BOOK SYNOPSIS
Worn down by a job he hates, and a stressful family life, middle-aged, middle-class Bradley picks up a teenage escort and commits an unspeakable crime. Now she’s tied up in his warehouse, and he doesn’t know what to do.
Max is homeless, eating from rubbish bins, sleeping rough and barely existing – known for cadging a cigarette from anyone passing, and occasionally even the footpath. Nobody really sees Max, but he has one friend, and she’s gone missing.
In order to find her, Max is going to have to call on some people from his past, and reopen wounds that have remained unhealed for a very long time, and the clock is ticking…
Hard-hitting, fast-paced and immensely thought-provoking, Faceless – the startling new standalone thriller from New Zealand’s ‘Queen of Crime’ – will leave you breathless.
The plot of this dark and unfortunately far too believable thriller centre's around three authentic,emotionally damaged individuals who resided on opposite sides of the social divide.
The chapters which vary in length rotate between the perspectives of middle aged,middle classed Bradley, eighteen year old, homeless artist and part time prostitute Billy and her fellow homeless friend Max. The night that Bradley picks Billy up in his car is the catalyst for a hard hitting and thought provoking story in which the reader will bear witness to Bradley's gradual mental deterioration as he struggled with his conflicting feelings and emotions. Billy's feisty battle to retain her dignity and stay alive and Max being forced to confront people and events from his past during his desperate search for his missing friend.
During the story, the author raises the frankly disgraceful,demeaning and realistic attitude of many aspects of society towards the unfortunate individuals who find themselves living on the streets. As it also is in reality, in the story, life on the streets is a constant battle, not just against the elements but also the threats of unprovoked violence,intimidation and judgement from all walks of life. People find themselves homeless for a variety of reasons, life can go wrong in the blink of an eye, you never know what fate has in store for you. That homeless person huddled in the doorway, trying to keep warm could be any one of us in the future. There was a unfortunate and shocking sense of realism and reality to the complete change of attitudes towards Max after he was encouraged to smarten himself up by blunt, outspoken, Detective Sergeant Meredith. As well as highlighting the bad aspects of society, the author had also included some scenes in which Max encountered characters who surprised him with their individual acts of kindness and sympathy. Max had only been homeless for a couple of years, what had gone so badly wrong in his past that had caused him to walk away from his career and family and take up a life living amongst the homeless?
I found my anxiety levels became ramped up to the max whenever I came to Bradley and Billy's parts of the story. Witnessing the unravelling of Bradley's psyche, how easily he justified his treatment of Billy and knowing that she was completely at his mercy was a nerve shredding and chilling experience. Billy was a really likeable, feisty character and many of her chapters were permeated with a intoxicating blend of foreboding, fear and her desperate will to survive. But as Bradley's behaviour became more erratic and unpredictable, how long would it be before he lost complete control of his actions? Would Max figure out where Billy was being held captive in time to save his friend? Or was Billy destined to become another addition to the missing faceless statistics?
Wow....just wow, I loved this fast paced, intense, thought provoking thriller that hooks the reader in from the first page, keeps you captivated and glued to your kindle. The characters were a mixed bag of vivid, realistic individuals, some more likeable than others. The story is extremely well written and caused me to experience a wide range of conflicting emotions as the story unfolded and works its way towards its breath taking conclusion which contained a very pleasing dash of poetic justice. I would love to watch a movie or tv adaptation of this outstanding thriller. This is the first book that I have read that was written by this author and it most definitely will not be my last. Worth far more than five stars and very very highly recommended.
AUTHOR INFO
Twitter @vandasymon, Instagram @vanda -symon, Facebook, @vandasymonauthor, Website,www.vandasymon.com.
PUBLICATION DATE: 17th January 2022
PURCHASE LINK....
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Faceless-Vanda-Symon-ebook/dp/B09HBQ9XZP/ref=sr_1_12?crid=1YOSOLP1BDZZE&keywords=faceless&qid=1646114666&s=books&sprefix=Faceless%2Cstripbooks%2C179&sr=1-12
PLEASE REMEMBER TO CHECK OUT THE POSTS OF THE OTHER BLOGGERS WHO HAVE STOPS ON THIS BLOG TOUR
Thanks for the blog tour support x
ReplyDelete