‘Straight A’ grade student Ellie Welsh has a good life. A happy family and great friends. After the long summer break she returns to Lower Merion High School for her final year before college, eager to catch up with the friends she has missed over the summer. Unusually for the first day of school, a pep rally is called and everyone is excited to find out what the news is. Enter Josh Thomas, an amazing football talent, who, as quarterback, will bring the school glory on the field. There are mixed reactions, not everyone is happy. Josh has moved to the area to escape the gossip and innuendo at his old school due to his girlfriend being murdered just six months before and at one time he was the prime suspect. Needless to say, the pair couple up, become an item and then the problems start!

The first half of this book reads very much like a YA story, with somewhat dark undertones. When the second half begins we are twenty years later and much has changed. Together once again, Ellie and Josh face adversity and trauma, with some surprises along the way.

An interesting read, though not totally compelling. A fair few loopholes and far fetched scenarios, but a good enough read for a holiday.

Easy and quick, a book that passes the time but won’t stick in the memory for long.

2.5*

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing.

The Girl in the Basement by new to me author Eoin Dempsey, published by Storm Publishing, is a general fiction, mystery thriller of its finest.
Ellie was kidnapped 20 years ago and barely escaped. She started living her life, build a career, had a family. But now it seems history repeats itself when her daughter Jess vanishes. A race against time starts and keeps the reader deep in suspense, high strung with twists and unexpected turns around every corner. A fantastic read, 5 stars.
Blurb: Seventeen-year-old Ellie was last seen at a party with her boyfriend, star quarterback Josh, before she went missing… Twenty years later, Ellie has rebuilt her life. The man who ruined it is behind bars. He can't hurt her now. But as Ellie leaves her therapy group, a face she hasn't seen in decades appears before her. Josh, her high school boyfriend, is back in town. As they reconnect after years apart, trying to make sense of their shared trauma, a few streets away, Ellie's seventeen-year-old daughter Jess vanishes.
Is history repeating itself? Ellie is about to discover the shocking truth abou