Member Reviews
I raced through this one in one sitting!
There is a new DI on the block and he is going to be one to keep an eye out for.
A promising start to what looks set to be a phenomenal new police procedural series.
Perfect for fans of Broadchurch, this Richard and Judy book club pick is the first in a brilliant new crime series following DI Adam Fawley and his team of Oxford detectives. Full of twists and turns and characters you'll love, it takes a look at the shockwaves that hit a small town community when a crime is committed.
This is book 1 in the DI Adam Fawley series and is, therefore, the first book I've read in this series.
Daisy Mason is an 8-year-old girl who goes missing from a party at her house, the parents are frantic as they search for her and, obviously, phone the police. Enter DI Fawley who immediately has his suspicions about what's happened and the reactions and demeanor of the parents and older brother.
Woven into the story are tweets from the local newspaper plus news articles and reports which show both support for the family and anger and hatred towards them as more comes to light surrounding the disappearance.
There's a lot going on in this story, red herrings, secrets and lies from most people involved, things ramp up as we continue and we see their lives begin to fall apart.
It shows how, I want to say, 'invested' people are by the story in hoping they find Daisy alive and well and that there will be a happy ending, but shows more how the trolls come out, how rumours are spread and taken as gospel by people who don't know what's really going on in the family and the destructive and vicious comments people seem to put for their own amusement.
I enjoyed the book as it flowed well throughout, I liked the inclusion of the social media aspect and thought Fawley was a likeable character. Good inclusion into the genre.
*Huge thanks to Cara Hunter, Penguin Books (UK) and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own*
Daisy disappears from her parents summer party, DI Adam Fawley knows that it’s most likely someone she knows. But her family is bat shit strange. This is family is chilling as is this story. Left me feeling cold and worried about families and children today.
A good book for the genre, made me think but wasn’t an addictive read.
Chilling and worrying!
I can't begin to explain that wonderful feeling you get when you start a book and you know almost instantly that this is going to be one of your top books of the year. The writing, the characters, the plot-line, the dialogue, the subject matter, the humour, in fact the entire shebang is perfect and I devoured this book in one afternoon.
This is the first book in what I think will be one of my new favourite series. DI Adam Fawley is a really likeable, sarcastic and down-to-earth character who is put in charge of a Missing Child case. With a really tragic back story it's easy to feel sympathy and admiration for DI Fawley but it's his little snippets of humour and sarcasm throughout the book that made me love him even more.
8 year old Daisy has gone missing from a family bbq - it's safe to say her family are utterly revolting and totally unlikable, and thanks to the clever little Facebook and Twitter chapters they become public enemy #1 and suspicions fall at their front door - but when DI Fawley and his team delve deeper, there are several persons of interest and lines of enquiry that make the reader ask who is responsible for Daisy's disappearance.?
This is a fantastic debut novel with some stunning twists and a gripping plotline. I loved this book so much that despite have 411 on my kindle I downloaded the 2nd book in the series and started it immediately. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Just how can a child go missing without a trace.
Well this book might answer that question.
This book might just have you up all night thinking about what you have just read, that's if you are not up all night reading it.
Close to Home is a really good book, full of twists and turns and kept my attention to the very end. When I choose a new author to read, I often refer back to Richard and Judy and their WHSmith Book Club. I have been a fan since the very first list and I still think that they have a great eye to picking great books that a wide audience will enjoy. Therefore when I saw that Close to Home had made it on to the new 2018 Book Club list I knew I was in for a good read, and I definitely was not disappointed.
8 year old Daisy disappears during her parents costume party. Detective Inspector Adam Fawley leads the investigation with suspicion falling on the parents as both their stories don’t add up. Daisy’s older ten year old brother Leo seems to hide something and is reluctant to talk to the cops.With everybody keeping secrets the cops have a hard time trying to what actually happened to Daisy.
Close to home is a debut thriller by Cara Hunter which shows some promise. The book has lots of twists and turns with an unexpected ending ,but the book did seem a little disjointed and I would have liked to know more about Detective Adam Fawley’s character so will look forward to the sequel .
I would like to thank Penguin Books (UK) & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.
This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
what can I say this book was amazing and a nice twist makes you think will be reading more of Cara's books
Brilliant i loved this book it was hard to read at times because it a tough subject to read about but i thought it was written so well 5 stars well done
Each and every book these days get promoted as the psychological thriller you can't put down, with the ending and a twist you did not see coming. I read a lot these days, but honestly most of the thrillers I read don't really meet that criteria.
Until I started reading Close to home. I genuinely, honestly could not put the book down, and I really really did not see that ending coming. My mind is still reeling of the shock of that ending! Wow.
Honestly, recommended, just do it, I promise you - you will not waste your time!
This book had me thoroughly engrossed and pulled at my heartstrings. DI Adam Fawley narrates it. He has his personal tragedy to suffer. Daisy Mason is missing. Is it an abduction or a murder? It's a complicated, baffling case. The child's mother Sharon is not the "mumsie" type. She's vain, eaten up with jealousy and selfish. Her husband Barry has flaws and secrets too. Then there's Leo, their son who behaves strangely. The characters are fleshed out well. I liked the cliff-hangers at the end of each part. The format was unusual and worked well. The interviews with the police written like transcripts. The bloodthirsty media roused everyone to fever-pitch and social media had the parents hung drawn and quartered. Trial by Twitter. It was portrayed so authentically in that some people were savage and vicious with their comments. An amusing touch was that they tended to be appalling at spelling and grammar. Others were more analytical, supportive and compassionate, using their proper names. Some of the usernames were a hoot. There was a lot of humour despite the severity of the case. I did not see that shock ending coming. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books UK.
Close to Home. Set in Oxford, DI Adam Fawley and his team are investigating the disappearance of 8 year old Daisy. Secrets, lies and a twist. A very good read and I now look forward to reading her second book.
Excellent novel and great story line. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Well drawn plot and characters and I am sure it will be a success
Fantastic debut and the start of , what looks to be , a fantastic series . Really looking forward to the next instalment. My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy 4.5 stars
A superb read! Thoroughly enjoyed it and was hooked immediately- I couldn't put it down until I'd read it.
Excellent plot that kept me guessing to the end. Look forward to more from this author.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for my honest review.
I really love a ‘who done it’ where I am kept guessing until the end. Close to Home was a novel that definitely kept me guessing. It was a book that I could not put down until I knew what had happened to Daisy. Well written and thoroughly recommended.
4.5 stars
I loved this police crime thriller and couldn't put it down. I've read several books about missing children recently and this is definitely one of the best. Full of unexpected turns, with engaging writing and realistic characters, it had my attention from the first page to the last (oh that epilogue!!!!). I can't wait to read Cara Hunter's next book.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.
Someone has taken Daisy Mason and DI Adam Fawley knows all too well that stranger danger is an unlikely scenario. His investigation turns up a strange family dynamic in the Mason family which points to the culprit been someone close to Daisy. As a trial by social media intensifies it's his job to work out how a little girl could seemingly vanished into thin air and to unravel the web of lies that surround the families suburban life.
So with the exception of one or two I am much more of a fan of the female detective genre that the male ones....sexist? I dunno but it's what I like. But the synopsis of this grabbed me so I decided to give it a try. And boy am I glad I did. The author has managed to create a smooth blend of the first person narrative (Fawleys) and third person when the action is away from him. For me it was refreshing to have that train of thought laid bare for the story. And I was gripped throughout. And even more refreshing - I didn't guess the ending. This is pretty unusual for me. What I loved about the ending is too spoilerish to reveal except to say it sets up Fawley as been extremely fallible right from the start. This is a very promising start Tina new series - I'm looking forward to more.
I received this from Netgalley for an honest review.
4.5 Stars
Thank You to Netgalley and Penguin Books (UK) for providing me with a copy of this book.
This is the debut book by Cara Hunter and I must say that she has done a fantastic job of pulling me into the story so much so that I found it hard to put down. I like detective books so I was a bit unsure how this one would turn out, naturally thinking that it would be like the many others that are out there at the moment. However I was wrong. Throughout this story Cara had me second guessing myself when I thought I knew who had killed Daisy, a little part of me was not expecting how it ended, I am glad that I was taken on a few dark and unexpected twists and turns throughout.
I cannout wait to read the second book in this DI Adam Fawley series, I hope that the second one is just as good as this one was if not better. I would recommend this book if you want a good page turner.