This book caught my in the beginning but I got lost half way through. I was so excited to get a chance to read this book but I was hoping for more. A serial killer with decades under the belt sounds like an exciting book because they have not been caught. I just wanted more from this book. *This book was given to me for free at my request from Netgalley and I provided this voluntary review.*

This multiple character viewpoint novel was very well narrated and well written. The story is told through the eyes of a serial killer and their protégée, a tween, a young woman who is subsequently captured and fears for her life, and her mother. All of these parts work well together and create a lot of tension. However, there were aspects which disappointed such as the bit about the iPhone during the search for the missing young woman (I can't say more without a plot spoiler). These disappointments were few and far between so I am still giving 4 stars.

I am enjoying these audiobooks from Netgalley and hope they continue to be made available as an alternative to the kindle versions.

This was very hard to read not only because of the subject matter but I also felt as though the author had a lot going on plot wise that were not truly and completely developed. I could only finish the book halfway before I decided that it truly wasn't for me.

Thanks very much to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

The premise of this book could give you nightmares. Killings with many similarities in and around Lancashire have been going on for too long to credit to one killer. After capture and commitment, a serial killer became teacher/ instructor, sharing his knowledge and talents turning out the next generation of torturous killers. Nightmare territory for sure. The story is told in multiple voices, one of which is the current killer.

A young woman is taken. As her absence grows, it becomes evident that her situation is dire, she is the next target for our killer. Her parents decide they will not wait for the police to save their daughter. As each chapter unrolls with a different voice, we hear from the victim, her mother, the killer and a young boy pulled into the tension through curiosity and bravery.

WOW! For a debut publication, Rosie Walker has included many story threads to weave a story full of suspense that will pull you in and keep you glued to the page. This serial killer story will cause you to question some things you knew and make you check those dark corners a little more carefully next time.

I found this well enough written and read it in one sitting. The ending seemed a little rushed, but otherwise I found this an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours.

Many thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Almost gothic in its history of an asylum, a series killer passing on his legacy, gory as hell. There’s everything in this book, almost a potluck of characters and evil intent. Read at your peril - you will keep thinking about this during and after you finish.

Gah!!

Did I read the same book as everyone else?? So many 2 or 3 star reviews where I think they should be 4-5 stars!
I loved it!
Psychological issues, kidnapping, mystery, serial killers, slight gore and the end was like BAM! Had me gasp out loud that my husband thought something bad happened.

Well?!? Maybe it did!

Zoe is 17, out and about with her friends at a local pub where suddenly everything goes black and she has no idea where she is or how she got there.

Read it

# Secrets of a serial Killer #
Started off ok, and captures your attention more or less at the prologue. So he I obviously taught someone else all his tricks. The old asylum is about to be converted into flats but also retaining the old architecture of the initial building. Although overall a half decent story, I know every novel particularly crime there’s a back story going of this book felt like it was just too messy in the ways of the back story it was in danger of losing their plot altogether. I felt because of all the fussing with the back story’s too much going off at the same time, took away from the main plot in many ways. I did think the initial storyline was a pretty good one though and yes I enjoyed it. It could have done with a little bit faster in pace and I do feel it could have been achieved had there not been to much going off in the background. I did feel it needed the going back and forth in time. Otherwise it would have been hard to understand. As a read goes as I said the storyline was a pretty good one. Would have been better had there not been all the fussy to much in the background. I would recommend the book. I just hope In the next book there’s a little less going off making if less fussy.

Cops are skeptical and believe the murders of missing girls are just spontaneous and not related as several years pass. As the killing stops, they believe the killer Mr. X has died, but they finally realize just how wrong they are in this gripping serial thriller.
A group of teenagers go out one evening, including Zoe, daughter to the architect renovating/reinventing the local insane asylum and a former police officer. The evening takes a sinister turn as her friend starts flirting with a stranger at one of the bars, and Zoe wakes up in a caravan out in the middle of the woods with no memory of how she got there. From here, it's a fight for survival as she tries to escape, but she ends up in the basement of the asylum with a madman.
This book just literally makes your skin crawl and I loved every suspenseful, "run for your life" moment. Thank you NetGalley for suggesting another great read. This is my honest review of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins; One More Chapter and Rosie Walker for this e-copy in return for my honest review. I enjoyed this book immensely. Such a clever premise. Thrilling and so well written, it kept me engaged throughout. I enjoyed that the story is told from different perspectives, really gives the reader a chance to get into the story.

A serial killer has been terrorising Lancaster for decades, longer than should ever have been possible. The police are baffled, eluded at every turn by the killer whose victims span generations. It cannot possibly be same person. Speculation is rife among the true crime forums; is someone passing on their gruesome trade?

Helen Summerton’s worst nightmare becomes reality when her daughter Zoe went missing on her night out with friends. Helen who works as an architect for the redevelopment of the derelict asylum had a feeling that the old asylum had something to do with her missing daughter. Helen does everything in her power to find her.

This book has many characters. The story is told from multiple POV and I find the switching from one person to another was a bit distraction for me. However, the author does an excellent job of tying all the characters together. There are some great characters, especially the two little children Thomas and Maggie. I just loved the dynamics between these two and how brave they are when they are in dangerous situation.

I also liked how the author create the atmosphere of the abandoned asylum surrounded in dark woods. That gave me all the creeps! It was an intense read with some chilling moments.

Congratulations to Rosie Walker on your debut novel.

A decent thriller and mystery, set in the UK and centred around a current missing girl and historical crimes.

It was a good solid read and I enjoyed listening to it on audio. However, the plot was filled with convenient coincidences and was ultimately forgettable.

A bit of a cheat giving this 5 stars because I wrote it... ha! But I would also like to give the cover, blurb and editing 5 stars, and also keep a moderately adequate Netgalley feedback ratio.

Secrets of a Secret Killer is told from 4 perspectives. Thomas - a young boy whose father has disappeared, and who is desperate to find him. He and his cousin Maggie go exploring near the old asylum and find a caravan nearby. Maggie agrees to help Thomas find out what happened to his dad, but only if he agrees to explore inside the asylum. 

Zoe - a rebellious teenager who one night goes to the pub with her older boyfriend. When trying to save her best friend Abbie from getting herself into trouble, she ends up taking drinks from a strange man. Next thing she knows she’s in a strange, scary place and we see the horror that follows. 

Helen - Zoe’s Mom who works for the NHS, getting the old asylum ready for sale. She isn’t happy to just sit back and wait for the police to find her daughter, and who does everything in her power to find her. 

Lastly, Him - who I can only assume is the antagonist. His perspective is very cryptic, but it really allowed us to get into the serial killer’s head. 

The book gripped me from the very first chapter. I loved the letter at the beginning - vague but grabbing my interest and left me wanting more - exactly what a brilliant book should do. 

I loved the different perspectives. I know some  don’t like multiple POV’s but I love them if they’re done right. I think it's hard to get them to work, but this author did a superb job and it was easy to distinguish between the different characters and their voices. I loved how they all intersected with each other - it left me wondering why they’d meet and why. Although I loved them I found it hard to keep up at times. Especially as the book went on, I felt like there were too many stories going on and I didn’t know where to direct my attention.

The guesswork was on point - getting me excited about what was to come and having me really think about what was actually happening. There are some great plot twists in the book - keeping me hanging on and wanting more, wondering what would happen next.

The writing really shined about this book. It dragged me into the story and wouldn’t let me go. The author has this talent that I really felt what was happening, like it was happening right in front of my eyes. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, albeit with a few issues. The writing was my favourite part - beautiful, lyrical and a brilliant use of showing, not telling. The plot was interesting and far passed my expectations. What dragged the book down was the confusion between the different perspectives. It started out amazing and would have been a 5 star book albeit the confusion with so many stories going on. Also, I’m really not a fan of ambiguous endings, so it was a little disappointing of a conclusion for me. I loved the book and characters, but the ending knocked off some enjoyment. However, after all of that, I really can’t wait to read more by this author!

Well this creepy, gory story certainly had me hooked! Secrets of a Serial Killer is set in and around the derelict Lancaster Lune Mental Hospital. Zoe, a teenage girl, fails to come home from a night out with her friends. Zoe's Mother, Helen, believes she has been taken by someone dangerous but the police think Helen's overreacting and that Zoe is still with friends. Soon Helen's worse nightmare become true. I enjoyed this thriller and hope there will be a second book to tie up some of the loose ends. Thanks to NetGalley for my digital copy.

Secrets of a Serial Killer kept me on the edge of my seat from the beginning to the end. I loved it!

This story is based on your classic gruesome serial killer that gets away with murder, but the twists and turns along the way are surprising and kept me thinking the entire book.

I enjoyed the different perspectives of the book. I thought they intertwined nicely and the story was easy to follow. The author was able to bring out the character voices well and they were believable all the way through the story.

The only negative I have is that the story felt like it was rushed at the end, though I thought the ending was well done.

Unfortunately I DNFd this one as it just didn't work for me. There were too many perspectives for me to fully enjoy it or get to know any of the characters. I can see other people enjoying this one but it just wasn't for me.

I was really excited for this book, the tile is in my bag, it has a map that includes a cemetery. This is probably the only book where I'm likely to have the e-arc and an arc of the audiobook as well because in the future I'll always request the audiobook because of my current reading habits. If you follow my reviews, you know the number of arcs I've had but ended up listening to the audiobook for. I was excited to see the audiobook because I had not managed to read this book before it came out, but I really liked the opening. Sadly, after the first chapter, it just goes downhill quickly.

Maybe it was because I was in pain when they were introduced, but I'm not here for to any of the characters, especially the 24-year-old man dating a seventeen-year-old girl, but nor her parents who are not concerned about their child being groomed. Zoe has no danger awareness. She the first victim and not the final girl. People mess up all the time, but Zoe just walked herself right into that danger. She must have issues that were never explored in this book. Or you know plot said this happens, so it has to happen.

The characters are so weak. We're introduced to lots of characters, several who could be written out and not be missed. I think there's just too many tangents that might be interesting but are weaker together. It would be a completely different novel, because I would get rid of Helen, Zoe's mother as the main character. She just doesn't make much sense as the main character. Other characters could be cut as well. We have this website about local serial killers that's brought in by Zoe's friend and then there's a journalist next door writing about missing girls that the police are ignoring. One or the other should have been cut, one is a lot less significant than the other one.

This has two voice actors. They do an okay job, but the adult man doing the 11-year-old boy is kinda odd and I don't love those parts. I did get used to it after a while. The only thing you're missing out is that there's a map at the start of the book.

This book is told in the third person, a with letters and articles with the comments switched on. This is still pretty clear when done by audiobook.

This takes the path that serial killers are insane. Obviously, they do have mental issues, but I don't believe they would accept a plea of insanity for multiple murders, especially in 1959. If you planned your murders, then it was not a moment of insanity and therefore you can stand trial. Also can't be that "great" of a serial killer if he was caught in the 50s. Most serial killers weren't caught then. The 80s is impressive not to be caught. I get it, an old Asylum makes a cool setting, but the story is really forced into fitting that setting. It usual thing, no secrets. Very basic.

The plot isn't great. You know an ending is bad when it makes you angry. It's clearly meant to be a twist but it's just asinine. Could it happen? sure. Does anyone care if happens to the characters? Well, I certainly don't.

Frankly. this plot would work better if was written by YA writer, I think the timeline would be stronger that way, the characters would be more concise. I'm just suggesting major re-writes now which is not helpful to already published novel. What I mean is that the kids are the main part of the book and their voice is so weak. They do feel written for adults, not written as people.

Overall, I gave this book 2 stars for Ballet Slippers. I had thought about giving it 3 stars, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised how little I enjoyed this book. You might like this book better if you don't read Young Adult books. This is Walker's debut, so I might pick a future book by her if the concept was good.
This book did include a trigger warning at the start which is good. I still listed more complete ones below.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Secrets of a Serial Killer by Rosie Walker.

This is a story told by the viewpoints of several different people, but all with a center focus, the town serial killer, and his victims just keep missing. This really hits home for Helen once she discovers that her teen daughter Zoe has gone missing. Can Helen save her daughter in time.

DNF. I wish I could articulate just what magic is takes to hook me, but this just didn't have it. I do love a good thriller, but this felt really muddled. I had a hard time caring who was who, let alone keeping everyone straight. I do think that there were a few TOO many POV's for this to be a success for me. The characters seemed a bit two dimensional and I quickly lost interest in the plot.

This book was not quite what I was expecting. Based on the title, I expected some sort of greater insight into the life of a serial killer. Maybe it would be told from just the killer's perspective with flashbacks and memories ultimately revealing a "secret" of sorts. Instead it was a multi-perspective story of a serial killer who abducts girls. I'm not saying it was a bad story, just a different one from what I was expecting based on the title. The serial killer was not really scary and ominous, like I would've expected. He was just disappointing and immature.