Book Review: The Child by Fiona Barton

Book CW: Child abduction; Death of a Baby; Rape, Rape drugged; sexual assault; child abuse; paedophilia (a young teenager); sexual crime ring; consent issues; child grooming; grooming; mental illness from trauma; parental negotiate. 

People are the worst.

When a paragraph in an evening newspaper reveals a decades-old tragedy, most readers barely give it a glance. But for three strangers it’s impossible to ignore.

For one woman, it’s a reminder of the worst thing that ever happened to her.

For another, it reveals the dangerous possibility that her darkest secret is about to be discovered.

And for the third, a journalist, it’s the first clue in a hunt to uncover the truth.

The Child’s story will be told.

This is the second book by Fiona Barton and the second following old school reporter Kate Waters, now on to another case. I did review the first one. This time the body of a baby is found. This book deals with just as heavy subjects as the last book (hence the content warnings). I think pretty well, revalent to real-world events so not a great book for escapism.

Because we've given three POV almost from the start, you know there's a reason why we're hearing these two women. Obviously, Kate Waters is a reporter and slowly come across the other two and their connection to the baby. Once again, I wouldn't call this a thriller, because it's mostly characters reflecting back and there's no urgency to what is going on, besides the slow death of Journalism. Kate is the only one whose present day is the big factor of this story. This for people who like fictional crime cases and exploration of characters dealing with consequences far after the fact.

This deals with lots of characters including ones who are very unlikable. I don't think I really connected to these characters as people, which is not an issue for me. Maybe if I had that would have added stars.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book, as read by Finty Williams, Steven Pacey, Adjoa Andoh, Clare Corbett and Fenella Woolgar. This book had a bigger cast with three main voice actors, Clare Corbett is back the Kate Waters character I think. The cast was good, and distinct from each other.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for Journalist Ethics. Once again a well-crafted novel; I am planning on listening to the next book in the series, I'm curious about how that will go with it being set in another country from these ones.

Finished reading 5th January 2020, Reviewed 8th January 2020.

Book Review: The Widow by Fiona Barton

Book CW: Child Abuse, paedophilia, computer grooming, murder, child murder, infertility, unhealthy relationships, minor domestic abuse (isolating, being in control of life decision, gaslighting), mentally unstable characters, questionable consent porn, sexual crime ring;

This is a case where you shouldn't stand by your man.

When the police started asking questions, Jean Taylor turned into a different woman. One who enabled her and her husband to carry on, when more bad things began to happen …

But that woman’s husband died last week. And Jean doesn’t have to be her anymore.

There’s a lot Jean hasn’t said over the years about the crime her husband was suspected of committing. She was too busy being the perfect wife, standing by her man while living with the accusing glares and the anonymous harassment.

Now there’s no reason to stay quiet. There are people who want to hear her story. They want to know what it was like living with that man. She can tell them that there were secrets. There always are in a marriage.

The truth - that’s all anyone wants. But the one lesson Jean has learned in the last few years is that she can make people believe anything …

This is a book dealing with crime and investigation. I wouldn't call it a thriller as I think it's too slow pace and there's no big surprise at the end. Yes, there is that climax at the end but no real tension building up to that. I often do read books where I figured out the ending page one, so I don't mind that, but this could be a bit misleading as this is sold as a thriller. I get why the publisher has done so but it's more like a slow exploration through the past of the characters, rather active present as its told.

This is told in multiple points of view: the Widow, the Reporter and the Officer. All talking about their connection to a murder case. The widow, Jean is the wife of a man accused of killing a child and going through their relationship. Kate the reporter is the one who this series turns out to be, as she does her own investigating. She basically what reporters should be like and her best pal the officer who gives her inside information. All the characters are on the older side and near to the end of their careers which is an interesting insight as Journalism and Police investigation have both changed a lot in the past 30 years. Fiona Barton is a retired Journalist which probably why Kate became the stand out character.

Jean is both a sympathetic character and sometimes dislikable. She has let a man dominant her life, which is sort of understandable for her generation, but it also goes to the extreme lengths in the divorce age. The author talks about in an interview included with this book, that she wanted to explore the wives of these men accused/who have done terrible crimes. I believe this woman exists, but not sure if I like her, which is fine as you don't have to like a character for their story to be worth reading. I hesitate to say enjoy because of the terrible subject matter of this book.

I listen to this on audiobook. It's a well-done production, Clare Corbett does a good job of distincting each POV character. Also does announce whose who every time, I know some audiobooks don't. Listening to this book would be a good way to consume this book.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for Locked Computers. This is a well-crafted novel, with characters slowing building up a case together and was an interesting idea. I think the idea is strong enough that other writers would do something completely different while both having good books come out of it. I would read a book with this same premise but more importantly more by Fiona Barton.

(Though, her having worked for the Daily Mail is off-putting). I now have reviewed the sequel.

Finished reading  29 December 2019.

Book Review: The Unforgotten by Laura Powell

It ain't a serial killer without a type.

It's 1956 and fifteen-year-old Betty Broadbent has never left the Cornish fishing village of St Steele or ventured far beyond the walls of the boarding house run by her erratic mother. But when the London press pack descends to report on a series of gruesome murders of young women, Betty's world changes. In particular she is transfixed by mysterious and aloof reporter, Mr Gallagher. As the death toll rises, an unlikely friendship blossoms between Betty and Gallagher. But as their bond deepens, they find themselves entangled with the murders and each is forced to make a devastating choice, one that will shape their own lives - and the life of an innocent man - forever.

The only reason I finished this novel was that I wanted to know if I was right about the plot. I didn't fully read the summary before I started listening to it because I was in a hurry to find an audio book  for the long drive home. If I had read the whole description, then I wouldn't have pick it up. It doesn't help that Laura Powell has the same name as another writer, who I thought this was when I picked it up. This is made more confusing by the fact they both British with Welsh links. This is (one of the reasons) why pen names are a thing.

The opening is really strong, introducing us to Betty and what's the situation going on within the village. It really hooked me in.  However, then the next chapter is a flash forward to 2006 Mary, a pathetic 65 year old that has no motivation and is waiting for the sweet kiss of death. Except for revealing what happened in 1956, I didn't care what went down in these chapters involving Mary. Especially, as1956 Mary is completely unlikable without a redeemable thing about her and 2006 Mary is the same.

The biggest problem is the characters. They are all terrible, uninteresting people who only grow more unlikable the more time you're forced to spend with them. I liked and was invested in Betty in the beginning but this was ruined half way into this book. She starts as a capable 15 year old who often left to run a hotel by herself due to her mentally ill mother. The complicated nature of her relationship with mother, who is most likely Bipolar, was done really well. The more the book goes on the more Betty becomes like the other characters who are whinny and bland. You can have unlikable characters, but they should be distinct from each other. 

An another big issue is the romance. Even if you look past that Gallagher is double the age of an underaged Betty, he is still terrible to her. He's all we can't do this but keeps doing it while being a jerk to her. The plot largely rides on this relationship and the Betty we get at the beginning disappears into him. While some people do start relationships and change into them, Betty is gone immediately for plot reasons. It some what mixed signals about whether we are meant to like this relationship or not. I get the feeling we are, in the beginning Gallagher is described as younger, so you don't realise that he middle age for this time period straight away.  I'm almost anti-romance in books in general, so this might be less of an issue for some other people, but Gallagher is still a grown arse man who blames everything on a 15 year old and still gets to play hero.

The plot in theory is really good, but the execution is weak. I honesty don't think anything is gained by having parts set in 2000s. A lot of the better parts of plot go undeveloped and the ending is rushed. I figured out the ending and thought it would actually be really good until we got there. Then it was unsatisfying and Betty has no agency at all. Yes, she directs the plot but its to kick someone else into gear. The mystery is what actual mystery are like, you don't know who it is until they tell you. I did figure it out but this more random guessing. This hard to explain without spoiling but I will try my best. I have a really big issue with the solution. I totally believe it, it works. However, we get no overshadowing so it ends up being lazy and stereotypical.

I listen to this on audio book and I wouldn't recommend it. Not sure if it was the voice actress
or the writing but parts often sounded like audio description. I lean towards writing, as we got sentences for actions e.g. Betty put her shoes on. The main reason I would suggest reading over listening is I often had to rewind back to clarify what was said. The end was especially bad for this but I think is mainly to do with the ending being rushed.

Overall, I give this book 2/5 stars for Missing Knifes. There's an interesting idea here, but the execution is done terribly. Some things are done well which I wished more time spent on these aspects. As this is Powell's debut novel I'm incline to be more forgiving, e.g. maybe she doesn't realise than none of the female character has any real agency. There's definitely a good novel in her. This isn't it- for me at least. I would read her again if the plot was right.