Bookouture has now become my favourite publisher and once again I wasn't disappointed with this book even though I hadn't read anything from this author previously.

The story is based around Abi, who witnesses a hit and run in her old town where she grew up. She left years ago but returned for her father's funeral. We follow her story and find out why she left. She meets up with friends from her past but nothing ever stays the same does it?

The plot had twists and turns and I didn't guess who was driving the car until it was revealed.

Brilliantly written. Flowed really well and a few surprises along the way.

Many thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Just wonderful as always. Five glorious stars. Kerry Wilkinson never disappoints. This is suspenseful and gothic, a haunting story. One that will stay with me.

A good story line which unravels slowly with enough interesting diversions to keep the reader fully entertained. Although I felt that a reunion of school friends from the past perhaps distracted the reader from the main story line. However a great read.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'The Child Across The Street ' by Kerry Willkinson

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous

This is the first book that I have read by this author.

I was originally drawn to this book by its intriguing blurb. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists of 48 chapters which are a nice length so that you can read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

The story is written in first person perspective with the protagonist being Abi and it is set in the UK. I always enjoy reading books written in first person more as it feels like I'm sitting across the table from them while they are telling their story or in the book next to them.

This is a very well written book which captured my imagination immediately and sucked me straight in. The storyline flowed well and the descriptions were excellent. I loved some of the descriptions Abi uses for characters such as "the type of police officer a child might draw", it leaves me to use my imagination more when thinking about the characters.

I will say that it wasn't quite what I expected from reading the blog and I found it more of a slow burner than what I imagined it would be. However, I actually enjoyed the speed of it as it led us deeper into Abi's life, background and builds up a bigger picture than a faster storyline may have.

The characters were all well developed and believable as well as fitting for the neighbourhood described. Abi remained a bit of a mystery even at the end when it came to her constant bottle that she carried around with her.

The storyline itself is filled with lies, friendship, mystery, secrets, deceit, twists and turns and I wasn't expecting the ending which is always a bonus, nothing worse than a crime novel that you work out who did what before your half way through. Plenty of red herrings thrown into this one.

Overall a strong small town mystery that will leave you guessing right up until the very end.

Genres covered include fiction, drama, mystery, crime

I would recommend this book to fans of the above and fans of Kerry Wilkinson's books.

321 pages.

This book is £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon which I think is a very good price for this book.

Rated 4/5 (I enjoyed it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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I have read every one of Kerry’s books over the years and especially Jessica Daniels, as they are my favourite alongside Andrew Hunter. However, I’m not at all sure about this one.

The main character irritated me, with her drinking and messing about, her friend Jo was no better and the others were pretty wishy washy. It dragged on and on and never seemed to get anywhere. If anything it was going round in circles. However, it did clear at the end with a reasonable twist, but I’m sorry Kerry it wasn’t as gripping as your usual novels.

After reading the synopsis for The Child Across the Street I was expecting a gripping, thriller of a book. Sadly I just found it dull and lacking in pace. Sorry but this book wasn’t for me. Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

A child is hit by a car and left for dead. Abigale Coyle just happens to be walking toward her childhood home after being gone twenty year's. She glimpses the event and calls for help and Ethan is sent to the hospital. Abi is back but only to clear out her childhood home. The child hurt happens to be her one time best friends son. So many bad memories swarm around Abi as she arranges her fathers funeral, has difficult reconnections of friends from the past and try to help find the one who was responsible for the hit and run as a help to her friend. The past comes rushing forward and it has surprises she couldn’t begin to guess.
I thought this book would be a thriller but I my opinion it’s just a story with a mystery of who dun it. It was slow building and didn’t get interesting until the last couple chapters. It took me a long time to get through.
Thank you NetGalley, Kerry Wilkinson and publishers Bookouture for allowing me to read this ARC.

Enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite. The book is definitely a mystery because I never figured out who was driving the car. I would have rather it had been a different person. Wasn't a fan of any of the characters. Jo, Abi and Holly were just so unlikeable. I'm pretty sure Abi would not have been able to quit drinking like she did, especially since she was a functioning alcoholic. She always carried a bottle full of booze with her, so I doubt she could have quit without any side effects. Abi's mom knew what type of man her husband was, i couldn't believe she left her daughter there with him. Abi's father was a horrible man, she's lucky that she survived living there. I'm not sure why she even returned to the house. None of the characters in the book seemed like very nice people. I thought the book was going to be bit different, with a little more suspense and more of a thriller.

Recommend giving the book a try. I LOVE the Andrew Hunter series and look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bookouture through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have enjoyed prior books by this author so jumped at the chance to read his latest. Unfortunately this one did not grab me nor did it provide an interesting or exciting read. The main character was flat and the people in her orbit were strange to say the least. It was like trying to grab air and hold onto it.

Kerry Wilkinson is a great writer. I really like his straightforward prose and interesting characterizations. A cop, for example, is described as “the kind of policeman a child might draw.” He also has a good sense of humor and a sometimes wry observational style.

But somehow I failed to connect with the book. I think it was the narrator, Abi. Though she was well-written in terms of the plot and her observations, I did not really connect with the character emotionally. Same thing with the other main character, Jo. The plot also did not move particularly fast — I felt like I spent a lot of time waiting for something to happen.

Strange for me to like the author’s writing style so much but still not really connect with the book. I could see where this author’s humorous, slightly removed observational style would work much better in something like a police procedural series. But for me it was not quite emotionally right for the intimacy of a domestic thriller like this one, where you really want to be right inside the character’s head. I am interested to try another book by him, though! The humor and observations in this book did make me smile.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and Kerry Wilkinson for the advance copy!

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I like this author although sometimes some of her storylines are a bit far fetched for my liking. This was an okay read but not one of her best.

The Child Across the Street is okay. I’m normally a bigger fan of Kerry but the writing style felt simple, there’s little suspense and I just didn’t feel interested in the story.
Just because I wasn’t a fan of this book doesn’t mean you won’t be but I’ve read better thrillers recently.
Average but forgettable.

The Child Across the Street follows the story of a woman returning to her hometown to handle her fathers estate. Upon her return she witnesses a horrible accident and events from her past and present collide as we try to figure out who caused the accident.

There were moments that pulled me in to this story and for the first part of the story, I was into it! Unfortunately, as the book continued on, I found it to be dragging and I caught myself losing interest and skimming through pages. I am pretty picky when it comes to my thrillers so while it wasn’t for me, I think if someone is new to the thriller genre then this one will be a great recommendation for you!

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I went into this knowing nothing and came out knowing I want to read more of Wilkinson's works.

I loved the simplicity of the story. It didn't deal with some grand plan but rather a small town and the folk that live in that town. The book instantly captures you with the characters and their relationships. Like any small these relationship are messy. I also loved how the town became its own character and the development with it and Abi. Abi's process of grief was also well developed without spoon feeding it to the reader, which I appreciated.

I especially loved the ending. Not all need books need an intricate solution to the problem. As simple as it was, it was effective and great.

My only complaint is I wish the book delved into Abi's alcohol problem more. I like the how it was introduced and never in the fore front of the book, but its conclusion was kind of lack lustre. I personally thought her memory issue would contribute to the story but it really didn't. Would have been interesting aspect to explore as well.

The child across the street by kerry Wilkinson
Abi is returning home after 20 years of being away as she was around the corner as she is a screech of a car tyre and all of a sudden she sees a bike wheel and then noticed that a child is beenhit this story deals with the aftermath of what happened Abi is not being back home for 20 years and her father has just died so she has to go back to the house to to get the house sorted and for her father's funeral as she arrived a the house you realise that his father is not the most tidiest of people and we find about her past from her friends who she's not seen for 20 years one of them is Jo and that is this the child's mum who is hit they became friends again and they try and sort out what happened on that day you get to meet a lot of their friends from the past and you get to see how they are now i wanted to know more about each other there's a lot of twist in the plot you do not realise until near the end who was in the car but I thought that was very good how have it gave you a lot of people thoughts on who was driving that black car and you thought it was different people but you didn't realise who done it until he wanted you to near the end the writing style is very good I will say I like the book but it didn't grit me like some books do it was an ok and I enjoyed it I would have liked it to have gone in a bit more detail about Abi childhood you didn't seem to find a lot of Abi life but you knew she not happy in her dad home i want to know more about her life with her dad .The book base move around the accident that happened you have to carry on reading to find out what happened but as I said it didn't quite grip me it didn't make me want to read bit i did carry on reading it it was just so ok but left me a little bit flat i want to know so much more about her

One more Kerry Wilkinson proves he’s a true storyteller. This is totally different to his usual books. As usual the characters are complex, yet likeable; you learn a lot about them as the story unfolds. The settings are well described and I could easily visualise them. I really didn’t know where this story was going to finish and kept me guessing until the end. I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good crime story and maybe those who don’t.

This is a very hard review to write and rate. I honestly feel this is just middle of the road for me. Nothing stands out with this book. It’s not suspenseful, nothing ever really happens, & my feelings are just meh.

I have read almost all of Kerry's books, especially the Jessica Daniel series and enjoyed them all.

This book got off to a good start but then seemed to go a bit flat and I lost interest. Although the book was well written I just felt as though some of the background to the characters was missing.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This story had potential but fell a bit flat for me. It centers around Abi, who returns to the small town she grew up in upon the death of her father. Literally right when she gets there, she witnesses a hit and run accident that leaves an 8 year old boy fighting for his life. The boy happens to be the son of one of her closest friends from childhood and she gets pulled back in to the social circle she had left all of those years ago.

I felt like the character development in this book was weak- the author didn't give enough background on why Abi hadn't talked to her parents for so long, and I wish I had understood more about what she was really like. She also didn't seem to get riled up about anything- she just kind of did what anyone asked her to do and didn't even seem to show much emotion upon the appearance of a long-lost sister.

The mystery itself was pretty good- I didn't figure out who did it until the author wanted me to, and there were some good red herrings throughout.

Overall, I don't think I'll remember much about this book later- decent story but the characters just didn't do it for me. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest reivew.

I enjoyed this book more than I expected.

Abi Coyle returns to the town she grew up in after her father dies. Unfortunately, she immediately stumbles upon a terrible accident and is caught up in the mystery of the hit and run.

The story is nicely paced for the most part and the author keeps the story moving along nicely. The characters are well written and believable. I particularly enjoyed Holly’s snake oil boxes- I’ve seen that so many times!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.