I ordered this book from @netgalley without reading the description. As I read and saw that it was about children, I wasn’t sure how I would like it. This book was very enjoyable. The mystery kept me guessing until the very end. Quick read!

K L Slater is high up there on my ‘must read’ authors. Her writing and storylines grip me from the very beginning and this one was just as amazing as all the rest and I have read all of her previous novels.

The Silent Ones is told mainly from the present day and covers two days whilst flitting into the past on several occasions looking at the bond between sisters Juliette and Chloe and the extremely different relationships they have with their parents. This storyline emerges as the novel progresses and throws up several dark twists and turns.

At the beginning Juliet and Chloe who are running their own business, mainly lead by Juliet, are taken to the police station as both of their daughters, Maddy and Brianna, have been involved in an ‘incident’. The telling of this part is brilliant as the mothers have no idea what is going on and feel scared and ill-informed. We know that they have harmed an elderly lady, Bessie, who is known to the cousins’ grandparents, but do not know the seriousness of the situation.

The local community already have the information about Bessie being hurt and have tried and convicted the two 10-year-old girls immediately with the typical backlash of social media as well as physically threatening the households of both mothers as can be common today.

Juliet has been engrossed in expanding her business and her husband, Tom, has just started a new job so they have both been working hard and could have been neglecting their two children, Maddy and Josh. Juliet seeks help from her friend Beth, who Chloe dislikes, when they sisters must stay at the police station with the two girls.

As part of the police questioning a child psychologist, Dana, also with a ‘shady’ background is brought in to assist.

I loved the novel; the storylines and the characters were excellently portrayed in what is quite a dramatic family orientated psychological thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookoutre and K L Slater for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Brilliant read, highly recommended.

Great twists in this book! The characters were well developed and I was pulled into the plot right away. I really could not stop reading! My jaw literally dropped open several times.

When ten-year-old cousins Maddy and Brianna are arrested for a terrible crime, Maddy’s mother Juliet cannot believe it. How could her bright, joyful daughter be capable of such a thing?

As the small village community recoils in horror, the pressure of the tragedy blows Juliet and her sister’s lives apart. And things get even worse when their daughters retreat into a self-imposed silence. Can anyone reach Maddy and discover the truth before her fate is sealed?

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about two 10 year old girls who are cousins that were apparently present at the beating is an elderly woman in her own home. The police apprehend them, they remain totally silent and then the woman dies.

This book was honestly pretty boring for me. It took until 50% for anything to even start happening. Up until then it was a lot of the girls refusing to talk at the police department. Once we got through that and they started talking we did find out the family has some secrets and we found out what those were. I figured out the perpetrator somewhat early on and kind of had an inkling of what the family secret was so I can't even say I was that wowed at the end reveals. K.L. Slater has been pretty hit or miss for me and this one was a bit of a miss.

Sisters Chloe and Juliet run their own business, and both have 10 year old daughters. Their daughters, Maddy and Brianna, are accused of murdering an elderly woman. Dana (child psychologist) and Neary (detective) are in charge of figuring out the truth of which girl committed the crime and why.

Just enough family drama to maintain interest, and the plot twist at the end was not something I predicted. I will say that the last third of the book was drawn out of me, and I did catch myself skimming pages. I did not skip any, but I did skim through the more redundant parts.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Firstly I would like to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read an eARC copy of this book.

I am a big fan of thriller books and this sounded very interesting from the premise and thought it reflected the way in which people do respond when children are accused of heinous crimes. I haven't read any of the authors other books so I can't say how this rates against her other books.

I can't say that I didn't enjoy the book, but it wasn't a great thriller for me. I definitely found that this book dragged and was very slow throughout. It felt a bit like I was reading the same thing over and over again. It's disappointing to me that we didn't get to experience anything after the first chapter through the eyes of the girls. They are clearly the focus of this book and yet we never experience their feelings or what is going on for them. It makes me wonder why the author chose them as the focus of the plot and then just essentially ignored them for the rest of the book.

I don't think this was a psychological thriller for me. I had guessed pretty much straight away one of the twists that Chloe was the one that injured their brother instead of Juliet; it just screamed out obvious to me. It also really frustrated me because Chloe is quite a bitch throughout this story, especially towards Juliet, and yet she's been holding this secret (as has THE REST OF THE FAMILY) and letting Juliet suffer for all these years. She just felt incredibly selfish and cruel to me and I didn't really feel sorry for her. I was just baffled about her actions she was willing to let the whole company go under instead of just finally tell the truth, and was still essentially making Juliet feel responsible for the reason the company wasn't doing well. I did think it was interesting the fact that they had Corey end up alive, but it didn't overly surprise me with his mother. To be fair I did believe that Tom and Chloe were having an affair so the reveal that they weren't surprised me.

I also figured that Beth wasn't as trusting as she seemed; they kept inserting her into the story and so I felt she was going to have a motivation against Juliet. I do honestly feel that the whole reveal of her being the murderer and having this planned for some time was just too unrealistic and too far-fetched.

Something that really irritates me in books (and shows) is when we skip the fallout of actions. And this book does exactly that. Juliet finds out all this information about her family and her life but we skip one month and we don't really get to experience her coming to terms with it or moving through it. It almost makes the rest of the book essentially pointless because we have everything building up to this point and then we don't get to experience the fallout at all. It feels like a cheat to me.

I initially rated this three stars but whilst reviewing it i've dropped it down to two stars. I wouldn't be looking to buy a physical copy of this book.

Title: The Silent Ones

Author: K. L. Slater

Length: approx 280 pages

Publisher: Bookouture

Publishing Date: July 24, 2019

Genre: Crime Thriller, Fiction, Psychological thriller

My rating: 5/5

Summary:

Two girls Brianna and Maddy visit a neighbourhood house where they end up hurting Bessie the resident of the house. Bessie dies and the story moves on investigation of the murder only that both the girls are not uttering a single word.

My Take:

I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for providing me with an ARC for reading and reviewing this wonderful thriller. I’ve loved Bookouture as a publisher for the choice of books they publish which are just brilliant.

The book started as a slow paced book nevertheless keeping me glued to the various mysteries on the way ahead. The estranged relationship of the Voce family is very evident. The story is narrated from first persons perspective i.e. Juliet’s and the third persons perspective on the happenings. The story also has flashback on a vile secret hidden by Voce family.

The character of Juliet is adorable while that of Chloe her sister is abhorred. At some point I felt the book had unnecessary details of Dana’s life who was therapist on the case but later on turned to be the most important link in solving the crime.

The second half of the book picks up pace. The revelations are mind boggling. One could never have expected the twists and turns in the book. That’s what i loved the most about the book. Absolutely no way one can predict the ending.

It’s a great book for all the crime thrillers readers so I would definitely recommend it to my friends to get their hands on this one.

One of the best books I've read this year!

I was hooked from the first few pages, the concept really intriguing me. So much so that I read the full book in one afternoon. And whilst I could see that there was going to be a certain revelation, the character involved was a real suprise to me. I will definitely be looking up more of this authors work!

Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture and K.L Slater for the advanced copy.

K.L Slater does it again, another brilliant offering in the shape of the silent Twins. I have read most of her books and this one doesn’t disappoint.
Ten-year-old cousins Brianna and Maddie are accused of murdering Bessie Wilford in her home. When they are picked up by the police, they are both silent and will not talk about the event. Their mothers and both sisters Juliet and Chloe are shocked that their daughters could do such a thing. And the shock brings back memories of their own childhood when an accident happened, and their brother Corey dies, and Juliet is blamed. But what really happened that day?
This is a story of secrets and lies between two families which got me hooked from the start. There was more twist and turns in this story, more than a roller-coaster and this was a good thing because it made me want to keep on reading to find out what happens next. This has a great plot, and great characters and a very surprising ending.
Thank you NetGalley K.L Slater and Bookouture for a copy of this book.

This is actually my first experience with this author's writing - although my Audible TBR holds two of her earlier titles already waiting for me now. I enjoyed this thriller. It opens up with two ten-year-old cousins walking into an older woman's flat - and they wind up taken in for assault. It's an engaging hook - made all the more so when it becomes clear that there are plenty of family secrets and dysfunction all around, not just in the two, now silent in custody, young girls.

The plot definitely takes some unexpected twists - and a few familiar ones as well. The climax borders a little bit on the Scooby Doo-ish with the motivations for the more villainous characters a bit thin at times. In some ways, this reminded me of summer reading when I was younger - Sweet Valley thrillers - but that could just be because everything that could go wrong really does here. It's fast-paced and certainly a book that drives you to quickly finish it. I just wish that there had been a bit more motivation behind it all - plus, the most vile characters don't really get as much justice as I wanted...

Still, I am looking forward to listening to the earlier books and I can see this doing quite well as a vacation read!

Thriller about two young girls, cousins, Maddy and Brianna. Off school for the day. They are bored, and know they know they are not being watched. Closely by their grandparents. They skip down their small road and visit an elderly woman. What happens next leaves them in major trouble and not talking. Family dynamics are at the center of this book. Most of the characters are not likable for one reason or another. But your blood will boil as secrets and lies come to light and answers are revealed.

Well written. The action starts immediately, and so many lies are being told that you will turn the pages quickly to get to the end, which I didn’t expect. Great vacation read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

I think most will know by now I'm a huge fan of Kim Slater's psychological thrillers and she is without doubt one of my favorite authors of the genre. I absolutely loved 2019 release Finding Grace earlier this year, and I might have squeeled a little when I saw that we were going to have a second Slater title coming out this year. Of course I couldn't resist getting a copy as soon as I saw it was available on Netgalley, and of course I knew it wouldn't be waiting long on my kindle either. And guess what? The Silent Ones was without doubt another winner! The only reason I didn't finish this story in one sitting is that I started it too late in the evening and I needed to get some sleep in to be able to function as a human being the next day... Because trust me, this is one of those stories that will make it hard to let go and stop reading before you reach the final page. What a read!

Why was The Silent Ones yet another success for me? The first thing that stands out is the writing, which is just as brilliant as always and draws you right in. I found myself to be hooked as soon as I read the first chapter, and the beginning of the story sets the right tone for the rest of the book. The Silent Ones is basically a family focused psychological thriller with a dramatic twist and a LOT of secrets that will keep you on your toes. I think this contrast between the family drama and the shocking crime and accusation of the two ten year olds is what makes this plot so fascinating. On the one hand we have the two sisters, Juliet and Chloe, who seem to have their issues and secrets within their family and past. More about this part of the story is slowly revealed in the chapters set in the past as well as the present, and this storyline serves as a contrast with the more brutal and accute present situation. Because the real 'stars' of The Silent Ones are their ten year old daughters Maddy and Brianna. The fact that they are the only suspects of the brutal assault of an older member of a small community is shocking considering their age, and you are left wondering if one of them really could have done it. Likewise, we have that same community already convicting the whole family before the girls are even charged with something... Something that sadly is all too believable and still happens all the time. I admit I did see part of the final reveals coming, but it cannot be denied that it was a brilliant way of turning around the story completely. If you are looking for your next psychological thriller read, you should definitely consider this well written, complex and gripping little gem.

Wow. I just loved this book. I knew I was hooked when the police station mentioned at the start was from my hometown. I then loved following the characters around the areas I know.
That said, what a fantastic book. The story is brilliant and you won’t put it down till you’ve finished. The ending was not at all what I expected but brilliant. I can’t wait to read more by this author.

A fascinating journey into the darkness surrounding families and the things they hide. A lovely thrill ride! Will be an excellent choice for book club groups to discuss.

Juliet is shocked when her 10-year-old daughter and niece are held by police when suspected to be involved in the assault and death of an elderly woman, especially when the girls refuse to speak to anyone. Juliet's entire family was awful. Why are she and Chloe even business partners when they clearly can't stand each other? The only character I really liked in this book was Dana, the therapist. I can't say I was all that shocked by any of the twists, really. This was just okay for me. Three stars.

The Silent Ones was a very tense read that really keeps the reader on their toes. I found myself led to believe one thing, just to be blindsided by the truth later on.

The characters were well written, and the transition between the past and present was done well. I found it easy to follow along. The two girls being silent for the first bit really added good tension. The family dynamic was really intense and interesting. In fact, I found the family a bit fascinating.

The story itself is pretty... wow. There are so many elements and so many wild twists and turns. It was a real roller coaster ride. Constantly I found myself thinking that there is no way it could get any worse. Then it would. However, it was done in a way that could be believable. Not to mention, you would find yourself thinking the worst just to be proven wrong.

I will absolutely be picking up another book written by K.L. Slater.

I really enjoyed this book. It's fast paced and interesting with little surprises and twists peppered throughout to keep you turning the pages and wondering what will happen next. I had never heard of this author before, but will be adding to my "to-read" list because I like the writing style.

I received an Advanced Reviewers Copy of this book via #NetGalley.

Woah! What a story and a half this one is!!!

The story starts off with the two mother’s of two ten year old’s being taken into the police station after a serious incident. As a mother my heart was in my mouth as your head starts thinking straight away about what if that was your child. It really was quite frightening and I could easily understand the turbulence of feelings that both sisters, Juliet and Chloe were going through.

Understandably there is a lot of unrest with people in the area and I almost feared for the safety of Juliet and her family as much as she did. Whilst a lot of the story obviously focuses on what the girls have been accused of, there is also something going on with Juliet’s immediate family. Her mother for one is a very unlikable character and whilst I quite liked the dad, he infuriated me at times with how weak he is. I was just as much intrigued about their family life as I was with the what was happening in present day.

This is one storyline that just grabs you and doesn’t let go. I was well and truly hooked as the author takes us down a dark and twisted road of which I had no clue where it was going to take me but I enjoyed every minute of every thrill and oh those twists, K.L. Slater just keeps getting better and better.

The Silent Ones is a first rate psychological thriller. It truly is a brilliant read that kept me on my toes and just kept on delivering. I am a huge fan of this authors and have to say, hands down, this is her best book to date and that is high praise indeed as her other books are fab also. Dark, twisted, brilliant!

This was a very good book that had a lot of twists and turns. I felt I could relate to each of the characters and did not find the outcomes predictable.

When an elderly woman is found murdered in her home, two 10-year-old girls, who are cousins, are accused of the murder. The girls initially refuse to talk about the event. The author explores the dynamics of this dysfunctional family as the girls await their fate.
The author fluidly moves between the past and presents piecing together a family with so many secrets. It was difficult to keep up with all the secrets and lies this family kept. The story is told from different points of view, moving at a swift pace. The tension was intense. There were twists and turns and a lot of surprises.

I could not put this book down; it is gripping. This was my first book by this author but it will not be my last.