In einer Sozialsiedlung nahe bei Southampton herrscht helle Aufregung: Ein Sexualstraftäter soll in dem Viertel einquartiert worden sein – in den Augen der Anwohner ein Skandal. Als dann auch noch ein kleines Mädchen spurlos verschwindet, kippt die Erregung in Hass um. Aufgebrachte Bürger toben auf den Straßen und verwandeln die Gegend in einen wahren Hexenkessel. Die Bilanz: drei Tote und zahllose Verletzte. Unversehens werden auch die junge Ärztin Sophie Morrison und Polizeiinspektor Tyler in die Ereignisse hineingezogen – und noch immer tappt die Polizei über den Verbleib des Kindes im Dunklen ...

Surely an indictment against low income high density housing estates.

Fast paced - read in one day. The riot kept me guessing the next move. In the end the resolution I felt was weak with various people getting their just deserts, but I guess public demand wants a happy ending. ( )

Good harrowing fiction - deals with real problems - but no answers! ( )

Disturbingly beautiful. Haunting and raw, fresh, honest prose.

This is really a 3.5.I enjoyed this book as a good suspenseful ride but I can't put it on the same level as a four star crime novel. Although I enjoyed it I was not really transported into the character's lives.Walters knows how to handle the pacing in her plot, she keeps things moving always at the right speed. Not breakneck speed, she knows when to apply the breaks but there was very rarely a slow moment or a time when the storyline did not progress.The characters were well written, but they still felt a bit flat or impersonal I guess. It felt like seven eighths of a novel and one eighth police report. It is told from the viewpoint of hind sight - and she keeps giving cryptic warnings during the narrative about what will happen next. (If only so and so hadn't done this or little did she know what would happen to so and so when she walked into the room.)In a way that was an interesting take on it, in another way I think it helped flatten out the characters and storyline a bit.What really interested me about this book is that it is actually set near where I live. Portisfield, where this story takes place is actually Portsmouth and the paedophile riots actually did happen and I remember reading about it all in the news. I don't believe it was half as violent or as atrocious as the scenario represented in this book - she took some dramatic license there!However, a couple of 'police reports' at the beginning were actually based on true life cases (the girl tied up in the bath) which unless you're from the UK and read it in the news every day you may not be so aware of. I will definitely be reading some more Walters in the future, she is a good author and if I want some guaranteed enjoyment I'll know where to turn. But nothing that really lit any fires under my bones. ( )