A Trade in Tears

A Trade in Tears is a gripping suspense-filled read, that has the reader on the edge of their seat. Expertly crafted and paced just right, it's a novel that leaves you guessing as the plot unfolds. The characters in it are well written and have many layers which add so much to the story as the writer slowly peels back their layers.

Review
A Trade in Tears is the debut novel by Samantha Shiye, a twisting tale seen from the point of view of several characters. Morag ‘Mo’ Massey is taken from her, easy-going life and plunged into a nightmare when she finds Cindy; the victim of a vicious and violent rape left for dead in a graveyard. As a character, Mo is easy to read about and quick to connect with, she is warm, caring but certainly no pushover. She’s a well-rounded, strong female lead and nothing but a pleasure to read about. Morag's connections with the other characters in the book; Colin Massey, Johnny and Cindy bring her to a more central position than the other characters A Trade in Tears. Which makes following her journey a lot more sense.

The plot of A Trade in Tears twists and turns rather rapidly, despite the time-span that it takes. You get a real sense of scale to the novel and that the complicated case of Cindy's abduction and abuse is taking a long time to solve – for various reasons all explained as and when the plot develops. It’s great to read a thriller that isn’t instantly solved by a singular ‘one-man army’ character. There are some developments that genuinely shocked me, not for their graphic content – of which there are a few scenes, which I’ll come on to in a moment – but for the events that take place. A Trade in Tears doesn’t pull its punches and I find it rare that a novel will go to the lengths that this one did to keep the reader guessing. The frustration for Colin Massey as the lead on the investigation into Cindy – and all that it ends up entailing – is palatable at times and I found myself feeling really feeling for him in more ways than one. I ended up second-guessing all of the members of his team and feeling paranoid as I turned the page to find out what was going to happen next. A Trade in Tears is a tense, emotional rollercoaster of a book that I found addictive.

I am a hardened reader, especially when it comes to graphic and violent scenes. I grew up reading horror stories so not much phases me. A Trade in Tears has scenes of violent, physical mutilation and rape. All of which are central to the plot and bring something more to the book than just shock-value. This might be a big put off for some readers, especially the scenes of genital mutilation and the violent rape scenes. A Trade in Tears is not for the faint-hearted. These scenes, however, are off-set with ones of tenderness and affection and both are handled with careful consideration on the authors' behalf.

There are a few elements that I struggled with. Johnny, one of the central characters, loses his girlfriend along the way. As a part of his grief he talks to her – which is fine and part of the natural grieving process – but it’s implied that she walks back to him and guides him. I can understand if the guiding of Johnny was just an implication, but it becomes an integral part of the plot. This is the only supernatural element to the book and, other than providing a rather satisfying conclusion to the antagonist's fate, I found it rather out of place as it only comes into play around Johnny. Other characters express their concern about Johhnys conversations with his dead-girlfriend, but nothing else comes of it. It’s a little unusual and feels out of place compared to the rest of the story, but despite the reservations I have of this side-element I still found myself enjoying where they led the plot and how it helped to wrap up A Trade in Tears to its conclusion.

Summary
A Trade in Tears is a very nicely wrapped parcel. We have some really well-rounded and interesting characters, a strong plot that makes a lot of sense and is wrapped up nicely at the end. A Trade in Tears follows a good pace, that’s not drawn out despite the fact the story takes place over a long period of time. Some of the elements felt a little out of place considering the book as a whole, but don’t detract too much from and enjoyable, but graphic read.

I had hoped this would be the first in a new series but it appears not..... Well written with a complex plot and mostly interesting characters this is a solid offering. I did begin to wonder what the point of Johnny was but my wonderings were answered.

I am afraid this book was not for me. I really enjoyed the first half, but at about 60% of the way through, something happened which I felt was really unbelievable and then the story turned and the whole plot became bordering on the ridiculous.
I did finish the book, and whilst I can say that Samantha Shiye is clearly a talented author, this book was not one which I enjoyed due to the plot twist and how the book progressed and concluded.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Matador for the arc of A Trade In Tears by Samantha Shiye.

A Trade in Tears is a debut novel by Samantha Shiye, This is a book in which is seen from the point of view of several characters. Morag ‘Mo’ Massey is taken from her, easy life and is plunged into a very dark nightmare when she ends up finds Cindy who is the victim of atrocious and brutal rape whom is left for dead in a graveyard. Mo is warm as caring but not a pushover for anyone.
I really enjoyed reading this was amazing read and had me gripped start to finish.
This was a 4 star read for me⭐⭐⭐⭐
recommend

Plot well thought out and kept you turning the pages. Nice to have no superhero that solves everything in record time .

A gripping story full of suspense and intrigue from the start. The author has paced the story perfectly, increasing the tension as the story progresses. The storyline was unique and really had me sat on the edge of my seat and left me guessing right to the very end. The book has so many layers, and fascinating characters, it is practically impossible to not become fully immersed in this book.