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lemanley's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
marosberg's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.0
emmascr's review
4.0
This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Bookouture for letting me take part in this tour and for my copy of this book via Netgalley. This is the third book in this series but all can be read as standalones.
This book was a real heartbreaker. Poor little Zoe goes through so much, it's easy to see why Amanda has such strong maternal feelings for her. It was really nice to see Amanda open herself up. She was so closed off at the beginning of the first book and she has grown so much since then.
This case was really interesting. At first, there were just so many questions. Nothing seemed to add up. There seemed to be no motive and no suspects. Amanda and Trent are relentless though. They uncovered clue after clue and eventually everything pieced together. Amanda lived up to her surname with balls of steel in one scene.
Carolyn does such a good job of showing that a Detective has a life outside of the job too. She expertly weaved in Amanda's mother's trial and how this was affecting Amanda and her family. She showed how much dedication you need for this job and how sometimes you have to cut yourself off to really focus.
This was a tense and thrilling story that I could not put down. I read it late into the night as I just had to know what happened next.
This book was a real heartbreaker. Poor little Zoe goes through so much, it's easy to see why Amanda has such strong maternal feelings for her. It was really nice to see Amanda open herself up. She was so closed off at the beginning of the first book and she has grown so much since then.
This case was really interesting. At first, there were just so many questions. Nothing seemed to add up. There seemed to be no motive and no suspects. Amanda and Trent are relentless though. They uncovered clue after clue and eventually everything pieced together. Amanda lived up to her surname with balls of steel in one scene.
Carolyn does such a good job of showing that a Detective has a life outside of the job too. She expertly weaved in Amanda's mother's trial and how this was affecting Amanda and her family. She showed how much dedication you need for this job and how sometimes you have to cut yourself off to really focus.
This was a tense and thrilling story that I could not put down. I read it late into the night as I just had to know what happened next.
nannykaren's review
5.0
I've only just got to read The Silent Witness so I can get into the next book in the series. What a book. Brilliant storyline, Amanda Steel is an awesome detective, Carolyn Arnold had written get so well, she is so believable. We watch Amanda's maternal heart come back after her grief for her daughter a while ago, with the youngster who needs protective care following the murder of her parents. Loved it.
smilesgiggle's review
2.0
This book was just not a standout plot for me. I enjoyed the characters - very likeable, but the plot was predictable, slow and did not hold my interest.
annieb123's review
5.0
Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
The Silent Witness is the third Amanda Steele procedural thriller by Carolyn Arnold. Released 24th Sept 2021, it's 294 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is a tensely written, action driven procedural with loads of atmosphere and a feeling of real threat. The opening scene, almost a prologue, which sets up the entire plot arc was difficult to read with its brutality. The author has very good technical expertise with descriptive prose, and although the dialogue is a bit rough in places, it's never clunky and I never found myself yanked out of the story by overwrought descriptions or action.
This is definitely not a cozy mystery and much of the action, which includes home invasion, violent murder, and a traumatized child, may be potentially triggering to some readers. There are now 5 extant books in the series, with a 6th due out in late 2022, so for fans of procedural thrillers, this is a solid contender for binge reading. Despite being the third book in the series, all necessary back-story is provided in context, and the mystery is self contained in this volume, so it could be read as a standalone.
The author is adept and competent. Although it's not at all derivative, the vibe here felt a lot like Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books, and fans of that series will likely enjoy this one as well.
Four and a half stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
The Silent Witness is the third Amanda Steele procedural thriller by Carolyn Arnold. Released 24th Sept 2021, it's 294 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is a tensely written, action driven procedural with loads of atmosphere and a feeling of real threat. The opening scene, almost a prologue, which sets up the entire plot arc was difficult to read with its brutality. The author has very good technical expertise with descriptive prose, and although the dialogue is a bit rough in places, it's never clunky and I never found myself yanked out of the story by overwrought descriptions or action.
This is definitely not a cozy mystery and much of the action, which includes home invasion, violent murder, and a traumatized child, may be potentially triggering to some readers. There are now 5 extant books in the series, with a 6th due out in late 2022, so for fans of procedural thrillers, this is a solid contender for binge reading. Despite being the third book in the series, all necessary back-story is provided in context, and the mystery is self contained in this volume, so it could be read as a standalone.
The author is adept and competent. Although it's not at all derivative, the vibe here felt a lot like Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books, and fans of that series will likely enjoy this one as well.
Four and a half stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
achoward's review
3.0
The third in the Amanda Steele series opens with a bang, so to speak. In the wee hours of the morning, Angela Parker nudges her husband Brett and tells him there's someone in the house. While he investigates, she gets their very young daughter Zoe, then hides in the closet. She hears Brett being shot, and then with dread, waits her turn as the intruder discovers her.
Steele is called to the scene, and she and her team (plus everyone else who shows up at a murder) move around the interior of the house, looking for anything to give a clue as to who these people are, what they did for a living, and if they recently mad someone incredibly mad. They quickly realize that Zoe is not there - not in the closet, not behind mom in the closet - and think perhaps the intruders have taken her. The child is about the same age as Steele's daughter was when she died, and eventually Steele finds the girl in a wicker basket at the foot of the bed.
Zoe, for her part, traumatized by what she's seen and heard, does not speak - thus, the silent witness. Much of the first third of the book revolves around Steele gaining Zoe's trust and getting her to talk and Steele's own, constant, inner thinking about how she misses her daughter and doesn't want to get close to Zoe. Despite this, she does wind up taking Zoe in, since the girl is likely in danger.
The team pulls the strings of the investigation, eventually pulling in a connection to another case involving a sitting rep in the city, a hotel seemingly in the middle of nowhere, another unsolved murder, and corruption under their noses.
The pacing is fairly taut, and the writing is fine - no major bumps except the drumbeat of Steele insisting to herself that the kid will be put into the system, that she can't handle it, and so on. That did get a little old by about the 60% mark, but it eases up toward the end.
The end...I'm not a big fan of bad guy infodumps at the end. But we get one, and not a bad shootout to go with it, which kind of made up for that.
Solid three out of five stars.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the reading copy.
Steele is called to the scene, and she and her team (plus everyone else who shows up at a murder) move around the interior of the house, looking for anything to give a clue as to who these people are, what they did for a living, and if they recently mad someone incredibly mad. They quickly realize that Zoe is not there - not in the closet, not behind mom in the closet - and think perhaps the intruders have taken her. The child is about the same age as Steele's daughter was when she died, and eventually Steele finds the girl in a wicker basket at the foot of the bed.
Zoe, for her part, traumatized by what she's seen and heard, does not speak - thus, the silent witness. Much of the first third of the book revolves around Steele gaining Zoe's trust and getting her to talk and Steele's own, constant, inner thinking about how she misses her daughter and doesn't want to get close to Zoe. Despite this, she does wind up taking Zoe in, since the girl is likely in danger.
The team pulls the strings of the investigation, eventually pulling in a connection to another case involving a sitting rep in the city, a hotel seemingly in the middle of nowhere, another unsolved murder, and corruption under their noses.
The pacing is fairly taut, and the writing is fine - no major bumps except the drumbeat of Steele insisting to herself that the kid will be put into the system, that she can't handle it, and so on. That did get a little old by about the 60% mark, but it eases up toward the end.
The end...I'm not a big fan of bad guy infodumps at the end. But we get one, and not a bad shootout to go with it, which kind of made up for that.
Solid three out of five stars.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the reading copy.
eserafina42's review
3.0
Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky, but as I've been wont to do lately, I found quite a few things about this book that were problematic/unbelievable. On the other hand, I did keep reading. Most of these things include spoilers.
1) Given all the hysteria around QAnon and their unfounded claims about powerful politicians being involved in child sex trafficking, I question the wisdom of using this as a plot point right now, although to be fair, it does seem as if it's something the author has been working up to in the previous books (which I have not read), so maybe it was just an unfortunate coincidence in timing.
2) These are supposed to be professional killers. Yet we’re asked to believe that not only did they use the congressman’s boat as a murder scene, but that they left the registration number in plain view for people to see and look up, not even doing anything to hide or obscure it.
3) The idea that the congressman himself would get involved in pressuring the motel manager to allow the motel to be used by the trafficking ring. Someone like that would (unless he was truly stupid) never do his own dirty work, especially with someone at a low level whom they don’t even know if they can trust not to spill the beans. He also doesn't even have any layers between himself and the ownership of the warehouse where the little girl is eventually found.
4) The idea that they would even use the motel, where they had already been caught and which would therefore be on law enforcement's radar, a second time.
5) I also found the villain - or at least the one who appears "on stage," the police chief - to be completely over the top in her villainy.
Maybe I'll read another one in this series some time, but at the moment I'm leaning against it.
Spoiler
1) Given all the hysteria around QAnon and their unfounded claims about powerful politicians being involved in child sex trafficking, I question the wisdom of using this as a plot point right now, although to be fair, it does seem as if it's something the author has been working up to in the previous books (which I have not read), so maybe it was just an unfortunate coincidence in timing.
2) These are supposed to be professional killers. Yet we’re asked to believe that not only did they use the congressman’s boat as a murder scene, but that they left the registration number in plain view for people to see and look up, not even doing anything to hide or obscure it.
3) The idea that the congressman himself would get involved in pressuring the motel manager to allow the motel to be used by the trafficking ring. Someone like that would (unless he was truly stupid) never do his own dirty work, especially with someone at a low level whom they don’t even know if they can trust not to spill the beans. He also doesn't even have any layers between himself and the ownership of the warehouse where the little girl is eventually found.
4) The idea that they would even use the motel, where they had already been caught and which would therefore be on law enforcement's radar, a second time.
5) I also found the villain - or at least the one who appears "on stage," the police chief - to be completely over the top in her villainy.
Maybe I'll read another one in this series some time, but at the moment I'm leaning against it.
wyokat's review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This is the 3rd in the series and I didn’t read the first two, so that may make a slight difference in my rating. I liked the characters and it was an interesting plot. At times it went from here to there too quickly.