This book got off to a very slow start for me. The action doesn't really start happening until well over halfway into the book but then it takes off very quickly. In the first half of the book, the author is setting up the plot and gives us a lot of characters who could be suspects in the kidnapping of Evie.
Toni is a little messed up, grieving after her husband's death and moving her and her daughter into a new house. She is under a lot of stress and resorts to taking a prescription drug to help her calm down. Of course, after Evie is taken, this makes her the worst mother ever and the blaming begins. All too often, the media rakes a mother over the coals for circumstances that could happen to anyone.
The book goes back and forth from the present to three years ago and the author does a good job of making this easy to follow. The chapters are clearly marked with which character's viewpoint and which period of time.
I was very surprised when the actual kidnapper is revealed and did not see it coming. That doesn't happen to me very often. All in all, I liked this novel but I probably will forget about it in a few days. Not a memorable read, but a quick read that's good if you are busy and can only read a few chapters at a time.

*I got this e-book for free, Via Netgalley and Bookouture, in exchange for an honest review*

I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

I love Thrillers, I love psychological thrillers, I love stories that suck me in, and keep my mind reeling. I actually had dreams about this book, and in my dreams, I was trying to solve who took Evie. (My dreams, were almost right).

I had a feeling I knew who did it, what I didn't guess was how it was all going to end, and I was really blown away. I actually despised every character in this book, minus Evie and her Grandma. A true sign of great writing, is that I can dislike the characters, but LOVE the book.

Now reading this, I need to go and read her other book too, and put myself on the waiting list for her new book that she is currently writing! This book releases 02/16/2017 Go Pre-Order it guys!

Oh wow ! I loved this book , I couldn't put it down , almost readin a single sitting ! I love it when there are so many suspects and red herrings and this was certainly true here ! I had it all worked out , and then read the next chapter and changed my mind , this happened several times throughout and I still didn't quite get it ! Toni is flawed but you can certainly see where it's coming from , her grief and trying to manage her daughter , mum and financial problems all contribute to the state she finds herself in and then her daughter is abducted and people are really quick to point the finger ! There was a shock for me half way through the book and then they just kept coming ! Brilliant !!! Thank you for the opportunity to read this

This was an excellent novel. With brilliant main characters and a wonderful plot, this book is a real page turner. I would highly recommend this book.

When Toni moves with her daughter to be closer to her mother, it should be a fresh start; the chance to get her life back in order. She and her daughter Evie, have tried to get their life back after the death of her husband.
But it isn't all she hoped it would be. She and her mother constantly butt heads; she is having such a hard time making ends meet financially, Evie is being difficult and hates her new school, refusing to go. Realizing she needs to make a change, she finds a job only to have her boss make her life miserable. And everyone seems to have an opinion on her working; her mother, Evie's teacher and Evie isn't adjusting well. Toni is overwhelmed, feels out of control and tries to make things bearable with a little pill or two to help things along.
Then the unthinkable happens. Evie disappears and Toni's life spirals down to a newer low as she is viewed as the neglectful druggy mom who didn't deserve to have a child. How sad society is now, when someone bears a tragedy like this, instead of support and compassion, everyone is so quick to look at the parent for neglect or committing the crime themselves for they must be to blame aren't they? Unfortunately this is a very realistic look at life after an abduction.
This mesmerizing novel is told in present and also three years prior. We get several perspectives, one primarily by a stroke victim that seems to be in a vegetative state but is trapped with her memories of Evie and is fully aware of all that is going on around her.
This novel definitely keeps you guessing. Who took Evie. And why? Was it someone she knew, someone we've already met in the story? Or someone else altogether; a stranger abduction. I definitely changed my mind a time or two. This is a cast of some pretty strange people. Do you ever really know anyone and what they are capable of? There were some pretty exciting and shocking twists. It kept me engaged while I tried to figure it all out.
I liked this novel so much, I have already downloaded the author's work "safe with me" and look forward to reading it.
Thanks to net galley and the publisher for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a read!

Two harrowing years after the death of her husband, Toni and her five year old daughter Evie move to be closer to her mum.

Toni isn't coping very well. She has been having to rely on her husband's medication to keep her going which results in Evie being neglected. Events lead to Evie being abducted.

Three years since the abduction, Evie is still not found and Toni is locked in a prison of her own making. All she knows is that her heart believes that Evie is alive.

The narrative alternates between present and past and is told by different characters and the narration does a brilliant job of maintaining the suspense. The ending took me completely by surprise! In most books, I end up guessing the ending, but this book was spectacular.

The book had me gripped from word 'go'. I couldn't stop reading. I even have up my lunch time walk to read the book.

A brilliant, brilliant book.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the review copy of the book.

Having read and enjoyed Safe With Me by the same author I was very much looking forward to reading more. As much as I enjoyed Safe With Me, for me, Blink is even better.

My heart really went to Toni. She has lost her husband and is struggling to function. She moves with her daughter Evie, to be closer to her mum and for a fresh start. The fresh start sadly doesn't start off quite how Toni hoped with a home in a not so very nice neighbourhood and Evie hating her new school. When Toni starts a new job she hopes that this is the start of good things to come, sadly things get drastically worse for her.

To a certain extent Toni doesn't really help herself but then losing your husband and your whole world coming down on you, how do you know how any of us would cope? She has left herself quite open and vulnerable as she can't quite get her head together and is struggling to cope. She is torn between her mother and the teaching assistant at Evie's school and she doesn't know whether she is coming or going.

Even though there was one part of the story that I had worked out fairly early, there are plenty of other surprises in store that left me reeling.This is without a doubt a thrilling roller coaster of a read that will have you gripping on for dear life to see how it will all end.

Totally loved it.

Wow! Another amazing, mind bending, nail biting, edge of the seat story packed with twists from the incredible KL Slater. She gets better with each story and I absolutely cannot wait for her next. I would highly recommend this incredibly suspenseful story to everybody. Brilliant! Guaranteed to keep you breathlessly turning pages until the very end! This story will stay with me for a very long time!

Pure genius!! Blink is everything a psychological thriller should be! K L Slater is in a class of her own. This is her second novel, I have read them both and loved them both! Just when you think you have it figured out, you are knocked out of the park! One of the most mind-bending twists ever, just simply stunning!

Wow. I finished this book in less than a week (good for me). So many twists and turns. I won't give away too much but what a storyline! Toni is a single parent not without her faults but I totally warmed to her. I loved how the storlyline went from the past to the present but was never complicated. The other characters were totally believable and the plot made me wonder how authors can come up with such amazing ideas. The other bonus was the short chapters which are always good for squeezing in that extra couple of minutes reading time. Highly recommended 👍

Wow! What a book. Blink gripped me from the very beginning and was impossible to put down, I loved it.
I was so looking forward to reading this as I absolutely loved the authors first book Safe With Me, K.L. Slater has written another cracker of a story which I devoured in an day.

All the main characters are well developed and believable, I loved the way the tension built up and I was filled with trepidation the whole way through and as I was getting near the end I found myself reading faster so that I could find out how it was going to end.

A truly superb read which everyone should try, I look forward to reading K.L. Slaters next book which I hope is being written right now.

Thank you for allowing me to read this book.

You know that game that people play?

The one in which you have to guess which cup the tiny ball is under. The cups moves back and forth and all around on the table. It's called sleight of hand and twist of fate. That's exactly what's happening here.

Toni Cotter and her five year old daughter, Evie, are tempting that fate by starting over. What they've left behind are the tragic memories of a young husband who died too soon after returning home from a freak accident in Afghanistan. Toni can barely manage one day to the next even with the help of her mother who lives nearby.

Toni begins to numb the pain by taking pills left over from her husband's prescription. Like the Rolling Stones song, Mother's Little Helper, such careless behavior is dropping Toni further and further down the Rabbit Hole.

With her back against the wall and her finances in an uproar, Toni applies for a job in real estate part-time. She places spritely little Evie in St. Savior's Primary School. But young Evie gives Toni a hard time about attending. Her once upbeat personality begins to change.

And then the worst nightmare that can ever visit on the threshold of a parent's heart happens. Toni is late in picking Evie up from school because her mother is in the hospital. When she finally arrives, the school is closed with only the caretaker in charge. No sign of Evie anywhere. With panic rising by the millisecond, Toni collapses to the ground. Her world explodes.

K.L. Slater begins the first chapter with the thud of a deep chill. The story flips back and forth between "Three Years Earlier" and "Present Day" and this will keep you on your toes. I swear you will be hyperventilating along with Toni. Slater knows how to keep a story on track as she did in Safe With Me. Curiously, it is the quick turn of the head, the slight inattention, and the preoccupation with the mundane that take our eyes off the prize in everyday life.

Blink is a fast read that will definitely hold your attention. And just like the title, what you think you see and know can change rapidly in the blink of an eye.

I received a copy of Blink through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Bookouture and to K.L. Slater for the opportunity.

what an amazing read Blink was, i absolutely thoroughly enjoyed it, full of twists and turns that had me utterly hooked, I so love this author and the way she writes and look forward to her next book.

What a book. very fast paced and exciting. To many books lack this these days. Really enjoyed reading this book and struggled to put it down

A huge thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book! This is my second book by this author and I must say I liked this one much better than Safe With Me, the author's debut novel. This one had me from the start and was fast paced and had me flying through the pages to find out what happened to Evie. I liked Toni's character and really enjoyed this one! I would absolutely recommend to all who love psychological thrillers! I will be looking for K. L. slater's next novel.

I couldn't put this psychological thriller down. There was no slow build up. Blink grabbed my attention right from the opening lines - the words of an unknown person, “You don't know this, but I watch you. I watch you a lot ...” I couldn't quite make up my mind if these were the words of the person who abducted 5 year old Evie or possibly her mother or even someone else.

It's one of these stories that switches between the present and three years earlier. I've read a few of these time shift stories and I usually enjoy them. I think the gradual revelation of past events really adds something to the story if written well.

The present is set in a room in the Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, where a patient lies unresponsive and hooked up to machines that are keeping her alive, apparently having suffered a massive stroke. The medical staff consider her to be in a vegetative state however the patient can hear and think and inside she is screaming for attention. She just can't respond in any way. But she can remember some things like Evie's face and her laughter. She also can hear doctors discussing the possibility of switching off the machines that are keeping her alive.

Three years earlier Toni and her 5 year old daughter Evie had moved to Nottingham to be nearer to Toni's mother. Toni is a single parent (not by choice) who had suffered a devastating loss and who was not coping well. The move has been difficult for both of them.

Nothing seems to go right for her. She is obviously suffering from depression and anxiety and uses pills that were not prescribed for her to help her calm down and sleep. Toni and her mum, although close, don't always agree especially where Evie is concerned. You feel as if Toni is starting to lose the plot and on the brink of a breakdown. She is so desperate you feel she'll believe what she wants to believe and not question other people's motives too much. When she takes a pill she can't be roused even when Evie tries to waken her. There are various incidents and mix ups especially in relation to Evie's attendance at her new school. Is Toni guilty of neglecting her 5 year old daughter? I found Harriet Watson, the domineering teaching assistant who tries to pass herself off as Evie's teacher, and who lives with her elderly demanding mother, particularly sinister.

Toni manages to find a part time job in an estate agency, despite her mother's objections that Evie needs her mum at the moment, but that is not without complications either. Her boss seems like a nasty, vindictive person but who can turn on the charm when clients are around, and was perfectly charming to Evie when she and her mum called in at the office one morning.

I like the way the tension builds up as Toni's mental state deteriorates. There are several characters in the book who are frankly a bit strange and any one of them could be involved in the subsequent disappearance of Evie. I felt Toni's confusion and pain.

There are a few unexpected twists in the story. When I got to the shocking ending, it did seem to me a bit rushed and slightly far-fetched (or maybe I was just enjoying the story so much I wanted it to go on a bit longer?) but that having been said I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down.

I thought Kim's “Safe With Me” was an excellent debut and this one is equally thrilling if not better. I'm looking forward to her next book.

I finished this book at 3.30 am as I couldn't put it down, it took a while for the story to fully sink in after I'd read it as I didn't want to rush my review but can honestly say wow - it was a fantastic psychological thriller and I was kept hooked throughout. Lots of twists and turns, an excellent pace and so much suspense and surprise, I didn't quite know where the book was going at times. I guessed who might be responsible and involved in the underlying story and was partly right but there were still plenty of other suspects thrown in to fix things up and make me doubt myself and I love a book that keeps me guessing as close to the end as possible. I didn't really like any of the characters at all and some I quite detested but I still wanted to read the book at the same fast pace and that for me is the sign of an excellent read. Well this is the first book that I have read by K. L. Slater and I definatley need to read her other book now as It's been on my TBR pile for far too long, this has just pushed it right up to the top - couldn't be anything other than 5 stars!

Toni is a single grieving parent who is not coping well, and struggles with life on a daily basis in ways
puts her daughter in jeopardy.
Blink is a psychological thriller loaded with suspense and full of twists and turns.
The story written in alternating chapters, with present day and three years before, was easy to follow.
The characters were very interesting and well developed.
A fast paced plot, the totally surprising ending, a good bit of action and a lot of suspense made this
an incredible read. I loved it and highly recommend it to others.

After the death of her husband, crippling debt force Toni Cotter to leave the home that she and her daughter Evie share in Hemel Hemstead to move to live nearer to her mother in Nottingham. Nothing is here as as they are used to and grief combines with the reality of her situation to make Toni's life just that little bit more unbearable.

Needing to earn money to pave their way, Toni takes on a part time job at an Estate Agents, a job she is far too qualified for but after a long gap in her work history she is still nervous about starting again. And with Evie struggling to adjust to her new surroundings and refusing to go to school, Toni is pushed to the edge, forcing her to turn to the wrong source for relief from her pain.

Harriet Watson is a Teaching Assistant at Evie's school. She can see the impact that Toni's grief is having upon the child and she is determined to step in and help. She has a plan. One which will help both Evie and Toni, if only she can get Toni to listen.

And then the unthinkable happens.

Evie has gone missing.

With no CCTV, no witnesses and no evidence at the scene it seems almost impossible that Toni will see her daughter again. But three years on, wracked with guilt over the part she played in her daughter's disappearance, Toni still believes that Evie is alive. But she is trapped in her own world, and there is nobody around who can hear her cries, so just how can she save her daughter?

…

Wow. What a book. You could tell with 'Safe With Me' that KL Slater is very accomplished at creating tension and writing a brilliant psychological thriller. She has a knack of creating characters who elicit both sympathy and concern, who are teetering on the brink of being completely unbalanced and yet still managing to function in society as seemingly normal people. Up to a point. And there is no finer example of it than here in this book. If you loved 'Safe with Me', you are going to adore 'Blink'.

There is absolutely no doubt about it, from the moment I saw the first reviews come in I was excited to start reading this one and once I started I couldn't stop. I devoured it. Chomped away chapter by chapter until I have hoofed the whole damned lot and you know what? It left me hungry for more. If this was pudding (can you tell I'm on a diet - all the food analogies) this would be my favourite. Tiramisu. Rich in plot devices, decadent styling, later upon layer of deliciousness and 100% satisfaction guaranteed.

There are several points of view used throughout the book to great effect. The majority of the story is told by Toni, set three years ago in the weeks leading up to Evie's disappearance. We also hear from Harriet Watson whose interest in the mother and daughter seems far from wholesome. There are also a few other minor characters who take centre stage at varying points and the action moves between them seamlessly. There is also one very clever device used which gives clarity to the books title and is a really interesting and little used concept, but here serves to keep tension and interest high.

But oh my word, the plot. I just can't even begin to tell you how well this story worked. I mean I really can't because if I do I know I will end up giving up spoilers and this is a story which deserves to be read completely blind. I could wax lyrical all day about it but... Oh just do yourself a favour and read it. You won't regret it.

KL Slater has woven a story which is so simple and yet so complex, so obvious and yet so completely surprising that you'll be left questioning whether you are certain the sky is really blue. She uses a kind of literary sleight of hand which is worthy of the greatest magician. Even Derren Brown would be impressed.

An absolutely stonking 5 stars from me.

Oh my goodness what a twisted tale Blink by K L Slater is, it's one that left me breathless due to the number of twist and turns in this highly thrilling and captivating read. Although the concept isn't original a child disappearing, the author very skillfuly turns a well used scenario and turns it into an something which is highly original. When Five year old Evie goes missing there's only one person who may hold the truth, unfortunately they are in a coma and unable to communicate, what follows is a twisted and devious story that will keep the reader glued to its pages.

There are an eclectic bunch of characters in Blink and although most of them are not particular likeable they are very well developed. With out giving to much away I found Toni the mother of the missing Evie a complex and unreliable character and one I had very mixed feelings for, you can't help feeling some sympathy for her plight, but on the other hand she also made me angry as she made some unwise choices, but her back story explain these choices. K L Slater has done a fantastic job in making sure the reader is suspicious of so many of the characters in Blink, and as the plot twist and turns like an out of control rollercoaster I really wasn't sure how the plot would turn out, but suffice to say I was wrong at every damn twisted turn.


You may have to suspend belief as in parts it did seem slightly far fetched, but this in no way spoilt my enjoyment of the book, and isn't that the point of a well written book? I personally feel the author is going from strength to strength with her writing I really enjoyed Safe With Me K L Slater's previous book but I liked Blink even more. The author expertly and skilfully drops clues throughout Blink, but it's not until you reach the end you realise how cunningly the author has led the reader on a merry dance. The title of the book Blink is ingenious by the way, but to see why you will just have to read the book. With bucketfuls of suspense and intrigue Blink is guaranteed to keep the most hardened psychological thriller love on the edge of their seats.

5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5
Review maybe altered slightly and edited prior to publication on my blog