16-year-old Sadie Saunders is missing.
Five friends set out into the woods to find her.
But they’re not just friends…
THEY’RE SUSPECTS.
You see, this was never a search party.
It’s a witch hunt.
And not everyone will make it home alive…
THE CHALK MAN meets THE HUNTING PARTY in this gripping story; witness four suspects as, alongside DI Fleet, you attempt to discover the truth about what happened to Sadie…
An excellent and intriguing premise, and a solidly-written novel too. DI Fleet is engaging and likeable, and the mystery at the heart of the story has a great deal of potential.
However, this novel didn’t really work for me. I found the teenagers to be difficult to believe in – their relationships with each other and the way they interacted didn’t feel very authentic. I did wonder why they were friends at all. And I felt that the way the real story was revealed in the end wasn’t really effective. It just felt as though all the ins and outs were just relayed, with no human interaction or reaction.
Fleet, as I say, is a great character and his past trauma adds a real depth to him. I felt that this could have been more drawn out and explored.
It’s a clever idea with a lot of potential, but it missed the mark for me.
Alison Williams Writing 