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celtic67's review
4.0
What a great book this was. So full of twists and turns. keeps you second guessing yourself. The premise is basically, the body of 85 year old woman turns up in the abandoned Blackwater Asylum. What is her connection, if any, to the asylum? Though it could be called a police procedural, I think it's more a psychological thriller, as it focuses on secrets and connections to the asylum. Thanks to the author , publishers and NetGalley for the ARC. which I've reviewed honestly.
itputsthebookupontheshelf's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to love this story. The synopsis alone was enough to draw me in, give me an abandoned asylum any day, and I want to read about it. Throw in some murder, and I'm sold!
Unfortunately, there were just too many characters that really didn't need to be there. There are times when the little bits and pieces that you get from different characters add to the story. In this case, it was all way too much to keep track of. I found myself getting confused with all of this extra information.
The story itself was good if you were able to cut out all the extras. It is well written and atmospheric, and I enjoyed the twists and turns that the story took. For a debut, I think it was quite good and look forward to reading any upcoming books from this author.
**Audiobook Review**
I didn't love the narrator, not to say that he didn't do a good job. I always listen at 2x speed and was tempted to bump it up to hold my interest more, but because of the accent, instead bumped it down to 1.8x. Davies does a great job. This is just a personal preference.
Besides the pacing, Davies voice fits the MC perfectly. His vocal influctuations were on point and made you feel like there were real conversations going on. There weren't huge differences in character vocals, but they were there. I think a lot of confusion came from the story itself and not from the narration.
Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK and Netgalley for the gifted copy
Unfortunately, there were just too many characters that really didn't need to be there. There are times when the little bits and pieces that you get from different characters add to the story. In this case, it was all way too much to keep track of. I found myself getting confused with all of this extra information.
The story itself was good if you were able to cut out all the extras. It is well written and atmospheric, and I enjoyed the twists and turns that the story took. For a debut, I think it was quite good and look forward to reading any upcoming books from this author.
**Audiobook Review**
I didn't love the narrator, not to say that he didn't do a good job. I always listen at 2x speed and was tempted to bump it up to hold my interest more, but because of the accent, instead bumped it down to 1.8x. Davies does a great job. This is just a personal preference.
Besides the pacing, Davies voice fits the MC perfectly. His vocal influctuations were on point and made you feel like there were real conversations going on. There weren't huge differences in character vocals, but they were there. I think a lot of confusion came from the story itself and not from the narration.
Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK and Netgalley for the gifted copy
mrsbrownlovestoread's review against another edition
4.0
The Bone Jar - Review (No Spoiler version)
An abandoned asylum, mysterious former patients and murder.
As I carefully chose my Amazon first reads this month this book had me desperate to start reading it (I even abandoned my current read for it!) not being able to resist the description on the back of the book. “Unspeakable psychological experimentation, and a dark force that haunts the ruins, trying to pull back in all those who attempt to escape,” had me thinking this would be a freaky, hide under the blanket book. However, I was mildly disappointed as it turned out to be a run of the mill “who done it” crime story. This is where my disappointment ends, I was completely hooked from the first page, no messing around straight in with a body being discovered.
Then follows the gathering of information by the Police Officer in this case Detective Lew Kirby, I was slightly frustrated at his lack of questioning, I thought he could have and should have asked more questions, or general police work, I'm fairly sure in this day and age a simple google search of the deceased would have been completed.
By about 50% through the book the facts start to come together and Kirby starts to slowly connect the dots. By 80% the book starts to climb to the finale and at this point (even though it was 11pm) I could not put it down. I was going to finish this book no matter what the time!
I think this had the potential to be a really creepy story, as I read the synopsis I was thinking ghosts, hauntings and some seriously questionable experimentation.
Overall this is a good mix of drama and suspense. A great page turner for sure, however, It would have gotten 5 stars had the ending not left me feeling a bit flat. It felt like the author had suddenly remembered that there was an element of the story left unfinished so she quickly added a few pages at the end.
An abandoned asylum, mysterious former patients and murder.
As I carefully chose my Amazon first reads this month this book had me desperate to start reading it (I even abandoned my current read for it!) not being able to resist the description on the back of the book. “Unspeakable psychological experimentation, and a dark force that haunts the ruins, trying to pull back in all those who attempt to escape,” had me thinking this would be a freaky, hide under the blanket book. However, I was mildly disappointed as it turned out to be a run of the mill “who done it” crime story. This is where my disappointment ends, I was completely hooked from the first page, no messing around straight in with a body being discovered.
Then follows the gathering of information by the Police Officer in this case Detective Lew Kirby, I was slightly frustrated at his lack of questioning, I thought he could have and should have asked more questions, or general police work, I'm fairly sure in this day and age a simple google search of the deceased would have been completed.
By about 50% through the book the facts start to come together and Kirby starts to slowly connect the dots. By 80% the book starts to climb to the finale and at this point (even though it was 11pm) I could not put it down. I was going to finish this book no matter what the time!
I think this had the potential to be a really creepy story, as I read the synopsis I was thinking ghosts, hauntings and some seriously questionable experimentation.
Overall this is a good mix of drama and suspense. A great page turner for sure, however, It would have gotten 5 stars had the ending not left me feeling a bit flat. It felt like the author had suddenly remembered that there was an element of the story left unfinished so she quickly added a few pages at the end.
imogroos's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ndbeyer's review against another edition
5.0
Really enjoyed this book- stories characters were weaved together skillfully for me and I felt an affinity for most of them- Raymond, Connie, Lew... Will definitely read the next in the series
thebibliomaniac's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kdaverson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
lesliewatwar's review against another edition
3.0
This most interesting part of this book for me was that is was based on a factual location. I immediately Googled it and was entranced by history.
The Bone Jar was a good thriller I would recommend to those that don't want to read anything too dark.
I had to pay close attention at times and others places lagged.
Thanks NetGalley for the read!
The Bone Jar was a good thriller I would recommend to those that don't want to read anything too dark.
I had to pay close attention at times and others places lagged.
Thanks NetGalley for the read!
kellyvandamme's review against another edition
5.0
The Bone Jar, what a title! I was fully intrigued and I hadn’t even read the blurb yet! And then I did read the blurb, and then I read it again, and in the end I virtually tripped over my own feet in my haste to sign up. You see, I have some trigger words, in a good way: words that are guaranteed to pique my interest and trigger me into wanting to read the novel if they’re in the blurb. One of those words is “secret”. Did you read the blurb? Check! Another, and one I hadn’t even realised until now, is “asylum”. Oh my giddy aunt, an asylum! An ABANDONED DERELICT asylum! With underground bunkers and secret rooms and *whispers* unspeakable psychological experimentation, ooooooh!
Kids, I was so enthusiastic about this one that I read it right after I got it, namely May. I regret nothing. Except maybe that I can’t read it again for the first time, but then again, I will definitely read it a second time, not in the least to try and spot any clues Ms Kane left and I missed the first time around. Yeah, it’s one of those novels where you reach the end and think: was the truth really staring me in the face this whole bloody time and did I still miss it?! I think it was! I need to go back and check!
So, what do we have here? An elderly woman found murdered in an abandoned asylum. Few pages in, and we already have our first mystery to solve. Because who is she? And why the hell would anyone want to murder an eighty-something woman? At the same time, a man has gone missing in the vicinity of Blackwater Asylum. Did he have anything to do with the murder? Did he just go on a bender? Or might he have witnessed something he shouldn’t have? Bam, second mystery! And they only pile on from there. The more the police discover about Blackwater, the more questions pop up.
Of course I gobbled up the mysteries, the questions whose answers kept eluding me, the slowly unravelling secrets, but there is more to The Bone Jar. While it’s excellent fiction, it also sheds a light on a treatment used in psychiatric hospitals in the 60s and 70s: Deep Sleep Therapy. I found that fascinating and most definitely an enrichment of the story, knowing that the practice and malpractice of said technique is based on real facts.
The Bone Jar has such an atmospheric setting, not just because of the asylum but also because it’s set in the dead of winter, with the cold and the snow creating a gloomy sort of mood. It has a whole array of interesting characters, notably DCI Lew Kirby, whom I adored, Connie, an urban explorer, and Raymond, a former Blackwater patient. I do hope to see more of Kirby, The Bone Jar would be an excellent start of a new police procedural series, and if that’s the case then hopefully Connie will be back too. I also feel there are a few details left to clear up or expand upon, and I’d be first in line for a sequel!
The Bone Jar is so intricately woven that at one point I wondered if I should start drawing up family trees to keep all the facts straight. My brain must have short-circuited at least once, but you know what? This is 100% worth straining your grey cells for! I loved how it all came together in the end and how Blackwater’s dark history was finally laid to rest.
For me, The Bone Jar more than lived up to the expectations the blurb had created, I thoroughly enjoyed it and if you, like me, can’t resist a brooding thriller set in an asylum, then I’d happily recommend you add this one to your TBR!
Kids, I was so enthusiastic about this one that I read it right after I got it, namely May. I regret nothing. Except maybe that I can’t read it again for the first time, but then again, I will definitely read it a second time, not in the least to try and spot any clues Ms Kane left and I missed the first time around. Yeah, it’s one of those novels where you reach the end and think: was the truth really staring me in the face this whole bloody time and did I still miss it?! I think it was! I need to go back and check!
So, what do we have here? An elderly woman found murdered in an abandoned asylum. Few pages in, and we already have our first mystery to solve. Because who is she? And why the hell would anyone want to murder an eighty-something woman? At the same time, a man has gone missing in the vicinity of Blackwater Asylum. Did he have anything to do with the murder? Did he just go on a bender? Or might he have witnessed something he shouldn’t have? Bam, second mystery! And they only pile on from there. The more the police discover about Blackwater, the more questions pop up.
Of course I gobbled up the mysteries, the questions whose answers kept eluding me, the slowly unravelling secrets, but there is more to The Bone Jar. While it’s excellent fiction, it also sheds a light on a treatment used in psychiatric hospitals in the 60s and 70s: Deep Sleep Therapy. I found that fascinating and most definitely an enrichment of the story, knowing that the practice and malpractice of said technique is based on real facts.
The Bone Jar has such an atmospheric setting, not just because of the asylum but also because it’s set in the dead of winter, with the cold and the snow creating a gloomy sort of mood. It has a whole array of interesting characters, notably DCI Lew Kirby, whom I adored, Connie, an urban explorer, and Raymond, a former Blackwater patient. I do hope to see more of Kirby, The Bone Jar would be an excellent start of a new police procedural series, and if that’s the case then hopefully Connie will be back too. I also feel there are a few details left to clear up or expand upon, and I’d be first in line for a sequel!
The Bone Jar is so intricately woven that at one point I wondered if I should start drawing up family trees to keep all the facts straight. My brain must have short-circuited at least once, but you know what? This is 100% worth straining your grey cells for! I loved how it all came together in the end and how Blackwater’s dark history was finally laid to rest.
For me, The Bone Jar more than lived up to the expectations the blurb had created, I thoroughly enjoyed it and if you, like me, can’t resist a brooding thriller set in an asylum, then I’d happily recommend you add this one to your TBR!