This book highlights how 'fake news' destroys people. Two brothers- Karl and Justin Lawson, their wives and children are torn apart when 13 years old daughter, Constance, is first missing then found dead. It is suspected that she has been murdered and the finger of blame is pointed at Karl, Constance's uncle, by a reporter, Amanda. The events that follow are gripping and filled with twists.
I really enjoyed this book and the ending left you wondering

4.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is broken up into 4 parts. Part 1 is about the disappearance of a teenager. This part is very fast paced and the case gets resolved in this section. Parts 2-4 follow a few key characters from the first part and how what happened then affects each of them in the future and the pacing for these parts isn't always consistent. I can't believe I put off reading this book for so long. This book put me through an emotional ringer. I went through so many emotions while reading this. It pulls at your heartstrings at times and at others times it pisses you off so much that you want to throw the book. When I say it pissed me off I don't mean that in a bad way I just mean that I felt so bad for one of the characters. I was mad and frustrated on his behalf. I will definitely be looking into what other books this author has written.

I struggled to get through this….and I hate that. It seemed to just drag on forever. Characters were unlikable. It just wasn’t a book that grabbed my attention and held it. It just wasn’t for me, I guess.

This one was a tough read but this is testament to the tension being built so brilliantly throughout. Made me uncomfortable but in the best way!

Great story by Laura Elliot!! Really thrilling read, great characters and an enjoyable story. Highly recommend to others!!

Loved this book. Amanda Bowe is a journalist that gets inside info on Karl, who is accused and convicted of killing his niece. But did he really do it? He loses everything, but can the person who helped put him behind bars help clear his name.

The beginning of the book which detailed Constance's disappearance was fast paced and definitely kept me turning the pages quickly. It was the best part of the book for me. Then it got decidedly slower and at times I had to really force myself to stick with it. It's definitely not the typical mystery/thriller format.

Overall Guilty was an ok read. The pacing could definitely have been better in my opinion. The twists were interesting at the onset but my failure to connect with the characters made enjoying the last part of the book futile.

I wanted to like this book and the writing was good, but I've seen and read this story a dozen times. Lifetime Movie material at best. Missing person goes on to live a happy life...

When Constance Lawson goes missing, all efforts are initially focused on finding the thirteen-year-old and reuniting her with her grieving family. All that changes when ambitious journalist Amanda Bowe zeroes in on Constance's uncle, Karl Lawson, twisting his close relationship with Constance into something sordid, implying that he is responsible for her disappearance, destroying Karl's life in the process. It only took seven days.

Six years later, Amanda has everything she ever wanted. She's married, has a young son, and is the host of a hit talk show. All it takes is a single phone call to shatter the illusions of her perfect life, plunging her into a nightmare that feels all to familiar...

Guilty is a complex story that slowly builds. I often found myself feeling frustrated by the slow pace and seemingly mundane details. (Many of these details proved to matter later on, but not all of them.) My first thought, upon finishing the book, was that it felt like I'd read two books instead of one.

Even though I enjoyed the overall story, I can't shake a mild feeling of dissatisfaction. The story is broken up into four parts, and while important things are revealed in all them, parts two and three felt tedious to read. The pace was too slow for my liking, and I didn't understand the point of most of those details until I reached part four.

All of this left me feeling terribly conflicted. Despite being dissatisfied with things, Guilty still manages to tell a great story, and Elliot's writing is very good. The snail-like pace of large portions of the story bogs it down, dimming what would otherwise shine.

That said, the vast majority of Goodreads reviewers gave this book four and five stars. So I'm inclined to think it's a case of Guilty not being a good fit for me, than anything else.

I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of Bookouture via Netgalley.

I definitely wasn’t expecting to get sucked in to this book the way I did. It was totally addictive from the start.

Amazing fantastic read so sad and heartbreaking but so easily it could happen what a fantastic story line

This starts with a missing girl and follows the aftermath of the media storm and investigation that comes after. If you think this is just a missing person story, think again.

I found this book very entertaining and well written. This is one of those stories where you think it'll be all about one thing and it turns into something completely different. I really enjoyed the way the story flowed throughout the book and I especially liked the characters. The two main characters are Karl Lawson and Amanda Bowe, I liked Karl but I loved to hate Amanda. This was a great book and I highly recommend it..

Loved this book could not put it down, Its up there with Big Little Lies, and some of the best suspense books,

Another roller coaster read by a very gifted novelist. The book was gripping from the beginning, and I couldn't wait to see who really was responsible for the young girl's disappearance. Well done!

When Dublin-native Constance Lawson goes missing, there are no obvious suspects. Until Capital Eye reporter Amanda Bowes starts shifting the media's focus on Constance's uncle, Karl. Karl and Constance, or Connie as Amanda calls her in the newspapers, are close: he's the "controversial" editor of a music magazine and is always getting Constance and her friends tickets/meet-and-greet passes to their favorite concerts. Karl is also the person Constance turns to when she's in trouble, or when she believes her parents are being too strict. Suddenly, an uncle's innocent relationship with his niece turns into something more sinister at the hands of Amanda, turning everyone---from the police to Karl's family---against him. 

When Constance's body is found, and Karl is arrested, it's the nail in the coffin for Karl's public image. Karl's wife leaves him, taking their daughter with her back to the States. Even after the truth comes out, and Karl is released from prison, he has nothing left for him: not his job, his family, or his friends. Karl is left homeless and prospectless in a downward spiral. 

Amanda's life after following the Constance Lawson murder is the opposite. While she has to leave her job on the crime beat, she impresses Karl's old boss, a media mogul, enough that she lands her own television talk show. Not only that, she marries the mogul and has a son. But when Amanda's son goes missing, history starts to repeat itself. 

In Guilty, Laura Elliot weaves a twisted tale that will appeal to fans of Gone Girl. Although the fire of this book slows down in the middle, what Elliot has really created is a surprising story on the power of the media and their ability to shape the narrative of a story. Guilty is a cautionary tale and critique of the media, as much as it a revenge story.

GUILTY by Laura Elliot is a tense psychological thriller/drama that deals with the aftermath of a child missing.
It begins with a phone call. It ends with a missing child.

After a fight with her parents thirteen- year old Constance Lawson decides to sneak out of her house to perform a dare given to her from a secret club she's joined. But after completing the dare, Constance never returns home by the next morning and her desperate parents begin the search for their daughter.

A few days later, Constance’s uncle, Karl Lawson, who was close to his niece suddenly finds himself swept up in a media frenzy created by journalist Amanda Bowe implying that he is the prime suspect.

A week later and Constance's body is found, and the police arrest Karl. No one believes he is innocent…and his life falls apart and he loses everything…his marriage…his family.

Now Six years later … He wants REVENGE!

The characters in this novel are complex, well developed, and relevant. There are many twists and turns in this book that will keep you guessing. Highly recommended for fans of fast-paced psychological thrillers.

Many thanks to Bookouture via Netgalley for my copy.

DNF. Ugh!!!! This funk is killing me. I gave my standard 30 pages or 3 chapters, but I couldn't continue. It may have been too tense for me at the time . I will give this one another try as the synopsis and other review have me intrigued still. Once I do I will update this review.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and author, through NetGalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Guilty

Wow! I was thoroughly captivated by this book, from the very first page, to the very last word. Laura Elliot has an amazing talent and this psychological thriller is definitely not to be missed!

Suspense, tension, atmosphere...the breathtaking twists and turns made me dizzy and kept me guessing until the end. Highly recommended five shiny stars from purplebookstand.

A bit of a slower burn than I typically wanted and not what I was expecting from this novel
The characters are awesome -= I LOVE TO HATE CHARACTERS and the author does a great job in making you want to hate! How could I NOT like that?

There were definitely some twists and turns but I did find myself glazing over a bit as the pace slowed down.

2.5 Stars

I must admit that I ultimately skimmed the entirety of this book, minus the first 6% and the last 20%. After 6%, knowing where the story was going at that point, knowing the other shoe has dropped, but having to wait for the characters to catch up, was just boring to me. I wasn’t invested, and just found everyone to be acting stupid, including the police. At that point, I started skimming through the next 74% to finally get to the point of the book where we get to see Amanda get her comeuppance. I found that I really just wanted to see if she got what she deserved after being a horrible excuse for a human being, that did nothing but ruin the lives of everyone around her, while simultaneously stepping on anyone she needed to in order to get what she wanted. I really didn’t want to see her happy at all.

***SPOILERS***

I was quite happy with the fact that Amanda’s 4-year old son didn’t get hurt at all, and in fact would look back upon his experience being kidnapped kindly, and fondly. Since he was treated so well, and was kidnapped by his TV hero. But Amanda will suffer the psychological affects for a long time, as she watches and listens to her son talk so lovingly about the time he was kidnapped, while she has to constantly relive what she did to Karl and how he so effectively took everything away from her. And I was glad to see Karl come out the other side having felt vindicated and relieved, and able to move on with his life. What can I say, I’m kind of evil like that.

***END SPOILERS***

When it comes right down to it, for me, this book struggled to know what kind of story it was. Revenge plot? Murder mystery? A social statement as to how media, and especially social media confuse and cloud our ideas of reality? I really wish one or 2 of these had been more thoroughly explored, and left the others to a different book. The only thing I felt truly emotionally invested in, was how thoroughly I despised Amanda, and everything she did and stood for. Which did end up leaving me quite satisfied in the end when everything comes around full circle, and the full scope of the plot comes together for the big picture reveal.

I read this as part of the ‘A Book for All Seasons’ group on Goodreads, as part of the Equinox 1 Topic #4 Challenge (Book with a didnapping).

Copy received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.