This book was just OK for me. It centers around a murdered 9 year old boy and a missing 11 year old girl, with the POV shifting from the detective on the case to other characters, including the parents and various tertiary characters throughout the town.

I think the story itself was pretty good but the flow of the book was not natural- there are a lot of characters and it moves around so much it's hard to get to know any of them that well. While I liked the chapters that went 5 years ahead, it was jarring that they were labeled that way with the subsequent chapters not labeled at all, so each time I had to re-orient myself to the timeframe in which that chapter was happening.

While the premise of the book had a lot of potential, I think the author got caught up in making the reader guess what was going on to the point that the story just got messy- if we had gotten to know fewer characters a little more deeply, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

There were a few twists in the book, though the one that came at the end did not really appeal to me in terms of how the story ended.

Overall, a decent read but I felt like there was missed potential to make it a really good book. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Not quite what I was expecting based on the synopsis but it had me gripped and kept me guessing right to the end. Did not see the twist coming.

Curtis has return another fantastic book. Probably one of her bests. An absolute page turner! I certainly didn’t guess the twist at the end. excellent read. Highly recommend it.

I really struggled with this book 😕 I found that every single character was unlikeable and seemed to be a criminal! A young girl who’s a murderer, a teacher who’s been having an affair with a student and planning on kidnapping her daughter for financial gain, and it goes on ! I think it would’ve been good if it was a bit more believable It also jumped from present to future which was confusing at times . So sorry just not for me this one 😬

I have read other Gayle Curtis books but this didn’t have me hooked . I found it ok with a decent story line .
Two children are camping out one ends up dead the other is missing.
D.I. Cannan is called in but she has problems of her own. An old case seems very similar to this one with many secrets in this town.
Thanks NetGalley

This book was okay. I thought it would be very much like the Di Hunter series. But it wasn't really that similar. Quite convoluted. Could have been told in much less pages

The formula of this book is basic i would say, nothing that we haven't seen.. for some reason there a lot of books in this direction this day's.
It was Okay for me, sometimes you just don't click with the book no matter how much you try.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

Another police procedural which held my interest in most of the book. Two children on a sleepover, and one killed with other missing. DI Cannan was called and the investigation started.

My first book by this author, the Trope called to me. I found certain sections in the middle slightly confusing, but soon the author managed to tie them together.

Overall, an engaging read

I found this to be a good read although some parts were uncomfortable for me. A good and interesting story and started a bit slow but once it picked up I enjoyed it and was eager for the ending. Not a really long read, so easy to get through. I will certainly read another book by this author

I have read all of this author's other books and this one did not disappoint. A tangled web of lies covering what happened to poor murdered Raymond and missing Cara. I got a little confused in the middle but it all became clearer towards the end. Recommended.

A first for me by this author and not my usual genre, but I wanted to give it a go as the blurb provoked interest.

The story is centred around two friends (Raymond and Cara) who were enjoying one of their sleepovers, in the young boy’s garden, when the unthinkable happens. One child is dead. One child is missing.

DI Cannan is called back to where she grew up to investigate the murder and the missing child. In a seaside town with so many secrets, it’s hard to know who is lying and who is telling the truth. DI Cannan must draw on her own experiences and not let her own past affect her, if she is to help discover a murderer and find a missing child.

The narrative structure is a busy one - it is written from lots of different points of view and in two time frames - the present and five years later. I enjoy stories that are written in dual narratives and time periods, but I think it’s fair to say that at times I did have to stop, pause and check that I knew which character was being dealt with and their involvement in the unfolding story. Structurally, it could maybe benefit from a small tweak by having dates at the start of each chapter or a note to say present day and/or with the character’s name, just to prevent any confusion.

I feel that that the different points of view kept you engaged and invested to find out what was going on. It gave depth and credibility to the story because it just shows how deep-rooted the issues brought up can go and how complex cases of this nature are. It’s like a loose thread on clothing - you pull on it and everything begins to come apart.

The majority of characters in this story, as you expect, are pretty abhorrent and the entire time that you’re reading, you want them to get their comeuppance. To offset these characters, I would have liked to have had more development of DI Cannan and Kristen.

One thing that I feel it important to mention is that this book should come with a trigger warning; some readers might struggle with the sensitive topic of child trafficking.

Overall, a great read - lots of twists and turns and ‘could it be?’ and ‘oh, I didn’t see that coming!’ moments.

I was provided this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for my own honest review.

I'm going to be really honest and admit that it took me longer than usual to get into this book. In my opinion, it was very difficult to read because the chapters were short and each one flitted to a different character with a completely different story line. I felt as if I was just getting into a specific characters story when I would be dragged away to find out about somebody else's.
About half way through the book, when I'd eventually worked out who everybody was, I did actually really enjoy it. I began to devour the pages because I knew that things were coming together.
I'm not going to lie, some of it was really raw and hard to read due to the topics that were covered, but overall I did enjoy the book and it did leave me with some unanswered questions. The very last page was my favourite.

A truly convoluted story of revenge. A young girl goes missing, a trafficking ring exposed, and an officer is hung out to dry in the last line of 5he story. A village is trying to find the killer of a young boy,who is found bound on the Green after a bank holiday. As the story on winds several locals come under suspicion, and as their tales are told the intrigue includes mothers at their wits end and couples who aren’t as they seem. In the end it is revenge served very cold that stays the day.

Review for 'Safe No Longer ' by Gayle Curtis

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Amazon Publishing UK.

This is the first book that I have read by this author. I may pick up any more books by her if I was see them in the library.

This novel consists of a prologue and 65 chapters. The chapters are all relatively short so ideal if you want to read' just one more chapter', which never happens personally!!

I was originally drawn to this book by the colourful and intriguing cover and interesting blurb. The blurb related well to the plot but not so much the cover which shows a scooter and I can't actually remember one being used in the book.

The story is presented through 5 points of views and 2 time lapses. I normally enjoy books where this happens but unfortunately in this case it caused quite a bit of confusion due to so much going on at once.

I was sucked straight into the story line and was enjoying it but after a while I was getting mixed up with who was who and who had done what due to the amount of characters and different crimes going on.

I thought the descriptions in the book were quite good but the characters didn't seem very well developed. Again, I believe this was because there was so much going back and forth in time and flitting from one character to another there wasn't enough time with any individual to develop a reader/character relationship.

The plot is interesting and filled with lies, murder, mystery and crime, it just wasn't put together in the best way.

The novel is is set in the UK 🇬🇧 which I always prefer being from the UK myself it sometimes means I have been to some of the places described in books.

If I was to recommend this book it would be to fans of crime, murder and mystery.

297 pages

Free on kindle unlimited or £1.99 to purchase. I think this is a good price for this book.

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This was an easy to read thriller that kept my attention all the way through! Lots of twists and surprises I didn't see coming. Very good, would recommend :)

Raymond & Cara are best friends. One summer night they camp out in Raymond's garden. Come morning Raymond's body is found dead on the village green & Cara has disappeared. DI Rita Cannan is appointed SIO. Her parents live in the village & the case is similar to another many years ago.

The narrative switches backwards & forwards from character & from time line. I spent a lot of the time totally confused & trying to keep hold of the story. The characters were all pretty unpleasant, some more so than others. Towards the last third I had managed to work out who was who & when things were happening I became engaged but by that time I didn't think I could give this more than three stars.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

This was a bit of a convulated read. There's lots if characters and multiple points if view which affected the flow of the book. I struggled to get into the story.

Ever read one of those books that you find yourself hating everyone as the story goes along? That would be Safe No Longer by Gayle Curtis for me unfortunately. Safe No Longer is a thriller that has multiple points of view and alternating timelines and unlike a lot of those I found this one to be hard to follow.

This story starts off with a young mother planning her own daughter’s kidnapping with a man she thought she could trust to care for her daughter while she glowed in the media. This plan was supposed to be what was in the best interest of the child. *cough* Needless to say things go way out of control when a young boy is found murdered and the daughter no where to be found and the partner in crime claiming innocence.

So basically what we have here is questionable characters around every corner or turn of the page to the point of disgust really. There was so much going on and to follow along with that it all really becomes a distracting mess with no one really to root for or care about in my opinion. Also, the jumping ahead didn’t seem to flow very well to me leaving it feeling kind of off as you switch. Hoping something would stand out at the end I ended up feeling let down there too as it all seemed to be a stretch with some things unanswered.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book wasn't really for me. It was too far fetched in places and extremely hard for me to follow. I will not be continuing with the series.

Absorbing, Intense and Well Constructed

Safe No Longer is an extremely well constructed thriller that is evenly paced and ends with a shiver. This third novel by Gayle Curtis perfectly combines police procedure with suspenseful thrills in an entertaining story that showcases good character development, haunting pasts, dark secrets, and terrible lies.

The story starts with the murder of a young boy, Raymond, and the disappearance of his best friend, Cara. The children had been on a sleepover, camping out overnight in the garden one balmy summers night. The situation eerily echoes another girl’s death many years ago. DI Rita Cannan leads the investigation but will she be able to find the perpetrator in time?

This book rebounds around between timelines and the story is unusually told in a way that presents the case first and foremost, introducing the pertinent characters, and lining up the suspects and possible or likely motives. Chapters five years after the occurrences are also interspersed, told to a TV interviewer by DI Cannan. It was a technique that worked for me and zhooshed up the story as well as making it more credible.

Safe No Longer was a puzzle with so many pieces that I enjoyed trying to put together. By and large, a fantastic, intricately woven, worthwhile story.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Amazon Publishing UK via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.