Silent Child by Sarah A. Denzil
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Read: 6th July 2018
Purchase: Amazon
★★★★★ 5 stars
SILENT CHILD is a dark, gripping and rather an original novel about a subject which is just as dark and harrowing. The disappearance of a child is harrowing; the murder of a child is harrowing; the kidnap and systematic abuse of a child is a dark place many do not want to go. But this book isn't about that. It's about a little boy's disappearance and subsequent reappearance ten years later, and his mother's heartbreaking story of coming to terms with it and then having her life turned upside down again.
Emma was a young mother of 18 when she gave birth to Aiden. Six years later, during one of the worst floods in a hundred years, Aiden vanishes from school, feared drowned in the gushing river Ouse. The only thing found was his red coat and Aiden was presumed dead. Emma was consumed with grief, especially after the sudden death of her parents in a car crash. Seven years after, Emma had him legally declared dead. She moved on, got married and was pregnant with her second child. She is at peace. Then the unthinkable happened...
Ten years after his disappearance, Aiden was discovered wandering in a daze near the forest wearing only pants. He was taken to the hospital, DNA tests run and a match returned the result that he was Aiden. But something's wrong. Aiden is silent. He won't speak. He won't respond to anything or anyone. Just stares unseeingly at a TV screen or at nothing. Yet his body tells the story of abuse. Her life now turned upside down three weeks before her baby is due, Emma tries to reconnect with her teenage son but is met with blank stares and flinched at being touched. Together with Aiden's father Rob, Emma's husband Jake, Rob's parents Peter and Sonja, and Emma's best friend Josie, Emma tries to make sense of what has happened to her son in his missing years and if he would ever be able to tell her.
This book opens with Emma reliving Aiden's disappearance and as the story unfolds it is narrated by a grief-stricken Emma, grieving for the son she lost and the missing years she lost when he returns. The journey she takes us on is a painful one - from reliving the pain of his disappearance, the heartbreak at losing her parents, the emptiness of her life that becomes a living breathing nightmare she endures every day...until she decides she no longer can. It was her husband Jake who saved her from rock bottom and gave her life meaning again.
SILENT CHILD is a dark, unsettling but wild ride. It is fast paced and thrilling, and keeps you guessing just which way the story will unfold. Who could you trust? Who told the truth? Who lied? Whose lives were just a mask hiding who they really were? It had me second guessing everyone! At one point I even suspected something was amiss with her best friend when Emma couldn't get her on the phone...and I began to suspect Josie. Amidst all the red herrings, twists and turns only two people I completely trusted not to be behind it - Emma and Rob. But even that could have been a red herring as I have read some books where nothing is as it seemed and the "victim" was actually NOT! But throughout the unfolding of Emma's (and Aiden's) story, while I questioned everyone, one person stood out...even if just a little. And I kept coming back to that constant niggle that something wasn't right... I wasn't sure, but I felt that it made sense that this person had something to do with Aiden's disappearance.
This book is written from Emma's perspective in the first person throughout, though one chapter near the end is from Aiden's, which was poignant. To finally hear his voice and to hear his story was agonising.
While I did figure out who it was, I don't feel this book was predictable at all. Maybe in some ways as psychological thrillers do tend to follow a kind of silent narrative but it still had enough mystery and suspense to surprise and shock the reader. I read ALOT of psychological thrillers and I mean ALOT. But mostly they are just another book I read and enjoy in that moment...but this one is one that stays with you and haunts you.
What impressed really impressed me was to discover SILENT CHILD was a self published novel. This hauntingly harrowing story bypassed the usual avenues of publishing and Sarah Denzil did it all herself. Well done. This was the first book I have read by this author and I doubt it will be my last.
A dark, disturbing yet brilliant psychological thriller. A must for fans of this genre!
Emma was a young mother of 18 when she gave birth to Aiden. Six years later, during one of the worst floods in a hundred years, Aiden vanishes from school, feared drowned in the gushing river Ouse. The only thing found was his red coat and Aiden was presumed dead. Emma was consumed with grief, especially after the sudden death of her parents in a car crash. Seven years after, Emma had him legally declared dead. She moved on, got married and was pregnant with her second child. She is at peace. Then the unthinkable happened...
Ten years after his disappearance, Aiden was discovered wandering in a daze near the forest wearing only pants. He was taken to the hospital, DNA tests run and a match returned the result that he was Aiden. But something's wrong. Aiden is silent. He won't speak. He won't respond to anything or anyone. Just stares unseeingly at a TV screen or at nothing. Yet his body tells the story of abuse. Her life now turned upside down three weeks before her baby is due, Emma tries to reconnect with her teenage son but is met with blank stares and flinched at being touched. Together with Aiden's father Rob, Emma's husband Jake, Rob's parents Peter and Sonja, and Emma's best friend Josie, Emma tries to make sense of what has happened to her son in his missing years and if he would ever be able to tell her.
This book opens with Emma reliving Aiden's disappearance and as the story unfolds it is narrated by a grief-stricken Emma, grieving for the son she lost and the missing years she lost when he returns. The journey she takes us on is a painful one - from reliving the pain of his disappearance, the heartbreak at losing her parents, the emptiness of her life that becomes a living breathing nightmare she endures every day...until she decides she no longer can. It was her husband Jake who saved her from rock bottom and gave her life meaning again.
SILENT CHILD is a dark, unsettling but wild ride. It is fast paced and thrilling, and keeps you guessing just which way the story will unfold. Who could you trust? Who told the truth? Who lied? Whose lives were just a mask hiding who they really were? It had me second guessing everyone! At one point I even suspected something was amiss with her best friend when Emma couldn't get her on the phone...and I began to suspect Josie. Amidst all the red herrings, twists and turns only two people I completely trusted not to be behind it - Emma and Rob. But even that could have been a red herring as I have read some books where nothing is as it seemed and the "victim" was actually NOT! But throughout the unfolding of Emma's (and Aiden's) story, while I questioned everyone, one person stood out...even if just a little. And I kept coming back to that constant niggle that something wasn't right... I wasn't sure, but I felt that it made sense that this person had something to do with Aiden's disappearance.
This book is written from Emma's perspective in the first person throughout, though one chapter near the end is from Aiden's, which was poignant. To finally hear his voice and to hear his story was agonising.
While I did figure out who it was, I don't feel this book was predictable at all. Maybe in some ways as psychological thrillers do tend to follow a kind of silent narrative but it still had enough mystery and suspense to surprise and shock the reader. I read ALOT of psychological thrillers and I mean ALOT. But mostly they are just another book I read and enjoy in that moment...but this one is one that stays with you and haunts you.
What impressed really impressed me was to discover SILENT CHILD was a self published novel. This hauntingly harrowing story bypassed the usual avenues of publishing and Sarah Denzil did it all herself. Well done. This was the first book I have read by this author and I doubt it will be my last.
A dark, disturbing yet brilliant psychological thriller. A must for fans of this genre!
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