This book switches between the past and present so we get to gradually see what happened to the kids in captivity 20 years ago whilst keeping up with them in the present. None of the survivors were particularly likeable and they just seemed to get worse as time went on but I think that added to the story. I did, however, love DI Sasha Dawson and her team.

There is a lot going on in this book and it does get a bit much. Sasha’s personal life is a mess. She has two bratty kids, an absent husband, a meddling mum with her own drama and a devastating past. It was just a hell of a lot of drama and that level of chaos kind of took away from the main plotline. That being said it did mean we got to know Sasha and her family really well.

With regards to the main story, I did guess the main twists but it was still an intriguing read and there are lots of extra twists and turns along the way. If you love crime fiction/thrillers but hate gore then this is definitely one to check out. Despite previous comments, I did actually enjoy this read and I will definitely be picking up any future DI Sasha Dawson books. 3.5 rounded up to 4

I received a free copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

6 teens are kidnapped and held captive for 2 weeks in the cellar of a remote property nicknamed in the media as "The Bad Place". 5 make it out alive and one girl is killed brutally by their captor.

Years later, the remaining 5 meet up annually for dinner to catch up and remember their friend who died. They are all mentally scarred by their ordeal and their lives are all far from ideal, and they have all taken very different turns. However, at one of their dinners, one of the girls, Lydia claims to have seen a girl abducted, bundled into a van not far from where they are having their reunion dinner. They fear the kidnapper may be back, despite it being reported that he died years earlier...

This is a great start to a new crime thriller series! It is part police procedural and part psychological thriller. The story is told in a mix of past and present and how the past can come back to haunt you. The story itself, while not gory or gruesome, played out well with a good twist that I really didn't see coming. I loved reading about the lead detective's personal life which was fraught with the work/life balance, coupled with teenage angst! The Bad Place is an easy, quick read and I was hooked from the first page. I enjoyed it thoroughly and look forward to the next installment.

Full review to follow

A great start to a new series with a very intriguing new police team. the protagonist isn't your typical up and coming young detective and the case is far from straight forward. I loved the twist in the tale and the blend between the current investigation and the history which has led everyone to where they find themselves in the present day.

A blend of police procedural and psychological thriller, I'm really looking forward to seeing where the author takes this series and how the characters develop. I already really like the main Detective, DI Sasha Dawson, and her team are great, although one of them is a bit of a glory seeking doofus. Not as dark as the author's other series but there are still plenty of moments of drama and mystery and an investigation which keeps the tension and suspense up right until the end.

Definitely recommended.

The Bad Place is an excellent start to a new crime series by M.K. Hill, which I enjoyed reading very much indeed. We witness the kidnapping of six children when their kidnapper hijacks the minibus they are travelling in. He takes them to a remote location which becomes infamously known as The Bad Place to the press. But just what happened there has remained shrouded in mystery, with many people believing that the people directly involved in the kidnapping have not told the full truth. And why did only five of the children escape when one died?

The Bad Place is a thriller where nothing is at it seems. Many years after the terrifying kidnapping took place, the children who were involved, now adults, still meet up and raise a toast to the friend they lost that night. But during one evening, when they planned a get-together, one of them witnesses a kidnapping and it terrifies her into thinking that their kidnapper has returned. We are then introduced to DI Sasha Dawson, who was a constable in the police force when the five children were found.

I really liked Sasha. She is determined to put the victims of the crimes first at the forefront of her mind. But her dedication to her work does garner some criticism from her mother. She fears Sasha is letting her family slip by the wayside. Sasha’s mother is quick to let her feelings be known, which does cause some friction between them. Sasha’s home and work life are weaved together very well, and there was a very good balance between the two.

As I was reading this book, I kept thinking that there must be some truth in the speculation that something very dark is being hidden. I had suspicions about quite a few people when another young girl goes missing in the present day. There were quite a few red herrings planted which were skilfully weaved into the story.

The book had such a chilling opening, and I was hooked right away. I flicked through the pages as fast as I could to find out how everything was going to come together at the end. When the final revelations were revealed towards the end, I couldn’t believe what I was reading.

The Bad Place is a brilliant introduction to DI Sasha Dawson, and I am definitely keen to read more books about her. You’ll be racking your brains right the way through trying to work out just what is going on and when the final truth hits, it will be shocking. Very, very good.

An enjoyable start to a new detective series. In The Bad Place characters ooze with life and the primary detective on the case has her hands quite full both on the job and off.

Thoughts:
Almost seamlessly moving from detective to mother to daughter to wife, DI Sasha Dawson has a lot going on that gives you more than one story to care about and be interested in.
The main mystery of The Bad Place tells a story about 5 adults who were kidnapped when they were younger. Once a year, they meet together with the purpose of helping them heal – although they never do, especially since there were 6 who were kidnapped with one never making it out alive. Each of the surviving individuals still live with demons that haunt them 20 years later. Not a single one has recovered, even though they both try and yet don’t try to move on.

The story begins at the annual dinner when one of the attendees sees a young girl being kidnapped on her way there. The police are called, which is where we meet DI Sasha Dawson. It’s not an official kidnapping until later, but here is where we start to see the individuals and how broken they truly are.
As the main mystery is engaged, the personal life of DI Dawson is woven through-out. She is a mother of 3 children, however, one is deceased prior to the time of the story. Much to DI Dawson’s frustration, her mother has decided to live with them temporarily while at the same time her husband just isn’t acting like himself anymore and is letting his new neighbor upset him. Last, but not least, her children are young teenagers, which automatically comes with its own issues. To say there is a lot going on in her private life would be an understatement.

In this story there are a lot of characters to keep track of – between the 6 kidnap victims, new kidnap victims, the detectives, DI Dawson’s family, and witness and suspects it was at times difficult to remember everyone. At one point something occurs with a character where it was evident that we had met him before, but I couldn’t remember who it was and was too lazy to search through the beginning of the book and find out. It turns out it was one of the original kidnap victims. I suspect some readers may prefer books with fewer characters to keep track of and should be noted. I personally enjoyed it since it keep my interest up due to so much going on.

Overall, I enjoyed the series and look forward to the next mystery that DI Dawson needs to solve. Hopefully, when this occurs her family life will be less hectic, but somehow I doubt it. Recommended for those who enjoy police procedurals, mysteries, and thrillers.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for the advanced reader copy and opportunity to provide an honest review.

This is getting exceptional reviews and the writing is quite good.

This had all the pieces to make it great and the characters were good and well developed. But, there was just so much going on with all of them! No one seemed to have their shit together. I know, it’s life and life is messy and a lot of these characters have been through some very traumatic events but at some point it became a bit ridiculous, eye rolling.

Karin’s decision on the last day they were held captive was ludicrous. I can’t imagine, regardless of her home life and how important Becky was to her, she would have done that.
Michelle’s choices were also odd and didn’t make that much sense to me in that scenario. I couldn’t imagine why she even would have cared considering her earlier temperament.

I liked Sasha and her family. I don’t think she laid down any real law with her children. They were brats (and one a bully to boot). I have raised two kids and I know they can be challenging in the best of times but the way they talked to her and ran around any time of the day or night at their ages? Um, no. Kevin’s breakdown and aggression towards his neighbor was sad though Sasha dashing off in the middle of the investigation to attend to him wouldn’t happen. Her parents nonsense was unnecessary on top of all the other drama. Again, it was just too much. Not everyone had to be in crisis mode to make the story compelling.

I did want to finish this and see how things wrapped up so it’s not at all as bad as this review may read. I’m thinking that the author wanted to lay down a lot of the groundwork to flesh out the characters and this led to all of the issues that popped up. Probably could have held back a bit of the crazy for the next one in the series. I’ll probably check out the next one though and make my decision to continue after that...

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Aria Publishing for a copy in exchange for a review.

Twenty years ago six children were kidnapped while sitting in a minibus after a club excursion. Two weeks later they escaped, well five of the six children escaped. Becky Haskill didn't make it out alive. Now, as adults, the five survivors have a yearly reunion. This year's reunion doesn't go so well and things go downhill very quickly from there.

The Bad Place by M.K. Hill is the first book in Hill's Sasha Dawson Thriller series. This story is well-written with suspense, twists and surprises. The characters are well-developed and I became invested in them and what is happening in their lives. This was a very interesting read. I enjoyed it.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this brilliant book

6 children are on a days outing and being driven back to their club when they are abducted and held for 14 days in a cellar....

5 make it out and one is killed....

years later this case comes back to haunt them all... in many different ways...

another girl is abducted and one of the original abductees witnesses it...some strange things start to happen to them all...

but will it all be resolved before anything else happens and then another child is abducted...

brilliant first book in a new series and i for one will be keeping a look out for more from this author

THE BAD PLACE
BY M. K. HILL, MARK HILL

BADEN PLACE, also nicknamed the Bad Place is well known to the country as the spot where six children were abducted by a man driving a van. Five children survived and the sixth one was killed by the kidnapper and he was killed by police.

Every year the five now adults get together for a reunion of sorts but none of them are allowed to talk about it. It is a decade and a half later when Lydia, one of the survivor's witnesses little Sammie being loaded into a van and Lydia isn't sure if history is repeating itself.

There are a lot of characters to keep straight, but the more that I read this was not a problem.
None of the survivors are likable. DI Sasha was the saving grace for me as I really liked her in many aspects and would read this Author again if he features Sasha again.

Thank you to Net Galley. M.K. Hill and the publisher for my ARC.

26 years ago, 6 children were abducted after a day tip with their youth club, held hostage in a basement for over two weeks when 5 of them escaped alive, the one left behind murdered brutally by their captor. Every year now the survivors of “The Bad Place” as nicknamed by the tabloids hold a candlelight dinner to remember their friend Becky who died.

Lydia, one of the survivors arrives to the dinner spouting that she just saw a young girl being dragged into a van, she is distraught, could something be happening again, surely not as their captor, Jerry Swan was killed that night.

In comes DI Sasha Dawson, she is convinced that the missing girls and the Bad Place have to be linked, but can she figure it out in time before more teenagers are abducted?

I enjoyed this book, a quick read but for the only reason, it was a case of I need to know WTF is going on…. The story is told twofold, past and present so we are told what happened when the teenagers were held captive and the now during the investigation into the new case. It seems karma is catching up with some of the survivors but why, what exactly happened at the Bad Place?

A gripping read with twists and turns thrown in to keep you guessing…. A great start to a detective series (or at least I’m hoping its just the first of many), this is one of my favourite genres and will be certainly keeping a look out for more from M.K. Hill and DI Sasha Dawson.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This kept me hooked from the start. One more chapter I said but I couldn't stop reading till the end and finished this in two days. A chilling, unputdownable thriller with a dark twist that will take your breath away and make you wonder if you can ever trust anyone again.
Wow I never expected that! I’m not sure what I did expect, but it definitely wasn’t that.
There is a lot I would like to say about this book but I don’t want to give spoilers. I really, really enjoyed this book. 5*

The Bad Place by Mark Hill, a dark and suspenseful read. This is the first book by this writer and I can't wait for more. I hope that we will meet DI Sasha Dawson again soon, there is still so much of her story to learn I am sure. I really enjoyed this police procedural with its surprise ending, twisty story and interesting and complex characters. So much going on that you just have to keep turning those pages.

The Bad Place was a remote farm where over 20 years ago 6 kids were taken and held hostage. Only 5 of them got away. Now the surviving 5 hold an annual candlelight vigil for their friend Becky who didn't make it out. This year one of them witnesses a young girl being kidnapped and the memories come flooding back. It is the first of many bad things to happen to these people and DI Sasha Dawson is called into find the girl and stop whoever is doing this. She believes it all stems back to the Bad Place, a case where she was a young WPC at the start of her career.

Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

I enjoyed this book. Good premise. Well written. Fast paced. Great family back story. Plenty of twists and turns to keep me interested. Would definitely read this author again. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

A fantastic and original mystery thriller. This book was terrifying at times and just so good. Highly recommended for thriller suspense lovers x

This was a fast read. Not because of simplistic language or anything bad, but because I wanted to know what happened next. I refused to wait. I actually pulled an almost all nighter to read this. It was good. People I thought could be, all had supportive storylines. People it should have been, same. The culprit in the end, there were crumbs. Tiny little crumbs throughout, especially as the body count rose. It was a great read. Suspense and intrigue are alive and well in this story. Get it, read it, thank me later.

I’d like to thank Head of Zeus and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Bad Place’ by M K Hill in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Twenty-six years earlier six members of a youth club are on their way home from a trip when they’re abducted by Jerry Swann who locks them in the cellar of his house since called ‘The Bad Place’. After two weeks five of them manage to escape though the sixth, Becky Haskell, dies due to a bungled police operation. One of the survivors is on her way to their annual reunion when she sees teenager Sammi Mannings pushed into a van and DI Sasha Dawson and DS Craig Power are called out to investigate. Could it have any connection with what happened at ‘The Bad Place’?

This is a dramatic thriller, well-written with interesting characters and packed full of twists and turns. DI Sasha Dawson has a chaotic family life and a lot of the story is about them, but it has a strong plot that kept me gripped from the start and although I tried to work out the identity of the kidnapper I failed miserably. It’s a promising debut novel and I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series.

I have been a fan for awhile of Mark Hill or, as he calls himself now, M.K. Hill since he's got all rico suave on us. His first book, His First Lie, grabbed me real hard, his second book, It Was Her, grabbed me again. And now, after quite the long wait, his third book The Bad Place is showing me once again how much I love his writing.

I love how his descriptions are so three dimensional that I can feel the air, smell the aromas. I hate overdescriptive writing. Mark gets it just right. This is a well written mystery with a great character in DI Sasha Dawson. So, I'm very happy to know he has a three book deal and that we will be seeing more of her. The main story is about six teenagers who were kidnapped and the aftermath twenty-six years later. There were some great twists and a very satisfying ending.

I feel like i'm having the best luck with crime series recently and this one was no exception, what an intriguing start to a new series!

I always love thrillers that alternate between present and past tense which is exactly what this one does. 26 years ago six children were kidnapped and held captive at The Bad Place but only five came back out alive. Now in the present day a teenage girl has gone missing who can be linked to a number of the five victims of this previous event.

DI Sasha Dawson is in charge of the investigation but she's struggling with juggling running a case with trying to keep her family together. It was Sasha's character that made this book for - she was such a relatable woman.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one, it was a fast-paced read which I struggled to put down once i'd started reading. I can't wait to see what else is to come from this series in the future.

This was a gripping read that kept me hooked from start to finish. I liked the intertwining of stories from the Bad Place and only wish that I could have discovered just a little bit more about the teenagers' experience in captivity. I really liked Sasha, the investigating officer, and truly felt for her and the amount of stress she was under at home. Juggling the responsibilities of a career and motherhood cannot be easy, especially when tragedy hits. This was a good, quick read, suitable for anyone interested in crime and thrillers. I did find certain parts a bit predictable, but perhaps I was also reading too much into things.

Told over two timelines, this book is the start of a series and one I will definitely be continuing on with.

26 years ago, six children went missing and were held captive for two weeks. Only five made it out alive. Why did one not make it?

In the present day, it seems kids are going missing again and they all seem to have a connection to the original case. Will the police be able to find the culprit before its too late?

This was a gripping read with many twists and turns and every time I thought I'd guessed the outcome, I was thwarted. The outcome makes sense but it would never have been one I'd have thought of. A sign of a good read, for sure.

This is my first time reading something by this author and I can't wait to read more of their work. Fantastic read.