Member Reviews
Not for me. It is listed as Forensic Psychiatrist #2 so maybe I need to read #1 first to get into the story.
Dangerous to know by Anne Buist.
This is book 2 in the Natalie King series.
I did enjoy this book in the end even though it was slow to start. I did like Natalie character. I do hope there is more to come. 4*.
Legend Press and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Dangerous to Know. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.
Natalie King is a practicing psychiatrist with an illness that has made her step back from seeing patients full time. When she takes a position as a researcher, she comes face to face with an old colleague from medical school. Finding out that her classmate is pregnant and her partner's former wife died before giving birth, Natale cannot help but investigate the first death. As Frank, her friend's partner, is also Natalie's colleague, will she be able to stay objective? Can her friend, Detective Senior Sergeant Damian McBride, help give Natalie the answers she seeks?
As the novel switches between the perspectives of Frank and Natalie, it is sometimes hard to know who is speaking. Without chapters or headings to give readers a head's up, the book is confusing at times. The story was telegraphed from the beginning and the writing style did not help to keep my interest. There was nothing new that I have not read before in other psychological thrillers and I found the characters to be wholly unlikable. For these reasons, I would not recommend Dangerous to Know to other readers.
I am currently clearing out my shelf for older titles that I either DNF'ed or didn't have time to review. Unfortunately, this title falls under one of those categories.
I read most of this title on a plane if memory serves, and was very intrigued by the plot and writing, as well as the mystery. I do think that I also got wildly plane sick while reading which probably was not conducive to finishing, and wasn't able to finish it later on.
I hope to pick this book up at some point, but I would like to thank you for providing me the opportunity to read this book, even if I wasn't able to finish it.
this is the second book featuring forensic psychiatrist Natalie King. Ideally, these should be read in order. There are several threads that continue on from the previous book.
This is the second book in the series and I did not read the first one so found myself a few steps behind the play. In saying that I still read to the end and was able to piece together enough to be able to read and enjoy this book. overall the story line was gripping and there were twists aplenty, I would suggest tho readers read the first book in the series. I would love to see what happens next so am hoping there is a third book to come.
Dangerous to Know was very dark, lol! I like mysteries but this was something, I loved the thriller/psychotherapy aspect. I did like the balance between the characters, I love when I can hear from the main character's perspective. I do wish there was more of an explanation about the previous book. I didn't know this was a sequel. I can't wait to see what else is in store for Natalie.
I didn't finish this book & I feel a bit bad about that. I did read & enjoy the first book (Medea's Curse) so I requested this book thinking I would enjoy it also. Unfortunately this was not the case. I cannot give an honest review due to not finishing the book. I would recommend looking at other reviews if you think this book may interest you.
Thank you NetGalley for the this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
I have tried to get into this book a number of times but the opening pages just confuse me and I can't get past the confusion.... Will hold it on my kindle and keep trying as the blurb sounds like my type of book... sorry!
Following Medea's Curse, this is the second book featuring forensic psychiatrist Natalie King. Ideally, these should be read in order. There are several threads that continue on from the previous book. Although I read Medea's Curse last September, I found it difficult to get my bearings and remember who was who and how things had been left at the end of book 1. There wasn't much of a recap to help me along. Once I got past that little issue though, I found this installment even better than the first book. Anne Buist has extensive experience in the field of psychiatry and that clearly shows in her writing. This is a book that will appeal to readers who have an interest in psychotherapy and who enjoy analyzing people. In addition, you get an intriguing and very dark mystery as Natalie becomes involved in the life of her new supervisor, Professor Frank Moreton. Frank's first wife died during pregnancy and his second wife, now also pregnant, is an old enemy of Natalie's. Plenty of twists and turns are followed by a conclusion that was as chilling as it was suspenseful and a real nail biter.
There are brief chapters from Frank's first person perspective, which were creepy and fascinating. The remainder follows Natalie as she continues to struggle with her own mental health issues, her professional and her personal life. The romantic elements of the story were entertaining, although, to be fair, there isn't actually anything romantic about Natalie's relationship with Damian or with Liam. But it all added another layer to the very complex character that is Natalie. I think Ms. Buist has created a fantastic character in Natalie. She's flawed, she's unique, she's likeable and I am very much looking forward to finding out what life has in store for Natalie in book 3.
Thanks to Legend Press for making an ARC available.
This title was not for me. I did finish it, but it seemed to be a slow read. I wanted to love it.
I feel a bit bad about not finishing this book. I requested it because I did enjoy the first book and wanted to check this out and because I was basically on my on holiday and thought this would be the perfect read for that. As I sad in my review of the first book [book:Medea's Curse|24003262] I don't really read much crime fiction and I think this is the reason why I did not connect to this book. While the first book was about a subject matter that I found highly interesting (and so so grim!), this one did not manage to grab me. All the things that annoyed me about the first book - Natalie being a walking rock-chick-persona-cliche and her being reckless enough for about five people, where still in full force and this time it did make me stop reading it. I had all the intention of picking it back up, but who am I kidding. Even if I finished the book, my review probably would not be a favourable one and that just feels unfair giving that I was just the wrong reader for this book.
I did not get far enough into the book to be confident to be able to predict who would enjoy this book, so I would recommend checking out review by people more suited to this book.
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I received an arc of this book curtesy of NetGalley and Legend Press in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for that.
This was good and twisted. I couldn't guess this one and usually with the suspense thriller I can almost always figure out the ending. Not this time. Anne Buist does an amazing job with the twists and turns in this book. Also this is book two in a series and it was well written without the reader being constantly reminded of book one. I didn't read the first book of the series but hope the Dr Natalie King books continue. Very gripping, impossible to put down psychological thriller.
Natalie King is a forensic psychiatrist. She has just left from being in a mental health care unit. She takes a slow paced job, hoping to be able to regain her health. Where she is working she finds that a co-worker is married to a woman that is not her friend. She also discovers that women who are pregnant and in their last tri-mester are dying with their babies for suspect reasons. She soon finds herself trying to solve this mystery.
This book is filled with twists and turns. Most mysteries can be figured out early in the book. Not this one! This one keeps you in suspense till the very end!. Interesting, entertaining! 5 Stars
It took me a good while to get going with this book, I can't quite put my finger on why but it just didn't engage me as much as I thought it would. The characters didn't grab me at first and I found it rather slow, but once I stuck with it I did enjoy the rest of the book.
I persevered with this book but it was a bit too complicated for me to keep up with. I found my mind drifting
Thank you to Anne Buist, the publisher, and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of Dangerous to Know. What a thrilling read!
This book is mysterious, dark, and brooding. From page one, the author's artfully constructed prose, lush settings, and multi-layered characters had me hooked and wanting to know more.
The star of the book is Natalie, a psychiatrist who is not only edgy and complex as people come, but someone who genuinely cares about the people in her life despite her mental issues and personal hang-ups. Natalie flees the city life after a series of traumatic events, and seeks sanctuary in a seaside house on stilts. Natalie starts anew, and begins working for a psychiatrist with a dark past and soon to be even darker present. She finds herself enmeshed in the drama that begins to unravel around her and a mystery that requires Natalia's adept investigative skills to be solved.
I appreciated the author's attention to detail, settings, and developing characters. The characters seemed like "real," if not severely flawed, people. I also really enjoyed the lead character and the author's depiction of the character's mental illness. The author did not sensationalize mental illness but rather made it a point to show that someone who has mental illness can use their skills to help solve mysteries and better understand human behavior.
I hope the author writes another book with Natalie as the lead, because this character really kept me intrigued and interested.
3.5 stars
Dangerous to Know is book #2 in the series featuring forensic psychiatrist Natalie King. This is a hard novel for me to review. There were many things I liked, even loved, yet other things that I did not care for so much.
Will get the NOT SO GOOD STUFF out of the way first:
-Even though I had read book #1 (Medea’s Curse), it was many months ago. That story was very complex. Dangerous to Know continues on with a couple of the major threads from that book and mentions several of the characters. That’s well and fine, but Ms. Buist did not give me enough reminders of the details of those events and players, and I really did not want to reread book #1 to refresh myself. It would have been even tougher to get on board if I had not read book 1 first.
-I didn’t get Natalie’s choice in men. I did not care for those she was tempted by, though I did like the one that was apparently not right for her. This made the romantic elements, minor as they are, not so much fun for me.
-It took a good while for the book to engage me. It was just too slow and the characters weren’t grabbing me. It wasn’t till I got to about 30% that I was all in.
THE GOOD STUFF:
-Natalie. Once things got going and I again saw the core of Natalie, I was able to root for her. Declan (her mentor) and Damian (her sporting bang) are also good souls.
-Ms. Buist, who is Chair of Women’s Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, has a terrific handle on the inner workings of the human mind. The book is loaded, and I mean seriously loaded, with deep therapy-like discussions. These are between Natalie and Frank as well as Natalie and Declan for the most part, but many of the more minor characters are significantly analyzed as well. This was extremely interesting to me and is one of the two major strong points of the book.
-The other major strong point is the story telling in the second half of the book. Holy cow--twisty and turny to beat the band. There are some major heart-thumping moments in the final chapters that actually made me sweat. The shockers are relentless and continue all the way through the epilogue to the last sentence. Wow! People are waaaay more complex than we ever see…
Summary:
So what’s my bottom line? Well, I’m glad I read Dangerous to Know and will definitely pick up the next book in the series. I would just ask Ms. Buist to give more background info to catch us up to speed if there are to be continuing threads. And please, could Natalie fall for a decent guy? I know she’s tough and all, but she is a damaged soul and those bad boys are no good for her. I recommend this series for those with a keen interest in the psychiatric side of things and who will read the books in order. I rate the novel 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars based on the strong psychiatric aspects of the story.
I wish to thank Net Galley, Legend Press, and author Anne Buist for the privilege of an advanced copy of Dangerous to Know. All opinions are my own and are not biased in any way.
Dangerous to Know by Anne Buist is a tense, compelling thriller that keeps you guessing with all the twists and turns. The story, at times, is told from the points of view of Natalie who is a forensic psychiatrist trying to work out her own mental health issues while also helping a woman accused of murdering her children and Frank who is her extremely handsome, charming yet narcissistic supervisor who may have committed some murders of his own.
It's really character driven and you really get inside the psyches of these characters and strangely begin to understand their screwed up actions and bad decision making. There were some extremely unlikable characters as well as some that were the opposite. Most of the time there was a dichotomy between a character their questionable actions.
There was a lot of medical and psychological terminology but I felt as if it fit with the characters and the storylines. Natalie's episodes and triggers were done well and the reader really got to experience what life might be like for someone who suffers with those issues.
Overall, it was a good story, gut wrenching at times, and one that definitely keeps the reader turning pages until the pulse pounding end. I highly recommend it.
Set in Australia, this book tells the tale of Natalie and her battles with her own mental health as she carries out her role as a psychologist. Her condition as one who has bi -polar impacts on her day to day life and the book tells of her determination to over come this. The book sees her having moved from the city to a research part on a country hospital where she is working alongside Frank a former colleague. The deaths of two of Freaks wives in the final stages of pregnancy raises alarm bells and investigations begin.
A good tale which moves along quickly, it explores relationships and the perceptions of others as well as the point of view of a sufferer of bi-polar trying to carry on a normal life.
A slightly different style of whodunit, this is the second book about Natalie and no doubt there will be more to come. I'm going to go back and read the first now, so recommended.