One Left Behind (DI Gina Harte #9) by Carla Kovach
Genre: Crime thriller, Crime fiction, Police procedural
Read: 12th July 2021
Audible
Published: 15th July 2021
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Music and loud voices echo through the woods surrounding her. Wiping her tears, she hears the rustle of leaves close by. Footsteps. She has no time to scream before a hand covers her mouth and her entire world goes black.
In a patch of forest on the outskirts of a small town, five teenage school friends prepare to spend a night away from home. Carrying their tents and sleeping bags, they laugh and joke as they make their way into the darkest part of the woods, away from prying eyes. But as the sun rises the following morning, only four are left alive.
Devastated, Leah’s friends all swear they didn’t see or hear anything. Her best friend sobs as she recounts what she remembers from that night – dancing, roasting marshmallows, sipping warm cans of beer by the fire – but is it grief, or is she hiding something? What happened to Naomi in the hour that no one can account for? And what troubled past lies behind the perfect manners of the boy who organised the trip, and who is prepared to lie to keep it buried?
As the cracks in their stories grow, it’s clear one of them is lying, and one of them is next…
Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Cara Hunter and Clare Mackintosh, One Left Behind is a thrilling crime novel that will have you hooked from the very first page!
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Carla Kovach's latest Gina Harte thriller ONE LEFT BEHIND.
Still haven't read the first two books in this series but I've been an avid fan of Gina Harte since "Her Pretty Bones" as I have watched her character develop as well as her relationship with her DCI, Chris Briggs. In the previous book, my reviewed stated that it was about time Gina got her act together and either settled with Briggs or not...as well as the constant bringing up of her past with and the death of her husband Terry. This time I've had to eat my words because both topics feature heavily in this exciting installment almost coming to a head.
A very difficult crime is at the forefront of this book and DI Gina Harte has been called to oversee. Five teenagers snuck out in the dead of night to camp out and party in the woods. Five went in but only four came out.
Naomi Carpenter wakes feeling groggy and unwell and takes herself off to answer the call of nature. She hears a twig snapping. One of the boys, Jordan or Oscar, probably spying on her. She yells that it's not funny. She hears another snap. Suddenly frightened she hurries to get back to camp, tripping over something on the way. Somebody's legs. It's Leah. What is she doing sleeping here? She was pretty wasted...maybe she crashed. But then she sees Leah's eyes, open and staring...and she screams.
Gina and her team have the task of investigating what happened in those woods but it isn't long before she gets the feeling that the teens are not telling her everything. They are admittedly shaken and admit to booze and drink and a little weed...but what else happened to make them clam up? What really happened in the woods that night?
Then the team discover two other teenagers who were invited to the party but didn't attend. Caro Blakely and Anthony Truss had been at a previous party that was held in the same woods two weeks before. So why weren't they at this one? What had happened to keep them away this time?
Desperate to remember what really happened at the last party, Caro keeps a notebook detailing the snippets of information that has come back to her. But who can she talk to about what happened? Not Oscar. She thought he liked her but she caught him having sex with Leah...or was it Elsa? Jordan's an idiot and Naomi it a bit of a bitch. Anthony? Yes, Anthony has always had her back. She needs to speak to him because someone is sending threatening messages via Snapchat, disappearing into oblivion after she's read them. They tell her to keep her mouth shut or she's next.
Meanwhile, Gina has had some threatening messages of her own. Someone, it seems, knows her secret. Someone apart from Chris. And he's been getting threatening messages as well. And to top it off, her daughter Hannah has sent her a strange text which leaves her worried. What does Hannah know? Is Gina's deepest secret about to be revealed? Is she about to lose everything she has worked for?
Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, Gina focuses on uncovering the truth behind the party in the woods and Leah's death. But before she can make much headway, another teen is discovered dead. Who is killing these kids? And why?
Then the team discover that a man with a prior conviction for voyeurism lives close by bordering the woods and he quickly becomes a suspect. Has his interest gone beyond looking to murder? Once his secret is out and published all over social media, a hate campaign begins outside his house in which his disabled wife is imprisoned and the recipient of all the hate. This aspect of the story is a sensitive one as the mystery broadens and delves into abuse, dependence and control. It makes for uncomfortable reading at times and it's a situation with which Gina sympathises greatly.
ONE LEFT BEHIND is a taut and tense crime thriller that is multi-layered with a lot going on both within and behind the scenes. It almost feels like a penultimate climax concerning Gina's past and leaves readers wondering is this the end of the road? The identity of who is making the threats is not surprising though I am surprised I didn't think of it at the time. But it does leave us pondering is time running out for Gina and her secret?
An intriguing and tense thriller, ONE LEFT BEHIND is a thrilling addition to the Gina Harte series and at last I enjoyed the relationship between her and Briggs, instead of being annoyed with her to-ing and fro-ing over it all. At last they were on the same side and frequency. I admit to shedding a tear at the end in her conversation with Hannah as Gina realises she can no longer hide the truth from her daughter.
Can be read as a standalone but due to the underlying theme, it is best read from the beginning.
I would like to thank #CarlaKovach, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #OneLeftBehind in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Since then she has written & produced several stage plays, has four self-published books, has acted in several independent films and is currently in the final stages of production of her feature horror film, Penny for the Guy.
She now writes full time as well as co-owning a film, photography & video production company located in the heart of Redditch town centre.
Social Media links:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads
No comments:
Post a Comment