The Family Lie by Jake Cross
Genre: Thriller
Read: 21st April 2019
Purchase: Amazon
(release date: 23rd April 2019)
★★ 2 stars
Like many others, I chose this book for the cover and the missing child description. It's a common theme with thrillers these days - the missing child concept - but it is also one that never grows old as each writer puts a different spin on it. However, while I liked the idea behind this story, it was the execution and delivery I found inadequate.
THE FAMILY LIE begins with mother Anna Carter waking in the middle of the night to find daughter Josie and husband Nick missing, window and patio doors open, rain pouring in and blood on the step. She phones the police in a panic to report them missing and before long it becomes obvious that the police suspect Nick of taking Josie. Particularly when she receives a message from Nick stating as much and that he hopes she has enough pictures of Josie because that's all she has of her now. Or words to that effect.
Nick becomes prime suspect in little Josie's disappearance. But Anna doesn't believe Nick is responsible. Someone else has taken her child. But all the evidence points to Nick. That is, until the police receive information that Nick has been found - reported to be drunk and disorderly. Tests later confirm that he was drugged with ketamine and his confusion was due to the heavy dose given. Under heavy questioning, the police manage to get some semblance of a story of what actually happened from Nick.
The police move in to their house, set up an incident room in their dining room and from then on it seems to be a race to nowhere. The kidnappers call and list their demands - among them, £50,000 in a plastic bag inside a shoebox, delivered by Anna, and ONLY Anna. Anna complies and follows their instructions...only to be told "We want Nick to deliver the money" and that it was "time to pay his dues". I'm guessing this was to send police into a flurry and to look into Nick's past to see what it was he had done to warrant this. But apart from a few questions about "what did that mean?", it simply went overlooked. If it was meant to be a red herring for the reader then looking into Nick's past was warranted. So when the police failed to follow it up, as a reader I wasn't particularly interested...but it stayed at the back of my mind in case their lack of investigation WAS the red herring and they were really looking into it "on the QT". Whatever.
The entire "money drop" by Nick was in part intriguing as well as being a seemingly wild goose chase. The kidnappers just appeared to be toying with him for the fun of it. I admit, there was suspense in the running around to estate agents and charity shops, changing trains, tossing phones and picking up another and racing here there and everywhere. But it was a little drawn out. When suddenly the drop was made, that was it. Now what?
Then Anna disappears and Nick receives a text from her stating that he was not Josie's real father and apologies for the way she went about getting their money to run away. Ending with she hoped HE had enough pictures of Josie in his mind because he will never see her again. Really? Nick wasn't even slightly suspicious? Questioning is this what it's really about?
And so begins another race for the truth...whatever that is...
I admit that I struggled with this book. I found it hard to get into the story and the style of writing was incredibly hard to follow. I often found myself having to re-read sentences and/or paragraphs several times before I could work out what was going on. It was not just odd, it was frustrating. Then there were the "flashbacks" or past events that weren't even indicative as such. The reader was taken back and forth constantly without any real clear guidance that I had to keep flipping back pages and re-reading parts to work out what was happening. Most authors title such events to separate them from the present, making it far easier for the reader to follow.
But that was not the only thing. There was just so much going on in the story that it too made it hard to keep up and to follow. Mostly this can be incorporated in such a way that everything flows and blends together but not this book. Everything was just so convoluted. It was confusing and all over the place. Half of what was in this book could have been reduced and still kept the pace of the story intriguing enough for the reader.
Then there was my biggest hate - long chapters. I use the Kindle app where it tells you how long is left in the chapter, and honestly, chapters that went for not just 45 minutes but and hour and 3 minutes? That just drags the whole thing out and made reading this book a real chore. Long chapters do NOT make for fast paced or exciting reading. And then within each of these long chapters, were little parts broken up for each separate scene between Nick, Anna, the police etc. All of this could have been done in separate chapters! Not parts separated with a decorative filigree within a huge long chapter. And as the book is broken into two parts, I didn't see the point of that. There was no great shift in perspective to warrant Part One and Part Two, in my opinion. For that to work, a Part Three should have been added in that case for the real story to unfold in.
And then there's the writing. I had to agree with a few other reviewers of the poor choice of words on many occasions. The biggest being where the the kidnapper Anna refers to as "ball cap" puts his hand between her legs and she "doesn't even care because it might mellow him." No way. I'm a woman. Instinct would have us thrust his hand away, no matter the cost. It's instinct. No woman would let a man put his hand between her legs without invitation unless she had been a past victim to sexual abuse or, as one reviewer stated, was a sex worker. And being neither of those, it was too out of character for Anna to allow this just to mellow him. This is not how a woman would react. I don't think the writer understands women or how they, or a mother, would react in such a situation.
Words. The writer must love words. The book is too wordy. Too much monologuing and description. Not enough dialogue. Where's the connection between the characters? Where's the conversation? The dialogue? This is what connects people. This is what connects the readers to the characters. Not overt descriptions of action. I could't connect with any of the characters. The closest I could was DCI Miller, and even she annoyed me with her constant use of "dear" at the end of every sentence and always adding "apologies for that, but" into the middle of a conversation. Police don't generally apologise for everything. The use of both words was patronising.
DCI Miller did remind me a little of "Vera" but not as motherly and a lot more patronising. While it was only hinted at once during a phone call Nick inadvertently overhead, it appears Miller was gay with the use of the other person's name being Liz. It could be a child but instinct told me the way the conversation was carried it was a partner. However, this was not built on. I found he writer did a lot of that. Threw tidbits of information about a character without actually following through with it, so we as readers don't actually get the full picture to connect with the character. I know it was paramount to the story, but it helps give the character more depth. When she suddenly disappeared at the end, I kind of felt like Nick did in his reaction to her no longer being there.
None of the characters had much depth. They all just seemed to just be there, a little wooden, many without focus or purpose.
And all the while the reader could be forgiven for forgetting that this story was about a missing child because there was nothing to connect you with her. The story seemed to be mostly about the chase and the games the kidnappers seemed to be playing, as well as secrets coming to light. Nothing about Josie at all. All the rubbish on the drive back from London to Sheffield was a load of bollocks!
"On the M1 four things happened..." This confused me. Four things? What four things. It was then broken down into driver locations, but these things could have been woven into the story subtly or eliminated altogether. They weren't mind-blowing. In fact some were even unnecessary. And what of Anna saying she doesn't want a funeral for Josie? There is no evidence to suggest she is dead! Then jumping out of the car to suddenly throw herself off a cliff.
However, while there was a lot I didn't like about THE FAMILY LIE, I did enjoy the second half more as the pace picked up in the excruciatingly hour long chapter detailing Nick's race to drop the ransom and the kidnapper's taunting. But only marginally. There was a lot of unnecessary additions that could have been left out.
The writer's use of the same words or phrases throughout the book wore a little thin. "And then it happened" and the over-use of "my little lady" when referring to Josie made my skin crawl. It was creepy. This, on top of Miller's constant "dear" and "apologies for this" as I said were a little patronising. It didn't endear her to me. In fact, she spoke to Anna and Nick like they were children.
Then there was DC Nadi, who was foul-mouthed and rude, and would have been on report for the way he treated and spoke to the family. While he may have ended up saving the day, his indifference STILL at the end did not endear me to him at all. Of course, his attitude was explained away...but only seemingly in passing and still didn't make me sympathise with him at all.
And in the end, what was it all for? Something from the past that suddenly came to light in a messy and convoluted way. THE FAMILY LIE had the potential to be a great and compelling read but it failed on more than one count.
I will say that one clever piece woven into the story was the secret messages from Anna to her sister and the kidnapper's to Anna. I thought that was a touch of brilliance.
This is my second book by Jake Cross and I couldn't even get a quarter of the way through the first one, The Choice. And I had to struggle my way through this one. Needless to say, I will not be seeking out any more books by this author.
I would like to thank #JakeCross, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheFamilyLie in exchange for an honest review.
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