Jack and his two sisters wait in the car for their Mother to come back. The car had broken down and she had walked up the hardshoulder to the phone to get help. She never comes back. Several years on we meet the family again. Jack is struggling to keep them together and has turned to a life of crime until one day he sees something in a house that sets him on a path to find his Mother's killer.

I really enjoyed this book. The first half was particularly good. We have Jack trying to be a man and look after his sisters in the only way he knows how - breaking and entering. His baby sister, Merry, is a precocious 6 year old with an appetite for books, especially vampire books. His other sister Joy is struggling with reality and has disappeared into her own mind.

However, once Jack gets involved with the police things get a little unbelievable. He seeks their help to apprehend the man he thinks is his Mother's killer and is included in the investigation to quite an extent - a bit too much.This is also where the coincidences start. I could have handled one or two but there were a few too many.

Having said that I really did enjoy the book. I did manage to overlook the excessive police co-operation with a known child burglar and the coincidences and was able to complete the book with enjoyment. The ending wasn't as good as it could have been - some lazy writing there leaving too much to coincidence as opposed to properly structuring the end.

This would have been a five star book but the writing in the second half let it down. I would certainly pick up anotehr book by this author.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

Mesmerising, in the true sense of the word. Belinda Bauer is a master at creating the perfect crime novel. She often focuses on a child and how trauma affects them. Jack and his siblings, Joy and Merry. Left alone in a broken down car on a motorway as their mother seeks help, looking for a motorway 'phone. She never returns.... Move forward three years. Seemingly unrelated events form threads in the plot. Inexorably they develop and intertwine. The pace of the first few chapters was hypnotic. Think of the soundtrack to "Jaws" - staccato rhythm. Had me holding my breath. It is difficult to say more without spoiling the plot for future readers. I will say that SNAP goes to the top of my Best Reads of 2018. A stunning crime novel.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an early Arc. This book was very hard to get into in the beginning. There seemed to be a lot of characters telling their stories. It was a bit confusing too as the chapters seemed to roll into one. It was a good book, the storyline was good. It was quite a good book, I will recommend it.

Belinda Bauer’s novels demonstrate that she has a real flair for creating credible child characters, particularly when they have been affected by traumatic events. ‘Snap’ is no exception. Throughout this novel I felt huge sympathy for Jack even though we can see that he is portrayed as aggressive, threatening and angry most of the time. But why wouldn’t he feel this way? His mother was murdered, his father has walked out on his children and, at fourteen, Jack is left with the responsibility of looking after his younger sisters, one of whom has hoarded so many newspapers that their home is a death trap. In order to feed and clothe his family Jack has learnt to be a very successful thief and the police are desperate to solve the riddle of ‘Goldilocks’, so named because the perpetrator enjoys sleeping in the children’s beds of the homes he breaks into. Sounds creepy, but the reader understands that this is the only time that Jack is allowed to feel like a child.
Belinda Bauer’s police are also memorable characters, not least DCI John Marvel who has been sent down to the West Country, following mistakes made during a murder enquiry in Lewisham. Furious to be part of the ‘Goldilocks’ team, he jumps at the opportunity to solve Jack’s mother’s murder when the boy turns up at the police station adamant that he has found the murder weapon. Unlikely as this sounds, Marvel follows the clues and finds plenty of new information.
Whilst this novel is all about the solving of a heinous crime, it is also about the meaning of family. We see several families – large and small – struggle with allegiances, with frustration, with what it means to be emotionally bound to each other and this makes the novel all the more interesting and thought-provoking. My only quibble is that there is almost nothing to suggest what motivated the murderer in the first instance. Another excellent read from Belinda Bauer who does not only create vivid characters and tight plots but also paints very real and often atmospheric settings.
My thanks to NetGalley and Transworld Publishers (Penguin Random House) for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I found Snap to be a very compelling read, a dark and moving story that I could not put down.
A brilliantly crafted slow burning thriller, I was gripped from the begining and then drawn into the story, so much so that I was thinking about the book as I was falling asleep but then waking a few hours later as I just had to read on, so compelling was the writing.
I read lots of books and every now and then one really sticks in my mind, and I think this will be one of them.
Highly recommended.

Couldn’t put this book down! Great read for the summer. Well written characters and lots of really good twists.

Easy read - one day (if that) is all you need. Interesting and tragic premise and a take of doing what you have to in order to survive against all odds.

The aftermath of watching your mother walk away one day never to return is explored with emotional gusto in "Snap". Her last words of “I won’t be long” still echo in the minds of the trio of children she left behind at the roadside.

For the remaining members of the Bright family their residual anger is just a part of their inherited responsibilities. The strategy they develop to survive their new household dynamic proves oddly successful and is introduced to the plot as stealthily as the prolific burglar currently hitting the headlines.

It’s not just the initial enigma surrounding Eileen Bright’s disappearance that gripped me, but the marvel of the children’s self-preservation while life bites at their heels throughout. Their unfortunate story captures realistic outbursts and reactions to a variety of testing situations exceptionally well.

The police were more ‘farce’ than ‘force’ and there were loose ends that could have been tidier. But the extraordinary strength of a few cast members (‘Goldilocks’, the vampire loving little Merry Bright, and ‘Smooth’ Louis - who earned his name in a manner I wasn’t expecting!) made this a book that worked its way under my skin and I found I couldn’t resist reading it at every opportunity.

That first chapter! Suffice to say I had beads of sweat on my lips and was dying to find out where on earth the mother of those children had gone. What would happen to the children left behind in the car? That got me right from the get go. The burden of looking after his siblings falls upon Jack, as he schools his sisters to pretend that their father is still alive to prevent the social services from finding out.

It might be set in Tiverton and Taunton with a little ride to Pevensey Bay but this is where the niceness stops. There’s no nice community or idyllic existence in this thriller

Oh my goodness I’m never going to think of sweet Goldilocks in the same way ever again. It;’s the name of a burglar in this thriller and there’s always something particularly sick about a killer or burglar with a name linked to childhood. He’s known for sleeping in the beds of homes he breaks into.

As we catch up with an older Jack, we see how he’s living on the edges of society, barely surviving and providing for his family b as only he can. Then as the story starts to weave together all the threads dropped so far...it’s a humdinger of a thriller that’s for sure.

Jack is a very interesting character and DCI Marvel? Now, there’s a name. This is more character driven than anything and not really a booktrail book, but it seems that there’s a series of dark and winding roads in Tiverton....

Belinda Bauer never fails to surprise me with her books as they always feel very different to other crime thrillers. Snap drew me in with the blurb as I think it’s a situation that we have all feared at sometime in our lives, to break down on the motorway with young children. It was this terror that made me want to force myself to face my worst nightmare and from those first few pages I was completely gripped.

it’s the children and especially the character of Jack who made this book for me. My heart totally broke as I watched them waiting in the car for a mother that we know will never be returning to them. Three years later, Jack is the man of the household, keeping it together as best as he can so that no one will separate his family ever again. Both of his sister’s have been affected by the tragedy but in very different ways and Jack is also disturbed by the past but he does what he has to do even though it may not be instantly recognisable as a “normal” parenting style. It is this way of supporting his family that leads him to discover something that may possibly be connected to the murder of his mother and once Jack sees an opportunity to find out more, he grabs it with both hands.

This was a character driven mystery, full of dark humour and bittersweet moments that took my breath away at times. The writing is stunning, drawing you into this fictional world that felt so detailed you could imagine yourself there in the pages with the characters. There was a nightmarish element to the way Jack reacted to his mother’s disappearance which felt completely natural, as if we were living inside Jack’s head, feeling every emotion he was going through. I was bewitched by his story, Jack is a character that it will take a long time to forget and I hated leaving him behind when the book finally came to an end. But what an ending it was!! I was emotionally distraught by the final page and even though I had decreased my reading speed to make it last longer, Snap still finished far too soon for me.

I have always loved Belinda Bauer, she is a huge favourite author of mine and Blacklands was an absolute triumph that became one of my favourite books. Snap has a similar feel to that book which was a huge plus after The Beautiful Dead didn’t really live up to expectations for me. But Snap is a brilliant mystery with unforgettable, quirky and beautifully explored characters that I can not recommend highly enough! I absolutely loved it!

A fast paced, thought provoking and sometimes emotive read.
It truly keeps that grey matter ticking for clues and answers.

Jack and his two sisters are left in the car awaiting they’re Mothers return while she goes to find a phone.
The last thing she says to the older child Jack “ I won’t be long, you’re in charge”
But they waited
And waited
And waited.

So jack decides along with his younger sister to pick up the youngest child and go find their Mom.

Jack ends up catering and becoming a Carer of his young siblings the only way he learns how to since his dad couldn’t hack things and went.

He gets on the wrong side of the law but quite by default he’s in remission.

His aim now he’s a bit older is to find out what happened to his Mom.

We have the new neighbour next door making an appearance. I loved how I didn’t like her, then I did.
No one is ever what they seem.

Quite a few things stood out. The most for me was the knives. The coding.
I really enjoyed working on that with the a Investigation I truly felt a part of it.

There is so much more I can say about this book and it’s plot or plots. It would spoil it.

So I’m stopping where it’s safe.

Have been on a roll with books this year. Quite a few are already in my Top Reads shelf ready to sort out at the end of the year. At this rate it’s going to be an impossible task.
Thank you Random House for my copy via Net Galley

I really enjoyed this book . A slow burner picking up pace as the book unravels . My thanks to the publisher for my chance to read . I look forward to reading more from this author

I really enjoyed this emotional and suspenseful story. Well written, with brilliant characterisation, original plot and plenty surprises, it kept me reading into the late hours. I found it to be more than just your average crime thriller and really looking forward to reading other Belinda Bauer's books.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Belinda Bauer weaves a dark, atmospheric and bleak crime story in the style of the darkest of fairytales, set in the West Country in Somerset. It is inhabited by a Goldilocks burglar, a child so traumatised, that he is drawn to homes with their pictures of happy families, living their lives of security and love, the antithesis of his own sorrowful, despairing and traumatised life. He is known for sleeping in children's beds of the homes he breaks into. On a sweltering day in 1998, 11 year old Jack, his younger sisters, Joy, and toddler, Merry, leave their broken down car to see what is keeping their pregnant mother, who had set out to phone for help. There is no sign of their mother, until days later when her discarded body is discovered stabbed on the side of a road. The impact on the family is harrowing, unbearable and devastating, the father descends into a pit of pain and grief that he loses his job, losing his bearings that he cannot cope with looking after his children, and never returns home after leaving to go the store.

The burden of looking after his siblings falls upon Jack, as he schools his sisters to pretend that their father is still in their lives in an effort to avoid being split apart by being taken in by social services. It is 2001, and Jack is now 14 years old, tasked with trying to feed his sisters, and handle the outside world. Their home is filled to the rafters with walls of newspapers, amidst which the children burrow and live. The hairless saviour, fence, thief and liar, Louis Bridge proves to be an invaluable help to the young Jack, as Jack finds himself living on the edges of society, surviving and providing for his family by acquiring the skills of a cat burglar. That is until the day he sees the incriminating knife that he is convinced killed his mother in the home of the pregnant Catherine While. Jack doesn't care about being caught, he wants his mother killer to be arrested much more. DCI John Marvel has been banished into the wild backwaters of Taunton Police after transgressions committed in the London Met. He is certain he can return to his former life if he was to succeed in solving high profile murders. He sees his path to glory by solving this cold case murder and makes a deal with Jack. The two join forces as they chase down the maker of magical knives in their search for evidence to bring down the big bad wolf, a ruthless killer.

It takes a little while before the multiple threads in the narrative begin to connect, so please persevere because this a story you do not want to miss. Bauer writes a hugely compelling novel, impressively plotted, with original and eccentric characters from Louis Bridge to the unassuming character creating the unique magical knives that clients hunger for. At the heart of it all is a family, drowning in misery and unrelenting pain, their future crushed by the inhuman act that deprives them of a loving mother and wife. The courageous and brave Jack holds his family together against all the odds, driven by a fury and determination to see justice for his beloved mother. A brilliant and beguiling read of a quest to nail a killer and keep a family and its sanity together. Highly recommended! Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.

This books starts with three children sitting in a broken down car. Their mum has gone to find a phone box to call for help. Eleven year old Jack has a new watch and it soon becomes evident that their mum has been a long time; an awfully long time. So he takes his two younger sisters and goes to look for her. They eventually find the phone but not their mum. The children are reunited with their father but it is not long until a body is found and he can't really cope anymore. Thus the fate of the family now all falls on Jack's shoulders. But he is only a child. What can he possibly do to keep them afloat? The answer comes from a strange place, a new ally who helps Jack with his task. The years go by and Jack starts to think more about his mother's death. How it is still an open case with no one paying for the crime. Then he discovers a clue. Can he do what the police failed on and actually find out what happened to his mother?
Meanwhile we have a heavily pregnant Catherine waking up to find a knife and a threatening note beside her bed. Husband Adam is working away so she is alone and a bit scared. Why is she reluctant to tell anyone about it though? I mean, we all know what happens in these books when there are secrets and lies...
Oh my, I really felt for Jack and his sisters with the hand that life had dealt them. But I also really admired the way that they had just got on with things. Doing what they need to survive, albeit it mostly outside the law, but with morals nonetheless. With how they looked after each other and how even though they were left devoid of parental care and guidance they still did pretty much OK for themselves.
Catherine and Adam however were a bit more complex. Well described and congruent within their personalities and roles within the plot but I can't say that I particularly liked either of them.
The other main players in the book were the police and they were all quite unlikable too. It was almost like they were caricatures and that didn't quite fit in well with me all the time. But, that said, it did fit in well with the plot so I guess it's all good. They did have some redeeming characteristics which were more prevalent towards the end of the book.
Pacing was slow but steady. It was more cerebral than action packed although it did have its moments there too. What I am trying to say is that instead of being all about wild twists and turns, red herrings, or sleight of hand, it was more what you see is what you get but I'm not going to show you the whole picture quite yet.
All in all, a good solid read that kept my attention nicely throughout and left me satisfied at the end. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I absolutely loved this book, in fact it is the best book I have read so far this year. It’s riveting, a real page turner and dealing with children always touches the heart.
On a hot summers day eleven year old Jack and his two sisters are travelling with their mother when the car breaks down. Heavily pregnant she decides to walk to the emergency phone, telling the children to wait in the car for her. She doesn’t come back and is found murdered a few days later.
Jump to three years later and Jack is trying to keep his family together, his father couldn’t cope and has left and Jack doesn’t want to have the family split up and put into care. At 14 he does the only thing he knows to do to feed his sisters, he steals. One of his burglaries doesn’t go to plan as the house is occupied, but he sees something that puts him on the path to finding his mothers killer.
Great story, fabulous characters a must read.

On a sunny day in the glorious sunshine are jack who is 11 year old and his mother says he is in charge because the car is broken . His mother goes missing and 3 years later he finds out about his mother .
I have ARC

One hot day Jack and his two sisters wait in their broken down car for their mum to come back from calling for help to rescue them, but she never returns.

Years later, a pregnant lady called Catherine finds her house has been burgled and a note is left beside her bed.

Jack however is still in charge of his sisters, his dad left years ago and he is hellbent in finding out the truth of what happened to his mother.

This story was a slow burner for me, there were however some good parts and some other parts which I felt dragged on a little.

An interesting and intriguing thriller,full of great characters. It took me a little while at the start to unravel all the threads of this story but once it got going I really enjoyed it.

Another cracking read from Belinda Bauer and an added bonus with the return of the truly marvellous Marvel. Bauer has the ability to write crime novels that are just that little bit different, with characters that are truly unique and with this book she gives us Jack Bright a fourteen year old dealing with raising his two sisters, living in a house with a hoarder and being a pretty good burglar on the side. I devoured this book and I suggest you do the same.