dazzling display of disturbing incidents, the author clearly imparts a sense of danger surrounding Toni and her little family. Couple that with Toni's almost addiction to happy pills left over from her husband, and you have a tense thriller that is frayed at the edges. Toni has trouble discerning reality in her own clouded mind. This novel capitalizes on the concepts of revenge and payback, while the twist is impeccable and neatly wraps up the story. Netgalley.com kindly provided me a free copy of this book for an honest review.