Find Me by Carla Kovach
Genre: Domestic thriller, Domestic drama, Suspense
Read: 15th July 2022
Published: 14th July 2022
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
I’ll never forget that day. It was blisteringly hot, and I begged our mother for an ice cream. As we left you with Dad, I didn’t know it would be the last time I saw your face. Minutes later, we returned to the end of the pier where we had parked your pushchair. Dad was asleep on a bench, and your little pink blanket was empty. You had vanished.
Twenty-five years later. The morning of the anniversary of Jess’s disappearance starts like every other for her sister Kate – a rushed school run, a cold cup of coffee and a quick scan of the news for updates. But when her phone beeps with a message from an unknown number, everything changes.
I know what happened to Jess.
Finally, Kate’s a step closer to getting answers to the questions that have tormented her for so long. Why was her mother so angry that day? How did her father sleep through his own daughter’s abduction? And when the police car came screeching towards the pier, how is it that nobody saw a single thing?
As she drives her young family to the seaside town to meet the mystery messenger, she feels uneasy. Who are they and why did they reach out now? But before Kate finds out, history repeats itself and her world is turned upside down once more.
Then Kate receives one final, terrifying message… will her pursuit of the truth cost the lives of everyone she has ever loved?
This completely unputdownable psychological thriller will have you hooked from the very first page. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and The Wife Between Us.
MY THOUGHTS:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Carla Kovach's atmospheric thriller FIND ME.
As a big fan of her Gina Harte series and having read her previous standalone "What She Did", I was excited to delve into the mystery surrounding baby Jess. The style in which it's written is very different from Gina Harte and its setting being Cornwall, incredibly atmospheric. Cornwall is one of my favourite settings for thrillers as the rugged unforgiving coastline, sheer clifftops, crashing waves and icy winds with horizontal rain create the perfect backdrop for an atmospheric thriller. And I have to say, as annoying as I found Kate, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. Well...almost.
It's been twenty five years to the day since baby Jess disappeared from the pier in Looe whilst on holiday with her family. And Kate has been riddled with guilt ever since, mostly because her mother no longer found any time for her since baby Jess arrived. Her parents never got over the loss and her father drank himself to oblivion ever since, driving both his wife and remaining daughter away. Now on the morning of the anniversary, Kate receives a message from someone on social media calling themselves Will Wilcox...
"I know what happened to Jess."
Kate knows what she has to do. She must go back to where it all began to uncover to the truth of what really happened that day. Someone in Looe knows what happened to Jess and Kate is determined to get to the bottom of it. So together with husband Damien and their daughters Millie and Rose, the family set off for the seaside town in Cornwall for a weeks' holiday...and for Kate to meet her mystery messenger. However, when she gets there she doesn't know who she is looking for or who they are. And as soon as she sets foot in the Old Smugglers pub, she can feel every eye on her. They all know who she is and why she's here. So what do they know? What is the town hiding? And who is her mystery messenger and why are they reaching out now? After twenty five years?
But the more Kate digs, the more distance she is putting between Damien and herself. He knows she is keeping something from him despite her promise to put it all behind her and move on with her life, putting the family first. And yet the more messages she receives the more she feels she cannot let this go. Whoever this is knows something and this is her last chance to find out what it is...and what happened that day to baby Jess. But can she discover the truth without putting herself and her family in danger? Before it's too late?
Kate was quite honestly a frustrating character and she was incredibly exhausting. I felt for her on the one hand yet I despaired at with the other. I could see where she was coming from but she behaved more like a mother who had lost her child rather than a sibling. Her over-protectiveness of her own children was understandable, particularly surrounding water, but I could also sympathise with her husband as he had not lived through that experience and he only had her retelling of it to go by. For him, she was overbearing and overprotective. But there were times I could have smacked him as well. And if he was so concerned about Kate's behaviour, why did he end up walking out and leaving the children with her? One of the greatest bones of contention with me is one person's refusing to listen to the other before cutting them off and ending all discussions on their say so. As if their partner's feelings don't matter because their own actions and feelings are justified based on whatever insight they seem to think they may have and leaving the other party voiceless. So Damien's actions in that respect just riled me.
The characters in Looe may have been few but they had their triangles and trysts and it all became a bit inbred with who was had been sleeping with who whilst married to whoever else. Is it no wonder the parentage of the children of such unions were questioned...if not by those involved, then by the reader at least. I know I did...several times. But what a tangled web the community wove for themselves. However, my suspect pool was narrowed down to a couple of possibilities and though I was hoodwinked here and there, I could not be lured away completely. In the end I was half right.
Filled with twists throughout, FIND ME is a tense and addictive drama that keeps you turning the pages wanting to know the fate of Jess and the truth about what happened that day twenty five years ago. It is packed full of secrets, lies and deceit from the first page right up until the final revelation.
Besides Kate's exhausting and frustrating behaviour, the only other complaint I have is about Kate's father. He had come such a long way that I felt to throw him into the bottom of a vodka bottle one again was a little insulting. He deserved far more redemption for the part he played alongside Kate. It felt unfair given the progress he had otherwise made.
Overall, FIND ME is a tense and atmospheric drama-filled thriller with plenty of twists and red herrings and one in which the villain could have been anyone. Cleverly plotted and well executed, I was thoroughly immersed within the pages until the very end.
I would like to thank #CarlaKovach, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #FindMe 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:
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