Member Reviews
This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended
Fortune is called back from his job as a bank manager in Dubai after his daughter,Sophie, a journalist has gone missing. Fielding angry phone calls from his boss demanding him to return as there is a small matter of inexplicably missing millions and a floundering bank, he discovers that his daughter had grown from a troubled adolescent into a disturbed young woman with the police after her, no job, no home and suicidal ideations.
Wrestling with his ex-wife for details and trying to get the police to notice the inconsistencies in her vanishing, Fortune hacks into her computer and finds her online columns, the huge story she was about to break and a troll....Going back and forth between Sophie and Fortune, D.B Thorne creates a mystery, a thriller, a conspiracy that charges at breakneck speed to the last page. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was sinister, dark and plotted very well. Thank you very much Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this in return for an honest review.
When Fortune, who's been living and working in Dubai, finds out that his estranged daughter Sophie has gone missing he jumps on the first plane back home to London to find out just what the heck is going on. The police think she's either committed suicide or has run away so they're pulling back the investigation as they think it's, basically, a waste of their time and resources.
Fortune is not having that so takes it upon himself to do a little investigating of his own especially when he finds out that she's the target of an online troll, the story slowly unravels, as does Fortune.
The build up and clues are well done as you continue to read to find out what the actual fuck is going on.
I've found, that if I'm struggling to get into a book, then listening to it on audio gives me the boost to get it read, I read faster than the normal audio book speed, and speeding it up just sounds wrong, so it annoyed me enough, when I was trying to listen and read along, to just stop listening and actually read the damn book. Once that happened I flew through it.
Will be on the lookout for other books by this author and see what they're like.
*Huge thanks to D.B. Thorne, Atlantic Books, Corvus and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own*
In an age where people put everything they do online, from their favorite furkids, to their breakfasts this morning, it stands to reason that this could also be exploited by online predators. This book was a scary reminder of how exposed we really are.
Scary but recommended.
Troll tells a cautionary tale of a young woman, Sophie, who has disappeared without trace. Knowing her troubled history, the police think she has taken her own life, and believing so, have made the decision to step down their investigation and use their resources elsewhere.
Fortune, Sophie's practically estranged father comes home from working in the Middle East to try and find out what has happened to her. He feels like he has let her down badly by not being the best father in the world, and especially for not being there when she needed him, and so it becomes his raison d'etre to find out what happened to his daughter.
In starting his own investigation he begins to find out a whole lot of disturbing things - his daughter kept an online blog and had a little following, including a particularly aggressive commenter who knows a little too much about her, and appears to wish harm upon her. Digging deeper, Fortune finds strange connections to himself which drive him on, the reasons becoming clearer towards the end of the novel. The theme of things not being quite how you see them to be also grows towards the end of the book.
Troll is actually quite slow to begin with and took me a while to get into it, but I'm glad I persevered. It's creepy and has some really interesting dynamics between the main characters and although it seems like a contradiction, Fortune himself is a complex, yet very 'normal' character.
I really enjoyed this book once it got going, it keeps building the tension nicely and has a satisfying ending.
I downloaded this book a good while ago, but its languished on my TBR list for months. Which is a pity as it’s a good read.
Sophie has gone missing, and her father Fortune seems to be the only person who cares. Driven by guilt at his failure as a father and his estrangement from his daughter, he must discover Sophie’s life through her blogs and social media, and solve the mystery of her disappearance before it’s too late.
This is a really clever thriller. Sophie has blog has been Trolled by the Troll in the title, but she has no idea who the Troll is. The gripping story line is narrated by in alternating chapters by Sophie and Fortune. Sophie is a nice girl and when her life starts to free fall around her, she is bewildered by what is happening, and then terrified as she has to fight for her life. She does fight though and I genuinely liked her. Her parents are a different matter. Fortune redeems himself at the end but her mother is another matter. In fact if it was dependent on her mother to rescue her Sophie would have ended up dead.
There is a good twist, and the pace starts slowly then hits breakneck speed, but then for me it just shuddered to the end. Brilliant debut and I was genuinely sorry that I left it so long to read as it is a good Psychological Thriller. And it’s a good reminder on how much you really do know your online friends.
Hard to believe that this is the authors debut novel.
Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for an advance e-copy in return for an honest review.
Fortune is a successful high powered banker working in Dubai. That is about the only area of his life that is successful as his marriage is in tatters and he has not made a great success of fatherhood. He cut himself off from daughter Sophie when she was a troubled teen that he didn't know how to cope with.
Sophie nowadays has cleaned up her act. Still a little flakey she has a job and is a blogger and an investigative journalist. The odd troll is to be expected from time to time but when it seems that the troll is watching her she begins to worry.
When Sophie disappears & the police seem to dismiss it Fortune sets out to find his daughter. He is battling against cancer, trying to ignore constant messages from Dubai because millions had disappeared from the firm's accounts and determined not to let Sophie down as he has done so much in the past.
Told by Sophie in the first person and Fortune in the third person the story moves along at quite a pace. I found it hard to warm to Fortune but I was rooting for Sophie. This was an exciting read. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for giving me the chance to read it.
To be honest, I really struggled to engage with this one, despite having been keen on the author's previous books. Not a winner for me....
Thoroughly enjoyable and suspenseful read. In my opinion, only let down by the ending which seemed rushed without tying up the backstory. Don't get me wrong, this is well-written and for the most part unputdownable, despite the coincidences and "not in real life" situations. But then this is fiction and escapist fiction at that. Ideal for the beach or pool this summer. Would easily had ve given 5 stars plus if it had ended better.
4☆ Fresh, Gripping, intense!
Troll is a fresh new take on thrillers.
It's becoming increasingly common for young people to get trolled/ abused/bullied online. Usually by people they know, but sometimes they are strangers!
Troll tells a story of a young girl Sophie who has disappeared, and with no evidence, and the police deciding to take a step back. Sophie's Dad Fortune is desperate to find her.
Fortune and Sophie don't have the best father/daughter relationship.
So when she disappears he feels like he has let her down. So is determined to take matters into he's own hands.
As Fortune starts to investigate he starts to uncover a whole heap of twists, lies and danger.
He discovers that Sophie is being trolled online by a vicious manipulative mystery person.
But the monster knows a lot about Sophie and her life and is determined to to make her suffer.
Poor Fortune is about to find out the hard way....that the Monsters who Troll online do not always stay online!
Thorne created an intense, gripping, heart pounding thriller. With plenty of shock twists.
For me this book was a little too real it was creepy.
Troll also has a strong message that the past can impact the future it can come back to bite you!
I think Thorne has written a very current, fresh and clever story.
He played on my emotions and kept me hooked and second guessing myself the whole way through.
It's dangerous, clever, gripping and intense. The perfect mix.
The story is told by both Fortune and Sophie which fits the story well. As we get both perspectives as the race to find the Troll commences.
This is the perfect read for those who love gripping thrillers, a chase to the end and mystery reads.
This book is about how an internet Troll can totally ruin your life. How a hacker can have access to every aspect of your personal and financial life. These aspects of the book was actually a bit scary but I loved how this absent father "Fortune" kept going to find his daughter when nobody but him believed her to be alive. I loved the writing style and the characters. This was my first DB Thorne book but hopefully not my last. I also loved the cover of the book.
Thanks to Atlantic books via Netgalley for the copy.
Fortune splits his life between work in Dubai and home in England. Badly. He's not spoken to his troubled daughter in months and his marriage is a sham. So when his daughter Sophie goes missing he rushes back to England. The problem is due to her history of mental illness and strange behaviour the police are convinced she has committed suicide. As Fortune works to convince them otherwise back in Dubai his office is in disarray as millions of pounds literally vanish. His life is imploding before him. All he can think.about is Sophie. Then he's sees the comments on her blog. A troll has been targeting her and the threats seem real.....he becomes more convinced someone has done something to her and so begins a race against time.
This started so well. The premise is great, the blurb had me hooked. But for me the end few chapters are a bit weak. To illustrate this it took me about three hours to get 85% in. Then about 4 to finish off. It's hard to explain why without some major spoilers but it may be once Fortune has worked out what's happened it's all a bit anti climatic. Maybe the reveal was too early. Also a bit spoilerish is a discrepancy in the ages of some characters. For instance one character has supposed to have gone through university and built a career but apparently was born 1998 (this is set 2017). But someone born after them is described as been in their twenties....it is an proof copy though so may have been corrected in the final edition. On the plus side the first three quarters or so of this is compelling. It's told in narrative form for Sophie as the troll starts to destroy her life and sanity and then in the third person for Fortune. Her side of the story is by far the better half - there's a book of material there easily. I liked Fortunes side as well but he's a bit of an ass so the empathy is lost.
It's a real shame to say but this is a four star book with a two star ending hence I give it three stars.
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this digital edition for an honest review.
Troll is a what I call a ‘slow burner’ it was like unwrapping a present, peeling back the layers to find out what would be next, but those layers took time to reveal themselves, but once in motion there was no going back.
Fortune is a driven man, not a family man, he left his family to pursue his career as a banker, now his daughter is missing. Sophie is a successful journalist, who has become a target of an online troll, when Sophie goes missing Fortune returns to London to try and locate his daughter. The police have stepped down their investigation into Sophie’s disappearance, ruling as probable suicide, Fortune doesn’t, can’t believe this is true so sets about tracing his daughter through any means necessary even if it means he loses his job in the process.
I found Fortune quite contrite, who only showed remorse when he thought he had lost his daughter, but as the book progressed I forgave his demeanour and actually felt he deserved a second chance. Sophie was the better character though as she was easier to relate to, the abandonment as a teenager, mental health issues, the strength of will to climb and become a successful journalist, then when her life is invaded by a Troll we watch as everything spirals out of control, I was drawn more to Sophie then and I found myself compelling Sophie to take her life back.
For all this being a book that takes time to envelop the whole scenario of a life being invaded by a Troll, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole concept. D.B. Thorne shows us, that for a large of part of our lives, we have no idea who or what is watching our every move. The anonymity of the digital era compounds our greatest fears, which makes this a plausible psychological thriller.
Thank you to NetGalley, Corvus and D.B Thorne for an Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher. What a fantastic book and a must read for parents with teenage children
This book starts off very haphazard and quite confusing as it is not clear on which character is talking and jumps about quite a bit. About half way through the book, it settles down and the story flows much better.
The story itself is good and it is worth persevering through the early parts.
One draw back to the book is that the paragraphs finish mid sentence and then start again as a new paragraph and the conversations of the characters blend together so again its not clear who is talking at any one time BUT this could be just the way it downloaded on my Kindle and hopefully not the way the book is printed.
I enjoyed this book but I read a lot from this genre and I think that maybe someone who doesn't read too much from this genre would enjoy it more.
Troll by D B Thorne.
Years ago, Fortune gave up on his daughter, Sophie, after a troubled adolescence. Now she's gone missing, vanished without trace. And after weeks of investigation, the police have given up on her, too.
Driven by guilt, and a determination to atone for his failures as a father, he takes on the search himself. He soon finds that his daughter had been living in fear of a vicious online troll who seemed to know far too much about her. Could Sophie's disappearance be linked to this unknown predator? Fortune is about to discovers that monsters which live online don't always stay there...
This was a enjoyable read with great characters. I loved how he wouldn't give up. 5*.
Netgalley and Atlantic books.
Bang up to the minute subject, so believable it is frightening.. Not for the paranoid amongst us.
A page turning thriller which elicits a full range of emotions. I couldn't put the book down and highly recommend it.
Took me a while to get into this, but I did. Interesting in the world we live in now (social media) would recommend this book. Will review on Amazon when it became available to review!