<i>Little Bones</i> made for a strange reading experience, as it managed to somehow be both poorly written and compulsively readable. You don't need to be a psychic to figure out the reveal behind each twist, but I kept plowing forward regardless. While this isn't Peacock's debut, it is her first thriller. Despite giving this a 2.5 (rounded up to 3 for GoodReads), I'm still curious to see what her next project will be.

My major complaint was that the characters rang inconsistent. I'll give an example from a subplot to avoid major spoilers, here. The way Tracy looked down on the young mother and then took her in chapters later felt unrealistic to me. I could provide much more extreme examples with Cherrie, but we won't get into her here. I also thought there were areas that the author laid it on a bit thick with the pet names and nicknames. (Would Tracy really call her Cherry Pie every time she addressed her? Would her father <I>Mon Cherie</i> her at every turn?) Little things like that, while nitpicky, made me roll my eyes and took me out of the story.

The redeeming quality of this book was the way the author managed to keep fear and tension top of mind from start to end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was recommended to me and I was intrigued to read it. The subject matter was a little darker than I usually like - I’m wary of stumbling across violent or disturbing images but I was ok with this. Cherrie, or ‘little bones’ is the daughter of a serial killer. As a child she played a disturbing part in luring young boys to their fate and been involved in her father’s artwork using their bones. Now as an adult her own son is missing, her secret identity is uncovered in a podcast and she is a suspect in her son’s disappearance. Although the central premise of a man killing children and using their bones in artwork is a little gory that is not what you take from this. The book is really well paced, characters are well drawn, the writing has a lovely lightness of touch and there’s some clever trails which lead you off the main route! The central character is intriguing and there’s a ‘did she, didn’t she..is she, isn’t she ..’ dialogue throughout. I could not put this down. I think it would make a very successful tv series or film. With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book.

I’ve read a lot of thrillers in this year alone but this is up there for being creepy and unsettling with its ability to put you off guard. Cherrie has a little boy, Robin, and she takes him to the funfair the week of Halloween. All is well until Robin is not where she thinks he is, and panic ensues. She’s adamant that someone has taken him, someone dressed as a skeleton, and the race is on to find him. Another little boy has gone missing and Cherrie’s nerves are on edge. She’s also carrying a secret about her past and her father’s past – and cruel actions – that is put out for the world to hear during a local podcast. When the story of who Cherrie came from is released, friends and family start to look at her differently. Does she have anything to do with Robin’s disappearance? A missing child is always a cause for alarm in a book but the twist of Cherrie’s past really adds to the tension.

I just finished reading NV Peacock's debut thriller 'Little Bones'. It was a good reading experience and did keep me on the edge. The middle of the book got a little boring but the starting was really strong and the big reveal was interesting. It's a pretty good mystery, despite it being a little repetitive.

I enjoyed this. Didn't quite live up to its prior billing and expectations. It was a good read though. I reckon you would need to be into this kind of book.

The cover and description immediately caught my eye with this book! I raced through it in a day and found it difficult to put down. Cherrie is a strong and determined character and given what she witnessed as a child she still managed to build a new life with her new identity. You could really feel her panic as the past she has kept hidden catches up with her present. The story built at a good pace and flowed well however I did work out quite easily what was happening.
An enjoyable read.

I got lost in sea of complex, irritating thoughts one more time! I admired the plot line and the clever, intriguing premise of the story and in the beginning everything was so exciting, I was ready to be hooked and get lost in the story.

But... yes truly unlikable MC and so obviously predictable twists and outcomes destroyed my delightful thriller reading mood. It just blew away, leaving disappointment smokes in the air!

Let’s take a closer look to the story: Leigh Ann changed her name to Cherrie for the fresh start and forget her haunted nickname “ Small Bones”! Because the name is connected with her father’s last name. Mr. Bones was a brutal serial killer and Leigh Ann a.k.a Cherrie was considered as her successor. (More painful to become Logan Roy’s successor!)

The solution was simple: she is notorious killer’s daughter running away from her past but as soon as her past comes back out of nowhere and hits on her face, her secret identity slowly crumbles to reveal her true colors, only thing she can do is facing challenges and proving her innocence to the others.

Well, eventually I wanted to organize “Cherrie slapping contest” because I haven’t been introduced to annoying, irritating, happily punchable ever character for a long time! Her never ending and bickering inner thoughts made me put the book down and scream at my iPad which took the attention of the shoppers at the market who started to run away from me like avoiding a contagious mental disease! ( Notes to myself! Don’t do shopping and reading at the same time and don’t read a book about the least likable character in the public!)

And of course the slowing and repetitive pace of second half didn’t cure my irritation and frustration problem.

Overall: I really liked the premise and idea of the book but foreseeable twists, annoying characters and extremely slow, boring pace made me cut my points. I’m rounding up 2.5 stars to 3! The book has so much potential and I wish I could enjoy it more! But it stayed at Switzerland territory- neither hate it nor like it!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Avon UK for sharing this interesting ARC with me in exchange my honest opinions.

This book was too slow-moving for me. I couldn't get into the author's writing style. The characters felt flat and I wanted more to happen. Also, I was recommended this book through the tag "true crime." Once I started reading it became apparent that it wasn't true crime which was disappointing, but I tried to stick with it, but I just couldn't. There are too many books in the world to read one that isn't catching my attention. There is an audience for this book. It just isn't me.

A child is exposed to the most unbelievable violence by her serial killer father, and is understandably, marred for life. Twenty five years later, the little girl has grown up and become Cherrie; she is a mother and believes she has finally put her past behind her. Then a true crime podcast detailing the crimes of serial killer Mr. Bones airs, and against her better judgement, Cherrie listens to it. A recent murder looks a lot like the handiwork of Mr. Bones and the press has identified Cherrie, or Little Bones, as she was called. The court of public opinion is not kind to Cherrie and believes she has more of her father in her than she’s prepared to admit. This is a totally creepy story that kept me guessing, is she or isn’t she until the end

Was a good by book. Flowed easily to read. And the character build up was good. Surprised ending for me.


Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for an early release of this book.

Wow oh WOW!
I read this book in one sitting because putting it down was just not on my mind.
As soon as I read the synopsis I had that bookworm version of the Spidey Sense tingle and this did not disappoint.
There is so much to this book-not merely a serial killer thriller, oh no, this is the exploration of family legacies, trust and compassion.
Having been abandoned by both parents (one imprisoned for murdering 11 boys for their bones and the other through suicide)Leigh-Ann Hendy has grown up and out the care system, reinvented herself, has a job, has a family and friends.
An outing to a psychic, filling in for a friend who can't go, leads to a terrible set of events where the constant fear of her true identity surfacing comes too close to call.
20 miles away , a boy has gone missing. Mr Bones, Cherrie's father, is the subject of a podcast which spuriously links the boy to his crimes. It names Cherrie and before she can do anything about it, her own son, Robin, disappears.
Now she has to face her past as the daughter of a serial killer , will anyone stand with her? Will her relationship withstand this revelation? And just what has her other half been doing in the extension that he won't let her see?
So many twists and turns kept coming through this book, Cherrie is NOT the archetypal mother that you see in press conferences, in fact, as she and her partner appeal for the return of Robin, she causes the opposite effect at the first one. The police don't trust her when they work out who she is, she doesn't trust them and goes off looking for Robin on her own.
As her circle of trust dwindles, she has to dig deep and find the 8 year old child that she was, the one that the papers nicknamed 'Little Bones'.
It's chilling, thrilling and completely unlike any other book I have read this year, I think (and hope) that it wil be a massive succes!

Little Bones immediately drew me in. Loved the writing, loved the character Cherrie. However, Cherrie quickly became unlikeable. Too much time in her head. Too much drama. Too much back and forth. Anger that I was unable to sympathize with.
There are twists and turns and it does keep you guessing. I did start to skip through the middle - it felt too long, however, I couldn't put this book down, which is why I'm giving it four stars. I ended up reading the last half and, even though it became obvious (but not until later in the book) what happened to Cherrie's son, it was still compelling.

Interesting premise. Cherrie felt "real" in her behavior to do anything to find her son. Got a bit boring in the middle.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of those books where you want things to get more exciting but unfortunately they don’t. I felt as the plot progressed it was pretty easy to figure out what was coming next. It’s an easy read but nothing thrilling.

This book just wasn't for me.
Whilst it was an easy read,non of the behaviour of the characters felt very realistic to me.
Especially Cherries,who flew off the handle at the drop of a hat.
I didn't make it to the end even.

I was very disappointed by this book which is such a bummer because I was so excited to read it. It started off far too slow and the build up took way too long that by the time I got to the good stuff, I wasn't really interested anymore.