After Anna by Alex Lake

Blurb

The real nightmare starts when her daughter is returned...

A girl is missing. Five years old, taken from outside her school. She has vanished, traceless. The police are at a loss; her parents are beyond grief. Their daughter is lost forever, perhaps dead, perhaps enslaved. But the biggest mystery is yet to come: one week after she was abducted, their daughter is returned. She has no memory of where she has been. And this, for her mother, is just the beginning of the nightmare.

In my opinion.....

Normally I would say’, ‘ Pull up a chair, grab a glass & let’s have a chat....’- but I started to read this book whilst on a plane, fortunately one that supplied wine, so I could just concentrate on reading, as once I had started, I did not want to put it down.

From the first page I felt tense and on the edge of my seat, as a working mother myself I could feel the absolute panic of being late for collecting a child, and then, even worse, not being able to find her.

The story goes from discomfort to disbelief, Julia’s daughter really is not there & I ached with her, knowing I also would have blamed myself.

Uncomfortably, we are also given an insight into the mind of the kidnapper, cleverly making you, the reader, involved in the story. This leads to frustration, as I wanted to help Julia, but couldn’t.

As Julia’s life as she knew it collapses around her, there is a mid story twist, and Julia’s reactions I think are totally believable. I did suspect who the kidnapper was, but many false trails were also laid & I was not ready for some final surprises.

I did feel that all loose ends were tied up a little neatly & coincidentally by the end, but for suspense with a dose of sheer terror at one stage, this is a great read- and I was sorry that my flight ended before I had finished it!

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My rating....