Nicki`s Life of Crime : BLOG TOUR, BOOK REVIEW - The Good Samaritan by C J Parsons

BOOK DESCRIPTION

When her five-year-old daughter disappears from the park, Carrie's world shatters. She is tortured with worry and she blames herself. What if her inability to read facial expressions has put her child in danger?

But just days later, a stranger finds Sofia and brings her home.

Carrie should be relieved, but the abductor is still out there, still unknown. Still after her child.

And are those who have offered their help really the good Samaritans they seem... or has Carrie missed the warning signs?

DCI Juliet Campbell normally had no problems reading people that she met whilst carrying out her investigations but when she first interviews Carrie Haversen she has no idea what to make of her. When she usually meets the parents of missing children, they are generally hysterical and demanding action and answers but Carrie is just sat in front of her displaying no sign of any emotions with a blank face and talking in a bland robotic voice. As the interview progressed Juliet struggled to control her feelings of frustration but then Carrie suddenly revealed that she suffered from social - emotional agnosia aka facial expression blindness and also had autistic traits. These two stubborn, strong willed women who each had their own psychological character traits are the main voices throughout this captivating thriller. Carrie was a complex character and I thought that the author had done a fantastic job of portraying a condition that I have never heard of so couldn't imagine knowing how to live with. Her descriptions of Carrie's struggles to figure out how to interact properly with other characters seemed realistic. And it was heart breaking to watch her gradually accepting Josh and Tara into her isolated life and her refusal to accept that maybe she was to trust one or both of them. On the subject of Josh, I personally thought that taking consideration her autistic traits and what had happened to Sophie, I thought she put a lot of trust in him a bit too quickly. I really liked DCI Campbell nd I loved the interactions between her and brash Irish DI Alistair Larkin. The team were a mixed bag of realistic individuals and I was pleased that the police investigation which was packed full of red herrings, twists and turns and loads of dead ends wasn't bogged down by police politics, backstabbing and oneupmanship. The third voice in the story was little Sofia who was a realistic mix of five year old emotions, character traits, needs and demands.But what would motivate someone to abduct a innocent young girl only for her to be found and returned home so quickly? How can Carrie keep her daughter safe when she wouldn't recognise danger of it as staring her in the face.

This is a extremely well written, roller coaster ride that hooks in the reader from the first page and keeps you glued to your kindle and frantically turning the pages. It's packed full of twists and turns, keeps you guessing and has a prevailing sense of foreboding that increases as the story unfolds. I would love to watch a film adaptation of this book. I thought this was a fantastic read and would love to watch a film adaptation of this book. Worth far more than five stars and very very highly recommended.

AUTHOR BIO

CJ Parsons was born in London and grew up in Canada. She worked as a newspaper reporter at Canada's Globe and Mail before moving to Hong Kong, where she became a columnist at The South China Morning Post. She also spent two years covering crime, seeing first-hand the disturbing forces that drive people to kill, something that has informed her writing to this day.

After returning to Britain, she moved into television news, working as a broadcast journalist for both the BBC and CNN International. CJ is now

a senior producer at CGTN. She lives in north London with her twelve-year-old daughter.

PUBLICATION DATE 1st September 2020

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0854DLKHK?pf_rd_r=FMC8EW6A2GRZ8W14HCGN&pf_rd_p=e632fea2-678f-4848-9a97-bcecda59cb4