#BlogTour| #BookReview | THE CHILD (Paperback Edition) by Fiona Barton @figbarton (December 14th 2017, Transworld Books @TransworldBooks)

Welcome to my stop on this Blog Tour for the paperback edition release of THE CHILD by Fiona Barton.

I would like to say that I am blown away to be invited onto this blog tour! Particular thanks to Anne Cater, Transworld Books and of course the lovely Fiona Barton who gifted me an early copy of THE CHILD. I am forever grateful and promise that the review below is 100% honest and of my own views.

To kick off, we have the “blurb” for the book;

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.

 

So, you want to know what I think?

I have heard nothing but wonderful things both about Fiona Barton and also THE CHILD when it was released in hardback earlier this year. I jumped at the chance to read this book with the worry of suffering with FOMO!

The first thing I thought when reading this book was “Yup. I’ve got this all figured out. I know exactly what’s going on, etc, etc” which for those who read a lot of crime fiction, we always think we have it figured out. But in the case, I was so very wrong!

Like many great crime novels I’ve enjoyed, this is a fast paced and quick read. But quick and fast don’t necessarily mean terrible. Quite the contrary. Short chapters keep the story moving at a fast enough pace that it doesn’t becoming boring, but it gives the reader enough to keep an interest.

THE CHILD is not a fast paced action book with fist fights and car chases at every turn. If that is the type of book you enjoy to read, then I wouldn’t pick this book up. However, if what gets your juices flowing is a deeply emotional, character driven story – then this is the book for you.

What I have discovered is that Fiona has a skill at being able to give little pockets of detail, whilst keeping the reader guessing at to what is coming next. When the climax of this books occurs, I was left with a feeling of surprise. The twist in this book makes perfect sense to the plot and with realism that you don’t always get in some crime fiction. You can tell that Fiona has done her research!

THE CHILD has now set the bar pretty high and I am certainly looking forward to reading more of Fiona’s work!

About Fiona Barton;

My career has taken some surprising twists and turns over the years. I have been a journalist – senior writer at the Daily Mail, news editor at the Daily Telegraph, and chief reporter at The Mail on Sunday, where I won Reporter of the Year at the National Press Awards, gave up my job to volunteer in Sri Lanka and since 2008, have trained and worked with exiled and threatened journalists all over the world.

But through it all, a story was cooking in my head.

The worm of my first book infected me long ago when, as a national newspaper journalist covering notorious crimes and trials, I found myself wondering what the wives of those accused really knew – or allowed themselves to know.

It took the liberation of my career change to turn that fascination into a tale of a missing child, narrated by the wife of the man suspected of the crime, the detective leading the hunt, the journalist covering the case and the mother of the victim.

Much to my astonishment and delight, The Widow was published in 36 countries and made the Sunday Times and New York Times Best Seller lists.

It gave me the confidence to write a second book ,The Child, in which I return to another story that had intrigued me as a journalist. It begins with the discovery of a newborn’s skeleton on a building site. It only makes a paragraph in an evening newspaper but for three women it’s impossible to ignore.

You can buy THE CHILD from Transworld Books now or from the following booksellers (but obvs you can get it at other awesome booksellers too!);

Amazon (UK) | Amazon | Book Depository | Waterstones

-S.

Be sure to check out the other blogs participating in this Blog Tour. See below for further details and be sure to follow all of the action across Twitter!