The Forgotten Child by D.E. White
Genre: Thriller
Read: 2nd October 2019
Purchase: Amazon
(release date: 27th September 2019)
★ 1 star
Firstly, I have to say I love Daisy White's Ruby Baker series set in 1960s Brighton so I was thrilled to see her branch out into the psychological thriller genre. Upon reading the synopsis (blurb) for this book, I must say I was incredibly intrigued and excited by the the promising storyline. It was such a unique concept that left many questions as to how it might play out.
The story begins with Holly Kendal driving in the dark and driving rain with her young son Milo in the back, who is lost in the game he is playing that Holly has to keep telling him to turn it down so she could concentrate. Before long a car begins tailgating her at very close proximity with bright headlights blinding her in the rear view mirror. When another car is approaching from the opposite direction, seemingly on her side of the road, Holly must swerve to avoid colliding with him blasting her horn at the same time.
Meanwhile the car behind her is still hot on her tail, if not closer. Suddenly she is shunted from behind and tries to keep her own car on the road when the one behind rams her again. She over-corrects and ends up plummeting down the embankment and into the woods, stopping short of a tree. Both Holly and Milo are unconscious.
When Holly awakes, her first thought is of Milo as she scrambles in the twisted wreck in search of her son. Despite the pain shooting through her body, she climbs out and manages to open the back door to see Milo unconscious but unharmed. But then she sees Milo is not the only one in the backseat. There is a second child, also unconscious...and Holly has no idea who he is or where he has come from.
A passerby has seen the accident and called for emergency services despite not remaining at the scene (that alone is illegal here in Australia), and Holly finds herself and Milo transported to hospital along with the mystery child. She is given the all clear and Milo just has a few cuts and a broken leg, but the other child is not so lucky. He remains in a critical condition in a coma, his identity still unknown.
But things take a surprising turn when DNA taken from the mystery child reveals a familial link to Holly. How can that be? All her family are dead, except for her father and a childless aunt. So who is this mystery child?
And that is where any similarities to the outline for the story ends. What we are given instead is a story surrounding a criminal community and the families involved who thrive on the proceeds of drugs and human trafficking. While the story showed promise at the outset, the synopsis given was very misleading as it didn't really focus on the child at all but more about the seedier side of organised crime. The whole thing felt sordid and grubby, and was a disappointment. I couldn't even finish it so I've no idea how it all ended up or who the child was and how he fit into the story.
The few characters I met up to the point I gave up, I didn't like. Not even Holly. Her ex-husband was a piece of work. He cheats on her, moves in with his teenage bit of fluff and somehow everything that happens is Holly's fault. He is a classic narcissist who thrives on accolades of applause and attention and once he no longer receives that, he looks for it elsewhere. The fact that he was Holly's university lecturer should have been a red flag to her then. He basked in her adoration of him but when that wore off, he traded her in for a younger model. He was vile and I felt I needed a shower after listening to his tirade. Holly's father was once head of a criminal empire on the estate from which she came - something her ex-husband never let her forget. Her aunt still lived on the estate and she was OK, but I still think she had rose coloured glasses when it came to the estate. And I got exhausted listening to Milo.
Much of the book I found hard to follow and slightly convoluted. It chopped and changed from past to present without really much indication, making my head spin. I didn't know where I was half the time.
I was disappointed as I really expected more of a psychological thriller, and THE FORGOTTEN CHILD was more of an action-based story about organised crime. Not my cup of tea at all. It seems THE FORGOTTEN CHILD really was forgotten in this story.
However, reading is a personal thing and what appeals to one may not appeal to another. While I didn't particularly enjoy THE FORGOTTEN CHILD I'm sure there are many others who will. But don't judge by the synopsis as it is very misleading and not really about that at all (a pet peeve of mine). If you think you might enjoy it from what I've outlined, then why not give it a go?
I would like to thank #DEWhite, #NetGalley and #HGDigital for an ARC of #TheForgottenChild in exchange for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment