Another tense psychological thriller by Leona Deacon!

I have previously read ‘Gone’ featuring Augusta Bloom (a psychologist) and Marcus Jamieson (ex MI6), so I knew that I was in for a riveting read. Sure, enough Leona Deacon did not disappoint. This is the third in the series but can be enjoyed as a standalone.

The plot begins with the Foreign Secretary being held under the Terrorism Act and therefore is a huge embarrassment to the Government. He insists on speaking to Dr Augusta Bloom to track down his niece Scarlett, who he’s not seen in nine years. It appears that Scarlett is entrenched in a cult, known as ‘Artemis.’

The plot reinforced my thoughts regarding the whole concept of a cult, due to its clever methods of brainwashing, indoctrination and sly manipulation. The leader of Artemis is the enigmatic Paula Kunis, who has successfully reeled in so many females, particularly those with low self-esteem.

There is only one way for Augusta to investigate Scarlett’s mysterious disappearance and that is to infiltrate the cult. From the beginning Augusta discovers that no one can access their mobile phones, so after only a few days she becomes cut off from the outside world. How on earth can her partner Marcus keep in touch with Augusta?

This exciting thriller is deliciously intense and had me totally engrossed right up to the last page. Enjoy!

Galadriel.

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of this book to review.

There is only one thing to say about this book: READ IT NOW! It’s brilliantly written and shows how easy it is to fall for smooth talk and find yourself cut off of your friends and family in grave danger, even if you never would think about yourself as susceptible to manipulation and deceit.

⭐️ 4 ⭐️

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC, in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

What an excellent, gripping read!

This is the third book by Leona Deakin featuring psychologist Dr. Augusta Bloom (I haven’t read the previous two), there are some references to incidents in the other books but it still reads perfectly well as a standalone.

I was pulled into the story straight away. It’s well-written, with short snappy chapters and fabulous characterisation; I really enjoyed the relationship and banter between Bloom and her friend and business partner Marcus Jameson.

The plot focuses around the investigation of a cult; I found this particularly interesting as cults have always intrigued me. Deakin obviously did some excellent research on the subject matter before writing her novel.

I highly recommend and look forward to catching up with Augusta and Marcus again soon.

This is the third in the Dr. Bloom series, and if you haven’t read the first two, I definitely don’t recommend starting here, because the history between psychiatrist Dr. Augusta Bloom, her partner in their investigative agency Marcus Jameson, and dangerous psychopath Seraphine seriously influences the entire course of this book, and if you aren’t fully up to date with the story so far I think you’ll be pretty lost.

I didn’t like Augusta very much in the last book as I felt she betrayed Marcus’ trust in her, and that was somewhat addressed here though I would have liked to see the pair of them sit down and talk it out. They do spend most of the book separated by circumstance however as Augusta goes undercover in a women’s liberation organisation which has tipped over the edge into cult territory, a place where Marcus obviously cannot follow.

I was fascinated by Paula and Scarlett, the two women at the head of Artemis, and genuinely startled by the final outcome between the two of them. I have to say I’m not entirely sure Seraphine’s presence was all that necessary to the outcome of the story - Marcus definitely shouldn’t have called her in - but she’s so central to the dynamic of this series that leaving her out wouldn’t have seemed fitting either. She’s fascinating and dangerous, and I’m very curious what her endgame will be, especially now there’s a capable and well-resourced new player on the board.

Five stars for an intriguing installment in this series where I liked Augusta a lot more than in the previous book, but don’t start here if you’re not already familiar with this series.

The Foreign Secretary is being held under the Terrorism Act. He will answer the police's questions on one condition - they let him speak to Dr Augusta Bloom.
He asks Bloom to track down his niece, Scarlett, who hasn't spoken to her family for ten years. The last they heard, Scarlett was getting involved with Artemis - an organisation dedicated to women's rights and the feminist movement, led by the charismatic Paula Kunis.
But as Bloom learns more about Artemis, she's torn. Is this organisation everything it claims to be, or do they have a secret side and an alternative agenda? And if so, what has become of Scarlett?
The only way to find out for sure is for Bloom to go undercover. But will she make it out safely - or will she become the next Artemis woman to disappear?

Firstly, thank you to the publishers and the tour host for inviting me to be part of this tour

Leona deakin strikes again. An absolutely fantastic series this is setting out to be

This book centres around a cult and goes into a lot of detail. It is fascinating to see how cults work and how people become part of one

The book was very fast paced and entertaining read. I really enjoy the dr bloom series

I loved seraphine. She is such a strong character and I really hope this is not the last we will see if her!

Third in the series, and I feel that these books need to be read in order as a series, cannot wait for the next novel in this series

I didn’t realise this was part of a series but, actually it didn’t matter as I got into this immediately. A twisty book and very atmospheric at times. I shivered reading some parts of this. I enjoyed this and now I’ll have to try and read the first two in this series. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

The third book of the Dr Augusta Bloom series, Hunt by Leona Deakin is a crime mystery thriller. It begins with an unnamed woman stepping off into a lock, with her hands bound and a backpack full of rocks. The British Foreign Minister is being questioned by police and is held for fourteen days under anti-terrorism laws. He requests to speak to Dr Bloom and wants her to find Scarlett, his niece. Through flashbacks, Scarlett’s life and abandonment by her family unfolds. Then a car accident occurs with the injured unidentified child taken from his hospital bed. Meantime, Augusta and her partner have their hands full as they investigate and get caught up with an old enemy and a mysterious women-empowering organisation. An enjoyable action-packed adventure with a chilling conclusion and a four-star read rating. A formidable crime solving team—bring on the next instalment. With thanks to Random House UK, and the author for an uncorrected proof copy for review purposes.

Hunt is the third book in this series featuring psychologist Dr Augusta Bloom. While I haven’t read the first two, the plot and characters were easy enough to follow, although there are clearly significant backstories to the three main characters that I’d now like to go back and discover.

Augusta has turned her skills to private investigation in partnership with ex-MI6 agent Marcus Jameson and have developed a reputation for discrete investigations, most recently the uncovering of a group of high placed psychopaths recruited by a particularly unscrupulous psychopath, Seraphine Walker. Augusta is summoned to Whitehall where she finds the Foreign Secretary, Gerald Porter, being held in a secret cell, under the prevention of terrorism act, refusing to speak to anyone except Augusta. He tells her that if she can find his niece, missing for some years, then he will talk to the police.

Porter’s niece, Scarlett disappeared not long after becoming involved with Artemis, an organisation promoting women’s rights and self-determination. After some preliminary investigation, Augusta becomes suspicious that Artemis is more than it appears to be and decides that the quickest way for her to find out what happened to Scarlett is to go on one of their retreats. What she finds is that Artemis is certainly not a harmless organisation and that she and everyone else present are in grave danger.

Deakin really ramps up the suspense as the true nature of Artemis and Paula Kunis, the woman who heads it, becomes clear. Everyone’s favourite psychopath, Seraphine Walker, even makes an appearance, this time surprisingly to help Augusta. The complex plot is tightly written, with a good amount of information on groups similar to Artemis. Augusta and Marcus are interesting characters, both flawed but clearly smart and resourceful. A lot of unanswered questions regarding Gerald Porter and Seraphine remained at the end of the book, suggesting there is unfinished business to be dealt with in the next episode.

You can read this book as a stand-alone, but for the back story of Augusta Bloom and Seraphine Walker, read the series in order, starting with Gone.

Dr. Augusta Bloom is a psychologist who often works with the police and her friend and business partner is Marcus Jameson, an ex -MI6 operative who left the service with severe burn-out.

Their major cases have all been connected to a brilliant but psychopathic woman named Seraphine Walker whom Bloom and Jameson have encountered before. It is Bloom’s psychological profiling that has played a key role in enabling her analytical mind to get to the truth of what Walker has been up to.

This time, Walker has just walked away scot free from the Old Bailey on a technicality. But Augusta Bloom does not have time to wonder why that happened as she is summoned to a meeting.

Gerald Porter, the serving Foreign Secretary is being held by a in an MOD building by a covert group specifically set up to investigate corrupt actions by those in power. Porter is refusing to talk to anyone but Bloom. Bloom doesn’t know Porter other than by reputation, but she does know D.C.I. Mirza of the Met who is involved in this arrest.

Insisting on a one to one with Augusta, Porter tells her that he is seriously concerned for his niece, Scarlett Marshall. He’s making his co-operation conditional on Bloom doing her best to find Scarlett and make sure she is safe and well.

Scarlett, who inherited a great deal of money when she turned 21, has not been seen for nine years and she was last seen with Paula Kunis, leader of Artemis, a proselytising campaign group for women’s rights.

Trying to trace Scarlett is not as easy as it ought to be. Seemingly she has disappeared from view completely not contacting any family or friends in all that time. So Bloom and Jameson set about finding more information on Artemis and its charismatic leader, American Paula Kunis.

There’s scant information available however and Augusta feels she has no option but to allow herself to be drawn in to the group. She embarks on a journey that takes her from London to Edinburgh and then to an Artemis retreat north of Inverness.

Isolated from Jameson and unable to communicate with the outside world – it’s a retreat where you give up all forms of electronic communication – Augusta finds herself surrounded by like-minded women but there’s something really unsettling about the whole set up.

Leona Deakin creates a compelling scenario where even Augusta’s sharp analytical brain has trouble working out what is going on. The women she meets have interesting stories and Artemis itself has aims she has no trouble agreeing with, but something is making her feel edgy and unsettled. Augusta, who is no stranger to power games, feels she is being played but to what ends?

Deakin explores the means and methods of cults in this tense and quite creepy read. There’s a great deal of darkness in this book and working out who is on the verge of madness and who is manipulative is all part of the fun in this eminently readable intense read.

With echoes of real life examples of cultism like Jonestown and Waco, Deakin builds a solid picture of cultism and its operational methods and it is very chilling reading. The combination of Augusta’s intellectual skills and Jameson’s spy craft make for a thoroughly entertaining read with a serious edge and there’s quite a twisty plot to go with it.

As with her previous books, this is a narrative driven book and you never really get to know what really makes Augusta tick. The reader needs a bit of suspension of disbelief and there’s an interesting edge to the ending which will undoubtedly play into the next book.

Verdict: Entertaining and enjoyable, creepy and suspenseful, Hunt is a pacy read that delivers action and thrills.

Augusta Bloom and her partner Marcus Jameson are back and they've been give fourteen days to reunite a mother and daughter. The request has been made by the Foreign Secretary currently being held under the Terrorism Act. If Bloom and Marcus are successful he'll answer the police's questions. The daughter in question is his niece and she disappeared nine years ago to stay with a mysterious organisation called Atemis. Bloom's investigations suggest that Artemis is a woman only cult and to dig a little deeper she joins the group. Of course, wherever Bloom and Marcus are, the psychopath Seraphine is never far behind. What does she have on her agenda.?

This is another clever, well plotted and well written novel by Leona Deakin with great characters.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Randon House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is book three in the Augusta Bloom series and, in my opinion, as there is quite a lot of unfinished business from previous books that continues herein - a series arc if you wish, I would really recommend you start from book one and read in order. Also, if you are going to do that, I would also stop reading reviews, as you might find spoilers to those books.
So we start with one of the most heinous of characters, Seraphine Walker, getting her comeuppance in court. Or does she? Meanwhile, the Foreign Secretary is being held in an MOD building under the Terrorism Act and refusing to cooperate. He does however want to talk to one Dr Augusta Bloom. Apparently, his niece may have fallen under the spell of a cult. Her whereabouts for the past 9 year unknown.
And so begins a tightly plotted, interconnected narrative which opened my eyes up to the nature of cults and psychopaths and, well, a whole bunch of other stuff that spoilers prevent me from mentioning here. Suffice to say that when I finished the book, I was both impressed with what I had read and also very excited to find out what happens next.
I am glad that Augusta and Marcus appear to be ticking along better these days. Although not quite wholly there yet, it's not now something that takes the focus from what else is going on.
Seraphine and her part in proceedings is still ongoing and I do secretly wish that she'd get on with whatever she has planned so that we can come to some sort of conclusion therein. She surely can't remain teflon forever...?
All in all, a cracking addition to what is shaping up to be a thrilling series. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This is the latest in Leona Deakin's psychologist Dr Augusta Bloom and her business partner, ex-MI5 Marcus Jameson series, although given the major and instrumental presence of the all encompassing, all powerful, psychopath Seraphine Walker in every book in the series, she should be a headline name too. The manipulative and charismatic Walker here shrugs off a trial, walking away from charges that had materialised from previous events where she had organised a game in which she collected other psychopaths, something she picks up the reins of again here. It all begins with the arrest of a senior government minister, Foreign Secretary Gerald Porter, under the Terrorism Act, incarcerated in a MOD building and refusing to co-operate with Westminister Police's DCI Mirza and DI Bristol about a trip to Dubai. Instead, he says he will only talk to Bloom.

Bloom has never met Porter before, and is surprised when he wants her to locate his sister, Greta's daughter, Scarlett Marshall, whom no-one has seen for 9 years, her last known whereabouts had her involved with an ostensibly laudable women's rights and campaign organisation, Artemis, led by the American Paula Kunis. As Bloom and Marcus delve into the life of Scarlett, they face difficulties in accessing any information as she got ever more involved with Artemis, dropping every friend and not contacting any of her family through the years. With Artemis their only lead, they find themselves similarly stymied when it comes to unearthing information about the organisation, other than they run talks and assertiveness training courses through which they recruit women. This results in Bloom undertaking a more dangerous undercover mission than she might have imagined inside Artemis to find Scarlett.

There are in-depth details in the narrative about the nature and history of cults, well known cults, and their leaders, such as Jim Jones and David Koresh, who are often dangerously delusional, narcissists, and have a god complex, all of which becomes relevant as it begins to emerge that Artemis is operating as and displaying all the qualities of a cult. This is a complex and darkly intense crime read, located in London and Edinburgh, where so much and a number of characters are not as they appear, and where events culminate in a nightmare stand off. Whilst this was a terrific read, I feel that I have now had my fill of the untouchable Seraphine Walker soap opera, and as it is likely she will continue to be a major figure in any future books, I think this will be it for me and this series. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

well i have to say this author didnt disappoint... a slow build up to a tense thriller with a twist at the end....not bad at all...this one carries on from the last book so we have some old faces and some new ones

a womens groups about empowering women to stand up for their rights, but why do the women never get back in contact with their families....is there something else behind it all or have they literally just walked away to a better way of life

bloom investigates undercover....

interesting read and i didnt quite see this out come..cant wait for the next one in the series

Another triumph for Dr Bloom. She is such a force to be reckoned with.

I love her enthusiasm for everything and her determination in the face of adversity.

It is always a pleasure to read the next instalment of Dr Bloom and I cannot wait for the next.

Highly recommended 5 stars from me.

A massive thank you to Transworld Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book, and to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc, in exchange for an honest review.

Hunt by Leona Deakin is the third book in the Dr Bloom series. I really enjoyed the first 2 books, so I was looking forward to reading this

This is another superb book in the series involving Augusta, Marcus, and Seraphine. The book does follow on from the previous stories with a few references but could be read as a standalone. Although I highly recommend reading all 3.

The story line centres around a cult and it is obvious a lot of research has been done regarding the tactics and methods used to pull people in, manipulate, isolate and control them. As always, a lot of twists and turns, plus a few surprises.

I felt that in this book the characters are more developed, and the scenes are so well described, you feel you are there. Which helps to involve you in the pace and tension, plus the danger.

A superbly well crafted storyline, this series gets better with each instalment, and I sincerely hope there is a 4th book soon.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange review.

This book is the third in the crime/thriller series featuring Dr Augusta Bloom. I really enjoyed this book! This book is really intriguing and fabulous plot. Good writing and excellent read! I could barely put it down from beginning to the end. There was plenty twists and turns along the book. Even though there's a slow pace at start but later it speed up gradually. This book is a psychological thriller that will keep me chilled and thrilled until the last page. Well developed fantastic characters intrigued me to figure out what happened next. Definitely it's a realistic page turner and you won't be disappointed to read it. Highly recommended.

I was thrilled to receive the ARC of the third book in the Dr Augusta Bloom series and my goodness it was a brilliant read and just as good as the previous two books.
So the book starts with Augusta Bloom being asked to speak with the foreign secretary Gerald Porter who has been arrested and will speak with nobody else but Augusta. What follows is an intriguing mystery into the strange world of Artemis a women’s organisation led by the charismatic Paula Kunis but it becomes quite obvious early on that is is more than a group of women’s empowerment but a cult !
Well at the very mention of a cult that’s me hooked I have a fascination for them and this book takes you right into the heart of this one.
It’s a fabulous plot so well written and to top it all we have the enigmatic psychopath Seraphine back and up to her manipulating ways which made the read even better and I loved it.
Great book,great characters and a fabulous story with a thrilling ending what more can you ask for and roll on the next in the series I can’t wait !
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Uk, Transworld Publisher’s, Black Swan for gIrving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I should have realised this was part of a series that I've been meaning to read for ages...and having finished it, I am now desperate to go back and read books one and two to find out more about the characters featured here.
For people who are familiar with the series, Bloom and her partner are going to be known and much of their relationship will (I imagine) have been explained. Their links to Seraphine will probably make more sense - and I am intrigued by what we've seen about her in this to go back and see how things began.
In Hunt, the Foreign Secretary has been detained by a covert police group set up to investigate corrupt actions by those in power. He appears to be in trouble, and says he will only talk to Bloom. What we then learn is that he has a niece he hasn't heard from in years, that he believes to be caught up in an action group known as Artemis. He wants Bloom to find her, and help him to work out why she has severed contact with her family.
What follows quickly ties together seemingly disparate strands and reveals a plan that goes beyond any we might imagine. Bloom finds herself investigating Artemis from the inside, and we soon find ourselves watching the characters struggling with some very difficult decisions. Scary to see just how easy it is for someone with the right characteristics to cause havoc.
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication...and now to return to book one.

I hadn't read the other two books and that may have been helpful. However I was able to work it out and get engrossed with the story.

Intersting take on the whole cults.

I also liked how it set it up for a next book.

Will definitely be investigating more from this author and series.

I was given an advance copy by the publishers and netgalley but the review is entirely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Bloom and Jameson are back!!

This is the 3rd instalment of the Bloom and Jameson series, and it’s the best one yet. Bloom is asked by the Foreign Secretary to help track down his niece, Scarlett, who has been off the grid for a decade. They manage to track her last known movements to a group of women seeking equality and better lives for women called Artemis. Bloom and Jameson formulate a plan to seek out Scarlett, and hope nothing goes wrong.

I love this series of books, and this is my favourite so far. Bloom and Jameson are a brilliant pair of investigators who want to do the right thing. They are chalk and cheese but work extremely well together. There’s everything you could ask for in this story: crime, human emotion, humour, wit, and clever writing. The characters are really well written, and every story is written to perfection. I can’t wait to see what they get up t9 next!!