I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it had great characters, dark humour and suspense. I would recommend it.

This book was not what I expected, I thought it was going to be a straightforward thriller, but it was much more than that.At first I wasn't sure about all the characters I didn't think I liked any of the police team and thought they had been written to be unlikable, but then the penny dropped and I began to see that every character in the book was delightfully dysfunctional as the book progressed I began to appreciate the humour and the fact that all the characters were so flawed added to it, I loved the youngest sister what a little character, and I had every sympathy for the young lad trying to keep his family together, even if he wasn't exactly going about it in the right way I saw that his heart was in the right place.No spoilers but this was like reading an episode of MASH or One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest it was totally surreal and I loved it.It still had all the elements of a good thriller but with added extras and the characters became more fleshed out as the book progressed and I started to like them all, I think this is a totally original and rather wonderful writer.I would love to see some of these characters again although don't know if that will be possible but they are too good to leave behind.I can't wait to read more by this author and thoroughly enjoyed this book, and definitely recommend it. I think you have to accept that this is probably going to be more than you expected and as long as you can keep an open mind you should enjoy this hopefully as much as I did.Thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for an ARC.

A clever, quirky read with brilliant characters and a huge emotional punch.

Thanks Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. I’ve read all of Belinda Bauer’s books and enjoyed them all so when I came across this one I had to read it!! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this,’it’s very well written and I really like Jack’s character. I’m not going to go into the storyline- I don’t see the point in reviews like that. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, it kept me interested the entire way through. Will be buying a copy for my bookshelf!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for an advance copy of Snap, a stand alone novel set in Tiverton, Somerset.

The novel opens with 11 year old Jack Bright and his younger sisters sitting in a broken down car on the hard shoulder waiting for their mother to return from phoning the emergency services (it's 1998 so she doesn't have a mobile) but she doesn't return. Three years on and Jack is trying to keep the family together, DCI John Marvel is starting a new phase of his career in Tiverton after being forced out of the Met and a very pregnant Catherine While finds a strange knife and a note saying "I could have killed you" on her bed after chasing off a burglar.

I thoroughly enjoyed Snap, as I have with all of Ms Bauer's novels. It is a bit of a slow burner as the reader tries to work out how all these disparate threads come together but once they start to mesh the novel is tense, enthralling, gripping and mesmerising. I must admit that I struggled initially as the narrative switched between three different narrators and their very different lives. The characters are well drawn but without the link, which was slow in coming, I found it difficult to engage but I'm glad I stuck with it as it turns into a cracker. It's very much a novel of two halves.

I like Ms Bauer's writing style from her well drawn characters and clever plotting to the sly, humorous digs at her characters and their self importance or the situations they get themselves in to.

The characterisation is very strong with not all of them likeable but they are all very human and recognisable as such. Jack is a poor wee soul trying to keep his family together by any means. It's too much responsibility for a teenager but full credit to him for trying. DCI Marvel does not cut an attractive figure at first with his moaning about the countryside and big city arrogance but he has hidden depths and a certain kindness he disguises as pragmatism. Catherine's life revolves around keeping her unborn baby safe and well and so blames her hormones for some flaky reasoning and decision making although I suspect she may be like that all the time!

Snap is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

First by this author that I’ve read. Came highly praised by many on social media.

Fast, paced and a great lead character in Jack.

I expected some more twists along the way, and the ending wa upon me way before I expected it.

Commercially sound, would expect to sell well.

I read snap in a snap – any Belinda Bauer novel is highly addictive and this one had both a sense of darkness and a sense of fun about it around the horrible events – and it had Jack, a character I really wish would get his own series.

That edgy, tense feeling you are used to when reading a novel from this author is still in full flow – After Jack’s mother disappears, his father becomes distant leaving Jack to care for his sisters and ensuring they don’t starve. Meanwhile Catherine awakes to a sinister note on her pillow and more and more strange things start occurring. Local policemen are looking for a thief known as “Goldilocks”..these three strands all come together in an unexpected and highly excellent fashion, creating a right proper page turner.

It is a slow burner – Belinda Bauer cranks up the tension, allows her characters to speak and draws you into their world. As ever it is a beautifully written, highly compelling psychological thriller.

Also as ever, recommended. Along with everything else she’s written.

It wasn't until I was about a quarter of the way through this book that I began to enjoy it. The first part of the book had a lot of background into why Jack had turned into a petty thief and what had driven him to it - all very useful background. At first I didn't take to DCI Marvel at all - he was rude, scruffy and didn't appear to treat his colleagues with respect at all. But then the book took off with Jack keen to discover the truth about what had happened to his mother three years ago and DCI Marvel was the only person who seemed to be taking him seriously. I enjoyed the twists and turns in the book as they tried to uncover the mystery of the knife and discover he truth. Pacey and page turning and also very moving in parts, particularly Jack's struggle to keep his family together. A good stand alone crime thriller!