Invisible Victim by Mel Sherratt is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Journalist Eva Farmer finds herself the 5th victim of a kidnapper.  She has written about each victim, and she knows exactly what is in store for her unless she can escape.  The first three were released on day ten, but none will ever be the same.  The fourth victim has not been seen since her abduction.  Eva is now concerned about her own fate.

She is being held in a small room in a basement.  She has a mattress and a bucket, and not much else.  A narrow window provides her only light.  Her jewelry, shoes, and clothing have been taken, and she is now wearing someone else's sweatshirt and pants.

The police have no clues.  None of the victims ever saw the person who took them, and their jailer never spoke to them the entire time they were held in captivity.  There seems to be no connection between them.  They were released in the middle of the night, and have no recollection of when they were taken, or when they were let go.

Eva is in the fight of her life.


My Opinions:   
This was really good.  I can't believe this is the first book I have read by Mel Sherratt.  I have a lot of catching up to do.

The book centers on child abuse, on mental illness,  on the relationship between captor and captive, on nature vs nurture, on what can set a person "off".

The book is told from multiple points of view, but mostly Eva and Alex.  It becomes evident that truth and lies get mixed together.  Although there was a major twist, it was rather predictable, and I had already come to the conclusion it delivered.  However, it was still really good.

Definitely enjoyed this one, and will be searching for more books by this author.

Eva Farmer is an investigative journalist who has been covering the story of four women who have each been abducted on separate occasions, three of them have been released after ten days, the fourth is still missing, then Eva wakes up in the very room described by the previous abductees, each time their abductor stayed silent throughout. Eva cannot understand what the link is between the victims, and where does she fit into all of this? Then her abductor speaks out and Eva realises that to escape from this nightmare she must revisit a time from her childhood that she's been trying to keep buried for a long time.

Invisible Victim is set in Stoke, mainly around August 2019, with flashbacks to 2006/2007 and from various points of view. I sympathised with both Eva and her abductor, both had endured traumatic childhoods, but each had chosen to deal with their ordeals differently in their adult life, never once considering the consequences that would arise from their decisions. This is a fast paced read, with the author covering some very delicate subjects making it a very dark read at times. I've loved all books that I've read so far, written by Mel and Marcie and I raced through this one in a couple of days. Well done Mel, another fab read!

I'd like to thank Bookouture and Netgalley for the auto approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

This was good, for the most part, and something different of this genre. I enjoyed it up to the 50% mark, but I felt like it started to drag a bit then. The inner monologues of the villain and victims got a bit repetitive and tiresome. The parts about child abuse were hard to read but definitely added to the story. The ruthlessness of the villain was so on point but a bit unrealistic imo. But I'll chalk all of this to the copious amounts of thrillers I read, lol! So if you are new to this genre do give this a read!

TW for child abuse, bulimia.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Invisible Victim by Mel Sherratt begins with a disturbing first chapter set in 2006, as we are plunged into the horrific plight of two neglected young children. We then jump forward 13 years to meet Eva, a journalist happily married to a police officer who is investigating the abductions of several women. Eva is also digging into the cases to write a special feature for the local paper where she works as Senior Features Editor.

After a promising start unfortunately the narrative rapidly becomes mundane and repetitive, making the book hard to get through and ultimately unrewarding with very predictable "twists". The title is fitting for the theme the author explores, but overall I felt some careful rewriting and editing would bring the story to life and make the characters' conversations and reflections more believable.

Eva farmer is a journalist covering the recent individual abductions of 4 women. 3 were held in terrible conditions and suffered horrendous abuse only to be released after 10 days in captivity. The fourth has never been found. The surviving 3 have sketchy memories of their abductions and are unable to provide police with any reason for them to be targeted.

When Eva awakes in a dank cellar with no recollection of how she got there she comes to the realisation that she is the 5th women. Will she survive?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and finished it in 2 days. It’s a very sad read but certainly shows that your past does not have to define your future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a brilliant book from Mel Sherratt.
Women are being abducted, held for ten days and the released naked in the middle of nowhere.
However the fourth woman who was taken has not yet appeared despite the ten days being up.
Eva is a journalist and is interviewing the victims to try and understand why this is happening.
That is until she’s the next victim and is being held in a cellar with little food and drink.
Eva knows she is being drugged and just wants the ten days to hurry up so she can get out of there, but her captor has other plans.
This is a gripping thriller and with chapters from the abductor’s point of view as well as Eva, it’s a great read.
If you like a thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat then this one is for you.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I love this authors police procedural series so looked forward to reading this standalone.

This was a quick read following journalist Eva as she is taken by the abductor she has been reporting about over the last few months. 4 women had gone missing to be be released 10 days later and as soon as she wakes up in the basement room of a house with a bucket in the corner, she knows who she has been taken by.

I can't say this book really grabbed me, it was a pretty solid story, but I personally think the reveal was a bit too soon and the middle felt like it dragged a little.

Fast-paced and twisty, Invisible Victim is an addictive and exhilarating psychological thriller that you will find difficult to put down.

I’ve read a lot of slow-burners recently so this was exactly what I needed. There is constantly something going on and the story progresses quickly, making this a thoroughly enjoyable read.

The chapters alternate between Eva and the kidnapper, while also using Eva’s newspaper reports on the previous abductions to give more background information on their situation. There are plenty of great twists which really keep you gripped and many dark moments that give you goosebumps, keeping you engaged for every possible second.

What I loved most about this book is the discussion around how victims of childhood abuse carry their trauma into their adult lives. Some know nothing other than abuse and go on to either commit crimes or abuse themselves, while many go on to live happier lives, either using their experience for good or keeping their experience personal and using it to strengthen their character. It’s great to see this being discussed, as it pains me to constantly read about victims of abuse who aren’t able to move on from their experiences, when that’s not always the case.

“As much as she had pity for…the numerous children who went off the rails after suffering traumas, not all of them took their troubles into their adult lives.”

The abductor here suffered some of the cruellest abuse as a child, but their actions now are just as inexcusable. So you root for Eva to fight back, as you become desperate for her torture to come to an end. I did find a lot of Eva’s dialogue quite lacklustre, but maybe this was her playing her journalistic role and avoiding an emotional response. It does make her hard to relate with on an emotional level, but I wanted her to succeed all the same.

My only issue with the story is that the police involved are absolutely useless, as I thought the link between the victims was pretty obvious. For readers, this doesn’t matter too much the identity of the abductor is revealed quite early on. But I just couldn’t help thinking that the police weren’t doing a very good job.

Everything else about this book, I loved. It’s such an exciting read, and I was hooked from the very start.

(I'm on the tour for this on 28th, so my reviews will be live then)

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Invisible Victim’ by Mel Sherrett in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Eva Farmer, senior features editor for the Stoke News, has been abducted and is being kept in a cellar, as have the four other women before her. Three of the women are released after ten days, beaten, tattooed with a number, their hair cut and nails painted black, but the fourth women is still missing. Eva knows there’s a possibility that she, too, will be released after ten days but what if she’s not? Will she be found before she suffers the same fate as woman number four?

What an amazing thriller ‘Invisible Victim’ has turned out to be. There’s so much excitement, drama and suspense that I’ve not stopped reading and the story has become more tense the further I’ve got into the story. From early on we’re told the identity of the abductor but then comes a huge twist that changes my preconceived theory. Mel Sherrett has the ability to write what could be classed as an ordinary thriller and twist it around so that it turns into an extraordinary one with a plot that’s surprising, unexpected and not at all what I would have ever imagined. And then there’s that little cliffhanger in the last pages that’s so incredible the mind boggles just thinking about it. This is a brilliant story that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, well worth reading and definitely recommended.

A psychological thriller, fairly slow moving but the suspense and uncertainty is built up gradually.Mostly written from the point of view of Eva, a reporter, but some parts are written from the point of view of Alex in different time frames. Some women have been kidnapped and physically and psychologically mishandled. Eva tells their stories in the local paper until she too is captured.
This book explores the reasons for the behaviour of the perpetrator and why the victims are chosen. It felt believable and shocking and it kept my interest throughout. Sometimes a book is so slow moving that I get bored but this was not the case here.
Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4070671696

I have enjoyed all of the Mel Sherratt books I have read and this one is no exception. It had me clicking the pages as fast as I could to find out what was going on and there were plenty of twists to keep me enthralled. I was drawn in to the story from the start and couldn't stop reading, every time saying just one more chapter! Fabulous!

Interesting read and kept me wanting to continue. Quick read compared to others recently. It was disturbing in parts and emotional but just made you want to keep on reading. Good plot with a twist. Characters came to life during the story. Recommend for people enjoy a domestic psychological read

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

WOW! Invisible Victim is another awesome read by Mel Sherratt. I have loved everything she has written, and this book has been no exception. It’s quite different to most of her other books in a lot of ways but similar in the way of having real, believable characters and a storyline which will suck you in from page one making it quite unputdownable.
There is a kidnapper on the loose who seems to be targeting random women for no obvious reason. All, but one, have been released after ten days but have no recollection of where they have been, who had been holding them captive or why. When the fifth victim is a Stoke reporter, who had been following the stories of the previous women we start to learn more about the kidnapper and those kidnapped. I was engrossed. I felt every emotion of the poor woman locked away holding on to the hope of going home on day ten. Ten days must feel like years in that situation. Also, the uncertainty of even going home at all. I can’t even imagine. I couldn’t wait to find out why, what was making this person tick and what reasons/excuses they had for putting these women through such an ordeal.
Mel Sherratt knows how to write exceptional characters. Even the ones you’re not supposed to like I still often end up feeling for to a certain degree. This kidnapper’s back story is quite heart-breaking, which does not of course condone their adult behaviour. However, it does go some way to explaining why their mind works the way it does. It does raise the nature v nurture question too, which has always fascinated me.
I devoured this book, I absolutely loved it!
I most certainly recommend to anyone and everyone!
#TeamSherratt

**Many thanks to the author and publisher for my review copy via NetGalley**

Haunting, Invisible Victim will stay with me for a long time.

It’s not very often a book can shock me like this! Dark, disturbing and absolutely brilliant! The only thing is I would have preferred to not know the victims are locked up for ten days and then released as it takes some of the tension away.

Eva is a strong likeable character - I would like to see her feature in another story, I loved her!

4.5/5

I’ve been a fan of Mel Sherratt’s different police procedural series. But this psychological thriller came across as dull and lackluster. Not bad, just lacking in any real suspense or tension. The plot concerns women who are kidnapped and held for 10 days. The last of the women taken is a reporter who has written about the previous four women. The chapters alternate between Eva, the reporter and Alex, the kidnapper. Eva’s newspaper articles are included along with the earlier lives of both individuals. So, we understand Alex’s back history. But Alex never came across as believable, instead as a caricature of a psycho.
This has a lot of high ratings so I am definitely in the minority.
My thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of this book.

This was a hard book to finish. I kept the faith that it would get much better but unfortunately it was nothing new or exciting.

Told from the perspectives of the abductor and his captives it is hard to really get a feel for the story, the only point of the story is the abductor makes people invisible which is the same premise as every other book like this.

Unremarkable.

The title is the perfect choice for this book, but other than that I can't find much positive to say. It's an intriguing premise but I couldn't get at all emotionally involved with the events unfolding or the lives of the characters and found myself slogging through until the end.

Women have been going missing for 10 days then released naked and found in shop doorways and other unusual places. They are alive, just, traumatised, frightened and malnourished. There is no explanation why this is happening and each woman cannot understand why she was abducted or how she got there. Some have been beaten or hurt.

Eva Farmer is a sensitive journalist who has been covering the stories but now she finds herself in their situation. She is locked in a dark cellar given two slices of toast and a cup of tea to drink each day and that's it. There is a bucket in the corner for their toilet use and a dirty old mattress. The abductor never speaks to them and only passes their food through a small flap in the door. They are drugged with Rohypnol and in the morning the bucket has been emptied so they know the abductor has been in whilst they are knocked out.

Eve's husband is a police officer and is going out of his mind with worry.

The story alternates between Eva and that of her abductor to date and their childhood that led them to why they have kidnapped each woman.

What a great book and what a sucker punch in the middle.
The chapters are short so it is easy to pick up and put down without wondering where you left the story. Well written and a thoroughly exciting book.
Well done Mel another cracker.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this excellent book. xx

Invisible Victim by Mel Sherratt had me hooked from the word go. This is a fast-paced, compulsive read that you will want to consume in a single session. I was virtually propelled through the pages, and gobbled up the narrative in record time.

Four women have been abducted and three of them have been released after 10 days. But what has become of the fourth woman? This is journalist Eva's second thought as she wakes up in a makeshift cell, a space that has been described to her by the three women who have survived this hellish nightmare. Her first thought is that she has become the fifth victim of a perpetrator who remains unknown to local police. Has Eva's journalistic connection to the case put her in a vulnerable, though random, position, or is she the intended victim of a disturbed individual with a specific, and very sinister, agenda?

This is a pulse pounding tale that kept me up late into the night. I am very much looking forward to reading more from this author. 4.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC.

Something missing for me with this one. Just an ok read that was a bit sluggish and eked out in the middle. Could guess some of the twists. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.