This book gives off "The Silent Patient" vibes but in a good way. I loved this book and I hated "The Silent Patient" this had everything that the other was missing

The Long Shadow was a psychological thriller along with a kidnapping mystery. I didn't love this one but I also didn't hate it! It was okay for me. I found it was confusing to read with how it was organized, however I enjoyed the plot. Definitely give this one a shot if you are interested in drawn-out mysteries with some therapy thrown in the book. That was the most boring part for me - the group therapy sessions. I also felt like it didn't flow super well, but that's okay, it didn't deter from the story.

Reading Between the Wines book review #10/115 for 2021:
Rating: 2 🍷 🍷
Book: The Long Shadow
Release Date: Available Now!!! (Released on October 13, 2020)
Author: Anne Buist
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers

Sipping Synopsis: A 25-year-old mystery of the death of a baby has the town of Riley up in arms. Isabel, who is in town to accompany her husband while he is investigating the local hospital, also receives an ominous note that says that another baby will find the same fate.

Final sipping thoughts: This book had SO many characters I had a difficult time following the story. The author even gives you a list of the characters and their family which I ultimately wrote in my book journal, but it was just too confusing. It got to the point that I did not even care who was whom and just read and hoped to make sense. I did enjoy the mystery of what happened to the baby 25 years prior, but I didn’t care as much as to who was threatening the town in the present day. The last 20% when the mystery was solved redeemed the book enough for my rating to move from one star to two. I absolutely hate to give a not so nice review, but this is my honest opinion. And you know the best thing about opinions? There is always an opposing one-so read the blurb and try the book out if you think it is for you-it just was not for me.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @TextPublishingCompany for an advanced copy of @TheLongShadow

#TheLongShadow #TextPublishingCompany #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers

Set in a once lively now tarnished, small town in the Australian outback, which was fun to read with the slow pace of the town setting the scene for a supposed quick business stay for Isobel and Dean. Dean is assessing whether to close the hospital when Isobel is thrown into a decades old mystery that has haunted the town. Despite her mother’s group counseling groups which she runs very few will open up about what really happened all those years ago. At first undecided, Isobel can’t look away and the tension and twists build to a dramatic, unexpected ending that kept me reading as I JUST HAD TO KNOW!

Barking owls, kangaroos in the road, droughts and floods define life in the small faded town of Riley in the Australian outback. Dean and Isabel Harris and their son Noah arrive in town for what she hopes is a short stay. Dean will assess the aging hospital and Isabel, a psychologist, will start a group for young mothers. At the first meeting, Isabel receives an anonymous note “The baby killer is going to strike again. Soon.”

That note leads Isabel into a dark mystery that has haunted the town for 25 years. A baby was kidnapped from the hospital nursery and found dead soon after. The kidnapper was never found. Isabel’s note, referring to that crime, has also been sent to the police. Meanwhile, Dean is deciding the future of the hospital and with that, the jobs of many of the town residents. Isabel, seeing Dean’s unpopularity and feeling threatened, tries to understand how something that happened years ago could be linked to the present and, she worries, to her mothers’ group. As she unravels the layers of secrets that fill Riley, she exposes herself to danger.

The Long Shadow starts slowly and seems to follow the pace of life in a small town. As Isabel gets closer to the truth, tension builds to a totally unforeseen conclusion. Author Anne Buist’s experience in psychiatry brings realism to Isabel’s counseling sessions and the evocative descriptions of rural Australia are a bonus. 5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley, Text Publishing Company and Anne Buist for this ARC.

If it had not been for the fact that I just finished reading a book recently with a similar plot (mom/baby group), I may have enjoyed this one. But this one just fell flat for me, and didn't compare to the one I previously read. I also got annoyed with Issy's husband.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for and ARC for an honest and unbiased review

The Long Shadow
𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝟵/𝟮𝟯/𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬
While I am continuing to post my regular content, the BLM movement is still going on. Please keep referring to my story and linktree to find ways to help out.✊🏻‼️
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I’m ashamed to say that I have over 80 titles from netgalley, and I’m trying catch up. Pray for me.😳
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The Long Shadows is a thriller follows main character, psychologist Isabel Harris, who moved to outback town of Riley because her husband is assessing the town’s hospital. She is given a job of running a mother-baby therapy group, when she gets a message from one of the mother’s in distress: “The Baby Killer is going to strike again.” Forced to confront the towns past, she quickly questions everyone, even herself.😨
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So, this was just okay. I found myself not very ‘thrilled,’ because the author tended to tell us everything that happened instead of showing us, which caused me to disconnect with the writing completely. I also found myself not caring about any of the characters, especially Isabel. She was completely dull, and didn’t have anything interesting to share. I didn’t guess the twist, which is why I gave it three stars, but that is being extremely generous for this particular novel.
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Anything you want to share with me today? Let me know!💋
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Dm me to talk about all things book or writing related! I’ll be looking forward to it! —Em😌

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Thank you NetGalley Publisher and author for this gifted ebook.

Psychologist Isabel Harris has come to the outback town of Riley because her husband Dean is assessing the hospital—the hub of the community—with a view to closing it down. Isabel, mostly occupied with her toddler, will run a mother–baby therapy group. But on the first day she gets an anonymous note from one of the mothers:

The baby killer is going to strike again. Soon.

Very well written book. With some twists added in the mix. It was an easy read and hard book to stop reading. I wish I could habe related to the characters more. But overall it was worth the read.

I’m sorry to say this felt a bit “done” for me. I’m finding myself tired of the yummy mummy faces a mystery genre lately.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.
This thriller was slow at the start but picked up a bit later on. I can’t give this a 5 star rating for that reason. Good story, characters, and setting. My interest just wasn’t grabbed at the beginning so it was hard to keep it as the story moved forward.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Isabel, a psychologist, travels with her husband, an auditor, to a small Australian town to oversee an audit of the town's small hospital. While there, Isabel conducts a counseling session with a group of young mothers. This group of women is connected in various ways and a long held secret is revealed.

I agree with another reviewer that the beginning was hard for me to get into because of the amount of psychoanalysis in the story. Although parts of the story are revealed here, it was too much like listening in on therapy sessions and that bored me.

The story does take off more from the middle and the ending did surprise me. It was very atmospheric and you could feel the small town oppression from the buried secrets in the tight knit community.

Isabel and Dean are both in Ridley to do a job. He is investigating the local hospital to see if funding should continue while she is a doctor doing therapy for new mothers. The job Dean is doing is especially unpopular locally and they are not welcomed. Of course there are many jobs at stake for the town.

Overall, I did enjoy the writing style and I would definitely be open to reading the next book from this author, minus the therapy.

Close encounter to the simmering tension of small town where the people are truly unhappy with their life choices. The secrets they kept gnawing their stomaches, the bottled up resentment, anger, fear cloud their judgements. They are not pleased some outsiders’ moving to their secluded place and determine the impactful changes of their lives.

Something ominous and threatening already killed the town’s spirit and now the people are afraid of losing their homes and jobs after the sudden move of Dean and Isabel Harris move to town!

Isabel is a psychologist who starts a mother-baby group with five mothers: tense Sophie, Teagan coming from politically powerful family, Roisin who looks confused and her mind is mostly elsewhere, agitated police officer Kate and Zahra who suffers from postpartum anxiety.

They don’t give any trustworthy, genuine vibes. They’re like ticking bombs which can blast at any sudden second. And of course finding a threatening note about baby killer’s striking doesn’t help her ease her worries.
Her husband is the decision maker about the hospital’s near future: running an intense operation for assessing it to make sure it can be saved to run efficiently or it should be closed down.

Of course threats start occur connected with a 25 years old cold case of child’s brutal murder.
Isabel gets more anxious as the hatred and unwelcome attention of town people grow. She is also worried that the killer may aim one of the group moms.

I enjoyed the portraits of struggling small town people and the dark, eerie, tense atmosphere of the story telling. The characters were mostly disturbing and seances of mothers’ group a little flat, slow but the conclusion of the story was breathtaking.

I always keen on reading more Aussie authors’ works and this book gripped my attention with its pessimistic, sad, claustrophobic vibes which earned my solid 4 stars.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for sharing this intriguing ARC with me in exchange my honest opinions.

I would like to start by giving a huge thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for and ARC for an honest and unbiased review
Oh my what an awesome ride this book took me on. I was hooked from start to finish and so sad when it was over. Great Book

A psychologist rattled by a near-miss with her own child holds a mothers' therapy group in the small outback town where her husband is spearheading an unpopular assessment of the corrupt local hospital. At her first meeting, she receives an anonymous note: "The baby killer is going to strike again. Soon."

I was drawn to the premise of this book and enjoyed the climactic chase scene through the well-described Australian setting. Unfortunately, I found the main character unsympathetic, illogical, and unethical, and the unraveling of the plot slow and overburdened with psychoanalyzing.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.