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thebooktrail88's review against another edition
4.0
A holiday home, a party, a missing child, a ‘ripped from the headlines’ novel
Spending time at a holiday home in Bournemouth with an influential bunch of people sounds like a nice premise but this group are never going to be your friends. They are rich, spoilt, self absorbed and their personalities are ‘unique’. The wealth and privilege they enjoy is evident from the holiday home at Sandbanks and the food and drink on offer. the way they speak, their attitude. Each has reacted differently to Coco’s disappearance. Now Sean has died, his fourth wife and all those left behind start to reveal their secrets, their memories of what that fateful weekend involved.
Two narratives, past and present, with the facade of happiness ripped up and revealed amongst a media frenzy, now a funeral in the Sandbanks community.
There is not too much I can or want to say about this book really for the fear of spoiling it. Largely character driven rather than location based as such, this is like looking inside a family, behind the facade of wealth and every kind of judgement that brings and really revealing piece by piece how other people live, how families cope with a disappearance of a young child and what this all means 12 years later. I can’t say I liked any one of the characters but then this is what makes the novel so fascinating. Parents partying whilst their little children look on, a house full of wealth but manipulation and devious secrets too. I’m always chilled in an Alex Marwood novel and this was no exception!
Spending time at a holiday home in Bournemouth with an influential bunch of people sounds like a nice premise but this group are never going to be your friends. They are rich, spoilt, self absorbed and their personalities are ‘unique’. The wealth and privilege they enjoy is evident from the holiday home at Sandbanks and the food and drink on offer. the way they speak, their attitude. Each has reacted differently to Coco’s disappearance. Now Sean has died, his fourth wife and all those left behind start to reveal their secrets, their memories of what that fateful weekend involved.
Two narratives, past and present, with the facade of happiness ripped up and revealed amongst a media frenzy, now a funeral in the Sandbanks community.
There is not too much I can or want to say about this book really for the fear of spoiling it. Largely character driven rather than location based as such, this is like looking inside a family, behind the facade of wealth and every kind of judgement that brings and really revealing piece by piece how other people live, how families cope with a disappearance of a young child and what this all means 12 years later. I can’t say I liked any one of the characters but then this is what makes the novel so fascinating. Parents partying whilst their little children look on, a house full of wealth but manipulation and devious secrets too. I’m always chilled in an Alex Marwood novel and this was no exception!
ladyeremite's review against another edition
3.0
This book is obviously based on the disappearance fo Madeleine McCann, with enough fictional elements added to raise the intrigue and prevent a libel charge. However, if you are familiar with the theories surrounding that case - the "disappearance" of a supremely photogenic, very possibly sedated three-year-0ld daughter of a wealthy family from an unsupervised room at a vacation home while her parents and their friends are at dinner - then it's hard not to see the parallels. The additional plot elements and characters Marwood adds are the ones that end up being the important ones for her story however. In general, it's a well-crafted and well-written thriller, although, particularly at the beginning, the sheer quantity of perspectives can be hard to keep track of, some important elements of the plot are left unanswered and the ultimate resolution(s) to the mystery of Coco's disappearance don't entirely make sense.
caroparr's review against another edition
3.0
I found this looking for a good thriller, and it partly satisfies. The mystery of the toddler's disappearance is compelling, the reveal and then the second, final reveal are wonderfully tricky, and some of the bad guys get what they have coming to them. But these rich, obnoxious adults are hard to take and I did not enjoy spending time with them.
myrdyr's review against another edition
4.0
3.8/5 stars. I liked it a lot, but I found the end a little unsatisfying.
bellvswvn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
bkish's review against another edition
4.0
This is a thoroughly absorbing book and I was completely engaged from start to finish. Its a mystery and its about a class of people in Britain. Author is british
I think he is an excellent writer tho it is far from a great book a great literary undertaking it is not. It is what it is. the characters are mostly awful people. A young woman Milia studies in her own way personality disorders and later learns that her younger sister does that too. they are all the adults narcissists. Their life is of little value and they do much harm.
The story develops well and at the end I was disappointed in how it ended and yet it was the right ending given these people
Judy
I think he is an excellent writer tho it is far from a great book a great literary undertaking it is not. It is what it is. the characters are mostly awful people. A young woman Milia studies in her own way personality disorders and later learns that her younger sister does that too. they are all the adults narcissists. Their life is of little value and they do much harm.
The story develops well and at the end I was disappointed in how it ended and yet it was the right ending given these people
Judy
yamoone's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.5
zaheerah's review against another edition
3.0
EDIT 19/04/16: holy shit, was this book supposed to similar to the Madeleine McCann disappearance?? I only just realised the similarities now that the case has resurfaced. Many of the aspects here are similar to the Madeleine McCann case (e.g. parents drugging the kids, leaving them unsupervised so they could go out)
~ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review~
Sean Jackson’s three year old twin daughter, Coco, has gone missing leaving only Ruby and no one has a clue what happened. The media blames their mother, but what really happened to the little girl? The Darkest Secret plays over two weekends, set twelve years apart. The first is in 2004 where various friends and family are attending Sean's 5oth birthday weekend while the second is set twelve years later during the weekend of Sean's funeral.
This book was an intense read with engaging characters and drama that focuses on a terrible group of rich people. (for some reason, I can imagine this being a BBC program??) They were horrible- to themselves and to each other. I've never read a more self absorbed group of people like these, which makes it even more fascinating to read as you read on trying to figure out what happened and hopefully learn the truth behind the disappearance of Coco.
Marwood has written a unrelentless novel that creates a group of egoistic characters, and throughout the narrative there is a sense of complete horror as they reveal how far they will go. Overall, a thrilling novel which I felt had a slow start but once the story kicks in, it's really compelling.
~ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review~
Sean Jackson’s three year old twin daughter, Coco, has gone missing leaving only Ruby and no one has a clue what happened. The media blames their mother, but what really happened to the little girl? The Darkest Secret plays over two weekends, set twelve years apart. The first is in 2004 where various friends and family are attending Sean's 5oth birthday weekend while the second is set twelve years later during the weekend of Sean's funeral.
This book was an intense read with engaging characters and drama that focuses on a terrible group of rich people. (for some reason, I can imagine this being a BBC program??) They were horrible- to themselves and to each other. I've never read a more self absorbed group of people like these, which makes it even more fascinating to read as you read on trying to figure out what happened and hopefully learn the truth behind the disappearance of Coco.
Marwood has written a unrelentless novel that creates a group of egoistic characters, and throughout the narrative there is a sense of complete horror as they reveal how far they will go. Overall, a thrilling novel which I felt had a slow start but once the story kicks in, it's really compelling.
nell_reads's review against another edition
3.0
The first thought that comes to mind is how horrifying this book is. But at the same time I’m amazed at how good it is as well. It’s been a long time that a book just pulled me in and would not let go. True fact? I found this book at the dollar store. Why? I don’t know but at the same time I’m sad it’s a dollar but also I can see WHY it’s dollar. It pulls you in until you don’t let go and then it just releases you with a feeling of WTF!!! That’s the only way I can describe it 🧐
bustedsunsets's review against another edition
1.0
I don't think I've ever read a book where I've hated so many characters. What horrible, horrible people. At least the kids had redeeming qualities.