Snatched by Gillian Jackson
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 3rd October 2019
Purchase: Amazon
(release date: 28th September 2019)
★★★ 3 stars
A sucker for missing child investigations, I was excited to snap up Gillian Jackson's SNATCHED. Of course, a missing child is one of the most terrifying experiences for any parent and that fear and tension felt by the parents is palpable within these pages.
The story begins with an opening Prologue in 1988 in which two young children are found abandoned in a derelict building, their parents nowhere to be found. There is little food in the cupboards and fridge, and the stench of urine and excrement is unmistakable. The girl, who appears to be about 4 years old, shelters her barely 2 year old brother with her arms. When authorities attempt to goad them to safety, the girl screams and bites the social worker on the arm causing the little boy to cry. He had faeces clinging to his little legs, his face red from crying. The poor little mite must be in agony. It was not the worst scene the veteran social worker had come across but it was close.
In the present day, Danny Stone is an 11 year old boy from a middle class family - not affluent, but comfortably off. He is walking home from school one afternoon when he is suddenly grabbed off the street. He is driven to an unknown location about an hour away, seemingly far away from his home of Bristol. He has no idea who took him, where they were going or what they want with him. All he knows is that he is cold, alone and afraid.
Danny is the only child of Richard and Martha Stone. When they return home to find Danny isn't there, they begin to worry. Even more so when he's not home by nightfall. When his rucksack is found under a bush on the pavement where he dropped it, Martha and Richard know something terrible has happened to their son. The worst nightmare has become a reality.
DI Radford and DS Best are tasked with the investigation into Danny's disappearance. Then a ransom demand is made. Richard is vague about their ability to raise the money requested but Martha knows they have the £300,000 the kidnappers have asked for. What is Richard hiding? He quietly confides in Martha that he made some investments with their savings and isn't able to raise the cash immediately. But when she looks into their bank accounts which Richard keeps locked in study, she discovers that most of their money is gone. Surely not on these investments? What is he hiding? Why did he not tell his wife? After all, it was her money as well. So where did the money actually go?
They manage to scrape together £190,000 - but is it enough?
Then the kidnappers make contact and instructions for the delivery of the ransom are given. Richard is to make the drop - alone. The police stake out the area, covertly in place along the route to the drop point. But when Richard leaves to deliver the money he doesn't take the route they'd mapped out, instead driving in the opposite direction. Where is he going?
When Richard returns, he has new instructions. They kidnappers took what they had but they have given him another 48 hours to come up with the remaining amount plus an extra £10,000 for their trouble.
When the police question Richard, he lies. What is he really hiding?
Meanwhile, Danny is held captive in a derelict, abandoned farmhouse...and he forms an unlikely friendship with the boy whose mother is paid to keep watch. The young lad brings him food and water when he can and tells him that he will be released as soon as they receive the money.
As Danny begins to wonder if freedom will ever be in sight, he starts to think about escape. He asks Lewis, the young lad, to assist him with the promise that his parents will help him and his mother in recompense. But Lewis' mother is terrified of Pete, one of the kidnappers, and he doubts she will co-operate.
But can his new friend be trusted?
Unique in its narrative, SNATCHED is told in the third person from the perspectives of Danny, Martha, Richard and DI Radford. Through each narrative we are given a glimpse of their thoughts, their fears and their secrets. Martha and Richard both have secrets they have been keeping from the other - so how will they affect the safe return of their son?
A well-written psychological thriller with a slow building tension, SNATCHED has several twists and a couple of surprises that will complete the puzzle. I admit to discovering the final piece about a third of the way through before having the rest of the picture in place, so I wasn't sure where that piece fit. When it came together it finally made sense. Even the tie-in with the abandoned children in the Prologue at the beginning wasn't clear until the final chapters.
But the piece de resistance was the Epilogue, which was told in the first person, unveiling yet another twist no one saw coming.
SNATCHED was a very different "missing child" read but still oddly enjoyable.
I would like to thank #GillianJackson, #NetGalley and #SapereBooks for an ARC of #Snatched in exchange for an honest review.
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