Lisa Stone

First of all, I just want to say that this book is one addictive page turner of a read. I just couldn't put it down. Wow!

I was so intrigued by the story of Derek Flint, a loner who lives with his mother but spends all his spare time locked in his bedroom watching the clients whose CCTV he has fitted. Yes, he's abused their trust by ensuring that he can access their cameras! Scary, huh?! But is he dangerous or harmless? Well, the police are onto him due to a number of crimes that seem to be show more connected to Derek in some way.

This is just a fantastic cat and mouse game for the police characters as they try to work out the connection. There's also a dark web element which I won't go into here, but which I found a little bit fascinating and a lot terrifying. It's not a scary book as such, but the scenarios are such that it makes you think about just what people are capable of and how we can leave ourselves wide open through the internet.

Derek is such an interesting character. Clearly a little on the odd side, he's also strangely likeable at times and the author has done a good job at creating somebody who I wasn't sure whether to like or dislike. The same with his mother, again a bit of a loner, someone who hasn't had an easy life but who has taken it out on Derek. How much of it is nature vs nurture?

The police characters provided the other side of the story, the investigative side. DC Beth Mayes and DC Matt Davis work well together and, although they weren't particularly fleshed out (the story isn't really about them), I liked both of them and think they could appear in future books by Lisa Stone.

Stalker is a completely and utterly gripping, engrossing read. What starts off as a case of voyeurism turns into something much darker and sinister, leading up to a fantastic ending. If you want a cracking good crime thriller then I highly recommend this one. show less

"One moment she is here...... The next she is gone..."

8-year-old Leila Smith has seen and heard things that no child should ever have to. She often stays out after dark to avoid going home and her drug addict mother isn't as attentive as she ought to be.

But what Leila doesn’t know is that someone has been watching her in the playground. One day, she disappears without a trace. The police start a nationwide search but it’s as if Leila has vanished into thin air. Who kidnapped her? What do show more they want? Will she return home safely or is she lost forever?

This book had me gripped right from the start. The premise of the book was what attracted me to it!

The book and all the characters were well written. I really admired the courage of Leila, being an eight year old, she is so amazing and street smart at her age. I felt both sad and annoyed at her mother, Kelsey, who is a drug addict. There were so many instances in the book when I just wanted to shake her bad and tell her to get her head straight and look for her missing daughter instead of taking drugs but I kept rooting for her till the end to change and make things better!

The story had lots of twists and turns that were unexpected, which made this book more enjoyable.

Thank You to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for this ARC!! show less

When Emily and Ben move to their new home, they find their neighbours a bit strange, but that’s just how it is at times. Even though Emily tries again and again to get in contact with Alisha, the woman refuses all kind of interaction. Only when one day, Emily accidentally stands in front of their house and hears cries for help, the neighbour thaws a bit. What she has to tell is awful: not only is she seriously ill, but the couple hides a disabled child in their home. Alisha is highly show more scared of her husband Dr Burman, an anaesthetist and control-freak who made her cut all bonds to her family and friends. The women work out how to trick him and for the next couple of weeks, they meet regularly in secret. But what Alisha always feared one day happens: her husband finds out about their meetings and swears that Emily will have to pay for intruding his house.

Lisa Stone’s thriller is an addictive and gripping story that captivates you at once and keeps you from putting the book down. The author reduced the characters to an absolute minimum, focussing on the two couples and their complex relationships. Especially the one between Mr and Mrs Burman is not only highly interesting, but – unfortunately - authentic and more than plausible. He is the prototype of an abusive husband who egoistically puts everybody and everything after his own will.

The plot is not very surprising, since you get all characters’ perspectives, you know what they are up to and what to await. Yet, this doesn’t reduce suspense even a bit, since the story is simply terrifying and fascinating in the most awful way. Mr Burman’s medical research in his shed directly comes from a science-fiction horror show, but, and that is the creepy part of it, what he is doing has been dreamt of by medical doctors and other researchers for centuries and now we seem to be in the possession of the knowledge and the means to make it reality.

I highly enjoyed reading this psychological thriller for its captivating and spine-tingling plot. show less

I have never ever felt such a strong negative emotion towards any character as I did for Jason/Shane in this book. I literally wanted to reach through the pages and put my hands on his throat and just squeeze. This character was the most despicable character ever. I think what grated me the most was how the author gave the reader his feelings, beliefs and reasons that he felt he could do these things to people. Not only was he horrendous to women, he was plain out horrible and rude to show more everyone who came in contact with him. Except, of course, those, and at times, he needed something done for him. Then he could be the most charming person ever.

This, of course, made for a pretty good book that I was seriously interested in. However, I did feel that there was a lot of the book that was included purely to add length to the book. Those parts did drag along and I ended up skipping several pages.

Overall, I think the book was a good read, just lengthy in some areas and repetitive. The cellular memory part was something that I was not aware of and was an interesting concept in the book. And, I still want to put my hands around that man's neck. HA!!

Thanks to Avon Books UK and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. show less