At the beginning I found this book hard going but was glad I persevered. Elissa, the kidnapped girl, is a plucky and clever heroine and I was rooting for her all the way. Twists and turns meant I had no idea how the story was going to end. A different and exciting read.

Gripping from the first page to the last. I read it in a day because I just couldn’t put it down. Our main character is a chess champion and I loved how her story In captivity, is laid out by her imagining a virtual chessboard where she stores what she remembers. What an amazingly clever concept.
All the main players have their own stories of loss and horror running through the main story and there is a twist to one of them that completely changed how I viewed the character.
I truly couldn’t predict how it would end and when the end came the book only gained in pace. There’s an exciting new author on the block and I can’t wait to read more.

This is one of my reads of the year, I ripped through it in a few days.

It’s a creepy and twisty thriller and the use of different perspectives makes it stand out from what is a very crowded genre.

What a shocking book. It was difficult to follow to start with but as the story unfolded I was drawn In and simply couldn’t put it down. Persevere with it & you’ll be rewarded

This has got to be one of the best, most interesting and exciting books I've read recently. Loved it. I would definitely recommend this book!

#TheMemoryWood #Netgalley

The problem with this book is that I wanted more!!! From the start it grips you and you immediately want to know how Elissa will survive. I did guess Elijah’s secret but that was ok as it was still intriguing and actually didn’t give away ALL of the twist. My only disappointment was I wanted to know more about ‘after events’ as I’d been so drawn into the story I didn’t feel it was ‘complete’ enough and was left wanting more.

WOW! The first thing you should know is that I instantly had to write this review upon finishing the novel. The Memory Wood is a chilling story about the abduction of a 13-year-old girl, Elissa, and I don't think I have ever read anything quite like it.  Do not be deceived in thinking that this is like any other thriller you have read which involves kidnapping. It is not.

When I first started reading The Memory Wood, the prose was quite alien to me in a way that it was something I hadn't come across before, and I honestly wasn't sure how I felt about it. It's difficult to delve too much into the specifics without giving away the various twists and turns, but the further into the story I travelled, the more I realised just how clever and meticulously thought out it was. It's easy to go into this one thinking you have it all figured out but you are definitely in for an unexpected journey which leaves you feeling as lost as Elissa, deep within the woods.

The writing is simplistic and doesn't delve too much into laborious description about the mundane, and yet this is what makes it so addictive because it focuses on exactly what it needs to. Told using multiple narratives, Lloyd does an excellent job at creating characters and voices that even the darkest of writerly minds would have a hard time pulling off.  

There are some harrowing scenes throughout the novel and Lloyd makes sure not to gloss over these, hitting us hard with raw, and often graphic, moments. That being said,  it's tasteful in that these moments are absolutely necessary to really capture the sinister atmosphere that has been created. The story unfolds in ways that I did not expect, and after reaching the half way point, I wasn't sure how it was going to end. I felt like I was on an emotional rollercoaster in those final chapters and Lloyd manages to create reader empathy where it honestly doesn't feel like it should be possible!

Finally, there are some great themes around loss and parenthood woven throughout the novel, which play nicely into the main arc of the story. Thank you to both Netgalley and Random House UK. Transworld Publishers for giving me the opportunity to read and feedback on this fantastic novel.  Watch out 2020!

I really enjoyed this book. I found i. Could not put it down and how it had a real twist to the story. I loved how Elijas character kept you guessing what was coming next, and what did come next was most of the time not what you tried to guess would happen.

A very strange and different book about kidnapping and abduction with so many twists which I mostly didn't see coming, though there were a few that were more obvious. Elissa is a 13 year old chess champion who is abducted while attending a tournament with her mother, She only pops to the car for a second when she is brutally grabbed and bundled into a white van and taken away. Having been drugged she next wakes up manacled in the basement of a derelict cottage. Elijah is the twelve year old boy who lives in the cottage close by to The Memory Wood and befriends her though he doesn't help her escape as he wants to keep her there. Then we have the female detective who leads the case. All we really know about her is that she desperately wants a child of her own but keeps having miscarriages. This makes her particularly keen to find Elissa though I'm not really sure why it's relevant - wouldn't we all be desperate to find a missing child?
I loved this book and read it in three sittings. I would have given it five stars for its total originality other than some of the 'other' characters could have been fleshed out a bit more, especially the detective.
Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read this brilliant book. I know when I've read something this good - I need a gap before starting something new.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book. When I initially read about this book, I knew I wanted to read it, and couldn't wait until its release in 2020, I'm grateful I got the chance.
This book is a thriller at heart, but has a heart wrenching twist you wknt see coming, I even shed a little tear at the end.
The story is told from the points of view of a young girl, her abductor's son, (or is he) and the detective trying to find her. I loved how the story unfolded and could not read this book fast enough, it had me hooked from the start. A thrilling read. Make sure you buy a copy, I promise you wont be disappointed.

At first when you read this book, it seems as if Sam Lloyd has started off in the same place as John Fowles did with “The Collector”. But he goes in a different direction and through a different set of dangers to arrive in a different nightmare. This makes for a gripping read, if a disturbing one.

Fowles was inspired to write “The Collector” when he connected his literary studies, which revealed that a “girl being held captive in a cellar” was a common folk tale all over Europe, with a real case post WW2, where a boy had kept a girl captive in an air-raid shelter. He realised that this was not a myth, “urban” or otherwise, but something that really happened, quite widely and perhaps quite often. Since The Collector was published in 1963, there has been a steady stream of real-life cases bearing out Fowles’ observation, but not all of them have involved a psychotic individual culprit. Some, from Australia and latterly the Netherlands, seem to involve sub-cultures; some family-based or family-sized, others somewhat larger; cults if you like. You get a long way into The Memory Wood before you realise that it is about a sub-culture which in turn revolves around an individual and by the time you know which of the characters this actually is, you’ve almost reached the end. This book grips you, not just to thrill and entertain, but to teach you that sub-cultures can be at least as dangerous as the “lone psycho” that our popular culture leads us to fear more.

Along the way you also learn that lost souls will go where they are led, until something or someone intervenes and they go towards the light, sometimes with the very last of their strength.

2nd of November 2019.

Someone has been kidnapping children for years, but none have ever been found. A taut thriller, this book centres around 3 people: 13 year,old Elissa, a very smart and tough chess player; Elijah, a 12 year old boy who has lived for years in a tied cottage with his family near Memory Wood, and Mairéad, a senior police officer, whose own problems make her more determined than ever to help Elissa, whatever the cost to herself.
This is an extremely well written book, very fast paced and with chilling realism although at times it makes quite grim reading. However there are enough twists and turns to keep the reader interested right to the end. Well worth a read.

I received this pre-publication e-book from Random House UK via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. (Review posted on NetGalley, Goodreads and Amazon.)

Thirteen-year-old Elissa is suddenly and violently abducted from a car park and awakes in an underground cell, scared, confused and brutalised. Her only human contacts are her abductor, whom she christens the ghoul, and the strange and erratic Elijah.

Elijah has lived in his home near the memory wood for as long as he can remember. Desperate for a friend, he visits Elissa but refuses to tell the police where she is being concealed; he has his own agenda. Elissa is not the first girl he has found in the wood, and he doesn’t want her to leave.

This book has already gathered some momentum, and it did not disappoint. It grips from the beginning, and maintains that hold until the final page. Oddly, it felt like an American thriller – I had to keep reminding myself that it was set in the UK (near Salisbury, to be exact). The writing is tight, and the plotting is expert; there are multiple twists, and several reveals which caused a rapid reassessment of everything I had read to that point. The characterisation is convincing; the narrative comes via three voices (Elijah, Elissa and Mairéad, the SIO searching for the serial abductor who has taken Ellissa), and all are complex and distinct. Elissa’s fragile relationship with Elijah becomes her lifeline, but he is unreliable in the extreme, and Mairéad has her own demons to battle.

This psychological thriller is dark and compelling, and the plot gathers pace well. The final denoument is … well, no spoilers, but I found my reading pace accelerated towards the end, and the round-up is satisfying. As a debut novel this is an impressive achievement. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed the story although I admit to being a little confused on occasion. I found the girl extremely strong and self possessed - perhaps a little too much for her age group. However, I understand that she was no ordinary teenager. The third story of loss that long alongside the main story - again about a mother losing her child - was just as sad. All 3 stories of losses - whether it be losing parents or losing children - were all very cleverly intertwined. An interesting read that will keep you hooked.

A girl is kidnapped and held in the cellar of a remote cottage in the Memory Wood. Elijah visits her.

A very clever psychological thriller. Dark, creepy and intense. A compelling page turner, I couldn't stop reading until I reached the ending.

I thought I was going to hate the reveal in this book because I thought it was using mental illness as a cheap thrill. However, it was actually pretty clever and most definitely heartbreaking. The ending was almost tear inducing.

The Memory Wood is suitably creepy and the story is full of twists and turns. I lost my way a bit near the middle, got a bit bored and wasn’t sure I wanted to finish it. I am so glad I did though. Told from Elijah, Elissa and the detectives POVs you really get an all rounded view as the story unfolds.

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

Brilliantly written and plotted crime thriller. I hadn’t been sure what to expect when I started the book, but it picked up right in the first chapter and kept going. I won’t say much more, other than the fact that it was impossible not to root for the plucky young protagonist (one of them; there are three).
I found it intriguing that the author decided to leave a few things up in the air. There are some hints, but no spelling out. It bothered me at first, until I realised knowing the details would make no difference.
(Review copy from NetGalley)

This book was one of the best examples of a page-turner that I've read in a long time. It kept me glued to it from the start and I couldn't put it down - only finishing it in the early hours of the morning as I had to know what happened. a very,very clever twist and an extremely dramatic ending. Throughly enjoyed it.

Oh my goodness, what a ride! I loved loved loved The Memory Wood; it wove it’s way into my life, my nightmares, the lot. Definitely my read of the year....

It’s a novel centred around a kidnapping. Creepy and twisty, with a good balance of police involvement - which I don’t usually especially enjoy if it’s too interlaced within a novel. It’s written from several perspectives, the kidnapped 13 year old girl, her kidnapper, a 12 year old boy who is apparently trying to help her, and the lead female police officer. Well paced and unravels largely in chronological order. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of a nearby hamlet to where I live, which really brought the ending crashing down around my ears as I know the place very well.

Definitely, absolutely a must read of 2020, and I’ll be recommending it to all my book loving buddies.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. It is a well written dark and creepy thriller. It has lots of twists and certainly kept me guessing, I would love to read more by this author.