A review by cassiecat
The Box by Dan Malakin

mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

A new author to me, it’s a thriller set in London. 

Ed Truman’s family is falling apart. He is being targeted by a group at his home and work place as he has been supporting his daughter Ally by putting an injunction against Men together’s website forcing it to shut down. His 16 yr old daughter Ally is being targeted by the organisation called Men Together, as she went up against them. She goes missing, Ed 

is accused of sexual assault and his dna is found on the body of a young woman. 

Is he guilty or is it a conspiracy? The answers are in the box, just one problem, not everyone who goes in comes out alive! 

This sounded like quite an action thriller to me from the blurb. 

The prologue seemed a bit weird and wasn’t a strong hook, it didn’t make me want to read the book, it felt like it might be a speculative futuristic thriller. It quickly turns into a police procedural. DCI Jackie Rose leads the Rapid and Serious Unit (RAS). Then it evens out into a blend of thriller and procedural with a decent dollop of suburban action. 

There’s a lot of names suddenly thrown at the reader when the police procedural element comes into play. To be honest I don’t think we needed them. 

I wasn’t totally invested in the characters. Ed grew on me, and I liked Phoenix.  There was definitely character development with Ed

I enjoyed it, it’s different which is what kept my interest, it’s got a decent pace, but it didn’t wow me. 

I was disappointed with the ending.