A very different Tim Weaver book, but it was really enjoyable and kept me wondering all the way through.

Would totally recommend.

Tim Weaver's Missing Pieces is a fantastic story that has lots of mystery and suspense that unfolds beautiful it also has amazing characters that are brilliant and outstanding wow.

This is quite a slow burner told primarily by Rebekah who is stuck on a deserted island and fearful for her life and in part by cop Travis who is tasked with finding a different missing person during his final days on the force. We gradually find out how Rebekah came to be in the island through flashbacks in the first half of the book along with finding out how she’s trying to cope in the days since she was stranded there. It’s quite a desolate read with as much focus on her trying to survive there as there is untangling the how’s and why’s. There’s plenty red herrings to keep you on your toes and question who is behind this but it lacks suspense. Overall its a good detailed atmospheric survival read.

Different, complicated, more twists and turns than a Swiss Alpine road and thoroughly enjoyable.
Rebekah , an orthopaedic surgeon, recently single and mother of two young girls goes with her brother Johnny to Crow Island to meet a professor who can help with research on a book that Johnny wants to write.
Early on they run into trouble and the book follows what happens to Bek next with a surprising ending.
Loved this book. Highly recommended. 4.5 Stars ⭐️
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review.

An on the edge of your seat thriller from Tim Weaver. Rebekah is alone, trapped on an island and someone wants her dead. Her brother is missing.
Frank Travis is investigating the disappearance of Louise. The events are linked,
The story gathers pace and the reader is unsure who is the enemy and who is innocent. Will Travis uncover the truth in time?

This book was not as good as I thought it would be from the premise. It was slow paced not grip me until over half way through when the pace picked up. Far fetched in parts. Not terrible but not great.. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for this Advanced Review Copy.

This book opens strongly and keeps your attention throughout the whole island setting. The heroine is alone, and the narrative with this sole character is excellently portrayed. However, once certain things resolve, [avoiding spoilers, here!] the pace slows right down, which covers roughly the final quarter of the book. Such a shame, as the initial 3/4 held me gripped and not wanting to put the book down. By the time I'd read to about 80%, I grew bored and impatient. I kept going because I wanted the answers to what had happened and why. The perseverance paid off-sort of. None of the reasons felt that compelling or realistic to me. So much carnage and destruction based on a slim 'what if' scenario? Sorry, but that just did not work for me.

I liked main character, and she came alive for me. The setting and description were done well too. Here are some lines I loved:

'Tears mixed with blood, pink trails casting off down her cheeks, like coloured roads on a map.'

'She was so scared her bones ached.'

Despite the above wonderful writing, too much passive writing, switching between characters and scenes with no section breaks to help the reader orient themselves, and constant telling what has been shown in dialogue (eg: 'If you ever got caught with me ...' He faded out-time and again, the writer acts as though the elipses don't get the message across and tells us, unnecessarily, that the speaker 'faded out'. A small enough thing done once or twice, but the whole way through the book gets a bit much. Also, some actions I just couldn't understand, and taken together, all of this put me off the read somewhat.

So, in summary, the passive writing and extraneous telling need weeding out. As do the jumps between scenes and characters that happen with no warning. The final quarter of the book needs tightening up and shortening, and overall could do with a lot less character confessions, guesses, and monologues to speed up the pace.

A brilliant, strong start to the story, and great character development. Missing Pieces gets 3 stars from me, which I see as a positive review (see my notes below).


***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Michael Joseph UK and of course Tim Weaver for letting me ready a copy of this I'm return for an honest review.

Bek travels to Crow Island with her brother Johnny who is heading there to learn more about the islands history for a book he wants to write.
They soon find that they are in an extremely dire predicament and are split up when a gunman comes after them.
Bek spends months on the Island, trying to survive, trying to find a way off and to even find her brother.

'This isn’t an island, she thought. She turned the boat around. It’s a prison.'

Right I'm going to be brutaly honest here but the first 60% was a real struggle to get through.
The whole premise and idea was brilliant however the execution especially Bek's time on Crows Island was extremely drawn out. I found myself continously losing interest.

The last 40% however was a whirlwind! And I just wish the rest was like it too. There was twists and turns all over the place and most of my brain power was invested into it.
However I feel that losing most of the story to the Island really damages the stars I want to give this.

The story followed several perspectives. Bek before the Island, Bek on the island, A retiring detective called Travis and Chief of Detectives McKenzie.

Unfortunately this is a 3 stars from me.

Brilliant, brilliant and even more brilliant!!
This was my first Tim Weaver book and I was completely blown away at how fantastic it was and I shall certainly be reading more books from this author in the future. The story starts with a young women Rebekah who is trapped on an uninhabited island with no visible means of escape or communication, het brother seems to have vanished and someone is is out to kill Rebekah but who and why!
This damn story was so gripping and added to the main plot line is another storyline of a missing woman Louise Mason and a detective Frank Travis’s search for what has happened to her. It’s such a complex plot with hints and clues to what is going on the twists just keep coming and bit by bit things begin to merge and add up.
It’s no wonder this book is called missing pieces because this is actually the whole premise of the story as we are fed snippets of information the missing pieces begin to fall into place.
So well written and beautifully crafted I loved this book everything about it felt just right keeping me on my toes till the end and it’s a book that all lovers of a damn good mystery will also love I’m sure.
Many thanks to Tim Weaver for and excellent five star read
My thanks also to NetGalley and Penguin, Michael Joseph UK for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Being such a big Raker fan, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Tim Weaver’s new standalone book - but it was just as engaging as the series that preceded it (and I’m glad Raker made a sneaky cameo appearance!).

Rebekah is stranded on an island with no means of escape and nobody seems to be coming to find her. Worse still, someone is trying to kill her - but why? And how did she end up alone on Crow Island off-season with no idea of why she’s being hunted?

The book had so many twists and turns, blind alleys and unexpected surprises and Rebekah’s character had a satisfying arc that I thought worked really well; she even recognises this herself as the book concludes.

There were lots of characters in the story, some more peripheral than others. At some points it got a little cluttered, but none of them were superfluous (except maybe Walker; I thought more was coming from that angle!) and in fact they were all necessary to keep up the intrigue and to keep us guessing.

I liked the exploration of Rebekah’s family, her conflicted feelings over her siblings and erstwhile mother and the complexities of her marriage. The fact that both her and Gareth were flawed, and that there was no neat ‘happy ending’ to their relationship was both true to life and engaging. I loved Johnny’s character and really related to him. He was well drawn and I really wanted to get to the bottom of how he was caught up in it all.

My only criticism, if you can call it that, is that the villains in the story were never explored in much detail; that is their motivations, their backgrounds, and how they ended up what they became. In particular I didn’t feel that the motive of the accomplice who came to light at the end (no spoilers!) was hugely convincing. Their role seemed a little implausible, but not to the point of detracting from the overall enjoyment and it was an unexpected twist! I also wondered if the motive for wanting Rebekah dead, when revealed, was a little flimsy, given everything it entailed - but I won’t say more to avoid giving anything away.

Overall this fell squarely within the ‘just one more chapter’ category and I raced through it. The depictions of the island were vivid and the novel felt intricately plotted and proofed; there were no niggling inconsistencies or editing errors to hamper the enjoyment which is always a bonus...

A great read, but I have to say I am looking forward to Raker’s return!

I enjoyed this, and the storyline was unique - I had no idea where it was going to go. My main issue with it is that it dragged a bit. I feel like the storyline could have been condensed a bit. Overall a good read though

Tense and thrilling with a complex story that reels you in. Rebekah and her brother Johnny visit a remote Island situated a hundred miles from New York to meet with a man who has agreed to give an interview to help with the book Johnny is writing. The day out, away from her young children for the first time, soon turns into a nightmare and Rebekah suddenly finds herself totally alone. Living in fear for her life, knowing someone wants her dead she desperately attempts to not only survive but also hide from the people who are trying to kill her. As she realises she may have to stay on the Island for five months, panic sets in. Will she survive with very little food? Will she be killed before she gets the chance to escape? The fear and despair leaps out from every page and just as the story seems to be reaching a conclusion, the tension is ramped up even further. Another great read from Tim Weaver.

Rebekah is stranded for months on Crow Island, one hundred and one miles from Long Island. She went with her brother for an overnight break to get away from family and marriage problems. Then everything goes wrong and she has to survive on an island abandoned in the off season. The book is complex in its plot and it takes too long for it all to come together. There are many characters and it takes concentration to work it all out and remember their place in the story. There is also a tendency to extended description which can be a distraction. Eventually, Rebekah is rescued and the reasons for her being a target are gradually explained. The story does gain needed momentum in the latter part and ends with some unexpected twists.

Wowee. Complex and completely breathtaking survival story of a powerful woman, with a welcome wink to Raker fans. This is a really impressive standalone novel to the series and I was totally absorbed from start to finish. Absolutely incredible.

Heck! This book got off to a heart-thumping start, and I didn’t want to put it down. I even woke up in the middle of the night to read more. Rebekah is fighting to survive on a forsaken island over 100 miles from anywhere, with little hope of being rescued. Someone is trying to kill her but she doesn’t know who and she doesn’t know why. In the meantime, Detective Frank Travis, who is on the verge of retirement, is trying to trace a missing woman who disappeared three months ago. Could the two cases be connected? It took me a while to understand what was going on as the story was told in three time periods – present, before, and before before! The story was very complex and I did keep getting a little lost, but every part was so well written and thrilling that I just had to continue. Some parts were terrifying and I could almost feel what Rebekah was going through. It was a web of twists and turns, and clues that turned out not to be clues at all. The only disappointment for me was the ending which I felt was a little weak considering everything that Rebekah had suffered. It also left me with several unanswered questions which I’m not going to divulge here as it would spoil the reading for others. This was the first book I’ve read by this author, but I love his writing style and will definitely read more from him.

Missing Pieces is an apt title, there are so many of them at the beginning of the book. It is a long, complex story involving many time lines which could be confusing if the narrative was less compelling.
The story is built bit by bit, gradually filling in those missing pieces and building the suspense, never quite getting to the ‘why?’. The further I read, the harder it became to but the book down. It was great to have an intelligent, feisty heroine that you come to care about (Tim writes women very well!) who survives for months on a deserted island under horrendous circumstances. It all leads to a well thought out ending where all the loose ends are tied up. I thought it was terrific, full of action and recommend it.
Thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an unbiased review.

I hadn’t read any Tim Weaver books before Netgalley sent me an ARC of “Missing Pieces” so I had no idea what to expect. What I got was a complex, multi-layered mystery – tense, thrilling, but sometimes confusing and frustrating, and arguably over-long.

“Missing Pieces” introduces the reader to Rebekah Murphy, alone and stranded on a small island, having arrived there with her brother, and subsequently involved in some, unspecified, shootings. All she (and we) know is she has a killer on her trail, and no way to get off the island.

Then we meet Detective Frank Travis, only days from retirement, and no closer to finding a woman who vanished three months ago, nor the identity of the man last seen talking to her.

And so begins over 500 pages of complex storytelling. Several strands weave in and out, across three or four time periods, introducing characters, some of whom we think we know, others we don’t. We learn more about Rebekah’s early years in England before moving back to the US, about her troubled marriage, and her relationships with her family. The storytelling is tight though, and it fairly moves along at a pace – just as well as in places I did find myself thinking “where is this all going?”.

Some of the Travis sections seemed over-long and superfluous to me, and I admit to skimming some bits, whereas I had to re-read some of the seemingly out-of-place sections to figure out what was going on. Rebekah’s time spent on the island is covered both in some detail, while also flying by, as she pieces together the events which led to her being there. It’s not clear whether she is still in shock, or just in the dark. The reader is “drip-fed” clues and details which slowly reveal the enormity of what’s actually going on. Only in hindsight does the reader finally see the bigger picture.

Thankfully the story does all tie together fairly satisfactorily, and we finally see where all those threads were leading to, and we get a decent enough conclusion.

Probably not a book I’ll go out and buy, but I’m sure Tim Weaver fans will devour it, as will crime / mystery addicts. So definitely one to watch out for.

Anyone who is a fan of Tim Weaver's David Raker series will enjoy this. Although it is the author's first standalone, it is written in his distinctive style - a lengthy mystery, an unusual setting and plenty of action.
With thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

The tag line is not wrong- it certainly was a gripping read!
Stuck on an abandoned island, following and attempt on her life, Bek has to fight to survive, to avoid her would-be killers and to get back to life on the mainland, her family and friends.
The book moves between the island and off- island with the investigating detective very neatly and the pace is fast and furious from the first page of the book. My only disappointment was theslightly lacklustre reason given for Beks plight- it felt like there should be more to it to justify the action!

I love Tim Weaver's David Raker series so I was intrigued to see how this standalone novel fared. I really enjoyed the relocation from UK to US and the mystery that needed to be solved. I wasn't a great fan of the survival element which was the first part of the book as that's not really my thing. The rest of the story stood up anyway and I really like the retired detective and also the surprise cameo from an old favourite.
Great to see Tim Weaver do well on the quiz show Pointless in the UK recently!