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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
I waned a relief from some of the heavy reading I've been doing and found it in this satisfying mystery that has enough uncertainty to keep me engaged to the end.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Kim Leamy teaches photography in Melbourne, when she is approached by an American man convinced that she is his sister, who disappeared from their home in 1990. What follows is a fast-paced, psychological thriller, told in the present, and 1990. There is plenty of intrigue, red herrings galore, and a satisfying conclusion.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Lots and lots of great reviews of this on line, and no wonder. Gripping from the first sentence - " 'Mind if I join you?' the stranger asked." 30 year old Kim lives in Melbourne, and is on a break between photography classes when a stranger from America sits her down and tells her on the fourth page, that she is not who she thinks she is, that she in fact went missing some 28 years earlier from her family home in Kentucky, USA.
Naturally it can't possibly be true, but to her distress, it is quickly apparent that there could be more to this than Kim realises. After considerable agonising, she makes the long journey to Manson, Kentucky to find out for herself who she really is, what did happen in 1990, and how on earth did she end up in Australia?
So good, so gripping, so many possibilities. The story telling and plot unfolding is first rate, the character reveals are unexpected and chilling. I loved every page of this, and have since read this author's second novel The Wife and the Widow, also very good, but I think this is better.
Naturally it can't possibly be true, but to her distress, it is quickly apparent that there could be more to this than Kim realises. After considerable agonising, she makes the long journey to Manson, Kentucky to find out for herself who she really is, what did happen in 1990, and how on earth did she end up in Australia?
So good, so gripping, so many possibilities. The story telling and plot unfolding is first rate, the character reveals are unexpected and chilling. I loved every page of this, and have since read this author's second novel The Wife and the Widow, also very good, but I think this is better.
challenging
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Cracking debut! I look forward to reading more from Christian White.
I devoured this book. It is an easy read yet with a very complex and keeps-you-guessing plot. I don’t often read mysteries but this is one I would highly recommend. Hard to believe this is the author’s debut novel.
Christian White’s The Nowhere Child is the latest in that new wave of Australian crime writing that is attracting an international audience. Like Jane Harper’s The Dry, it, too, has won a Victorian Premier Literary Award and, fresh on the heels of its Australian publication success, will be published in the UK next month.
But there’s an important difference here: this book, to me, does not feel particularly Australian. Only a fraction of it is set Down Under (in suburban Melbourne); the bulk of it is set in Kentucky, USA. For that reason The Nowhere Child feels too generic to be classified as “Southern Cross Crime”, though I’m sure that won’t stop the publishers from marketing it as such.
That said, it’s a fast-paced read (as you would expect for a psychological thriller) and has an intriguing premise: Kim Leamy, a young Australian photographer, is approached by a man, who claims she’s really Sammy Went, a toddler abducted from the USA 20 years earlier.
This news, greeted at first with disdain and disbelief, turns Kim’s life upside down. If she’s really Sammy Went, how did she get to Australia? Was her late mother responsible? Has her entire life been based on a lie?
To read the rest of my review, please visit my blog.
But there’s an important difference here: this book, to me, does not feel particularly Australian. Only a fraction of it is set Down Under (in suburban Melbourne); the bulk of it is set in Kentucky, USA. For that reason The Nowhere Child feels too generic to be classified as “Southern Cross Crime”, though I’m sure that won’t stop the publishers from marketing it as such.
That said, it’s a fast-paced read (as you would expect for a psychological thriller) and has an intriguing premise: Kim Leamy, a young Australian photographer, is approached by a man, who claims she’s really Sammy Went, a toddler abducted from the USA 20 years earlier.
This news, greeted at first with disdain and disbelief, turns Kim’s life upside down. If she’s really Sammy Went, how did she get to Australia? Was her late mother responsible? Has her entire life been based on a lie?
To read the rest of my review, please visit my blog.