An interesting read and a worry perspective on the reporting of rape. Strong female characters though no redeeming qualities in any of the males ! Just became too violent and far fetched for me during the last third.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! I’ve read all of Katerina Diamond books and this one was no different she is the queen of thrillers. This book was so captivating and dealt with the themes of rape and sexual assault in a sensitive manner.
The book was fast paced and kept me guessing throughout a perfect book for psychological thrillers fans alike, from the very first page I drawn and couldn’t put the book down it was so good I read it in a day! The characters were likeable also- Martha to name one.

Overall, I throughly enjoyed this book and all the plot twists that it presented! Another cracking book by Katerina Diamond.

Loved this book!
The book starts with Gail being raped in her own home and reporting it to the police and the policewoman Shona doesn’t take it seriously. 3 years later we follow Gail’s life after the attack and how it’s affected her. She meets another woman at a support group who she believes has been attacked by the same man. They then work together to find out who he is and exact revenge. The story is told mainly from the POV of Gail with some chapters from the POV of the policewoman Shona and the rapist. The standout of the book for me is that a lot of Gail’s chapters talk to the rapist and really show you how she has been affected by this. The ‘investigation’ is mainly told this way and through Gail rather than a police investigation which is an interesting take and one I don’t think I have seen before.
Thanks to netgalley for the copy.

Twice Gail Reynolds has reported serious assaults to the police, and on both occasions her allegations have been deemed unworthy of any consideration. Lacking complete faith in the police and the legal system, Gail feels she has no alternative than to take matters into her own hands.

The subject matter in this story was never going to be an easy read, and certainly not one for those who may be triggered by the plot. Definitely an approach with caution offering. A dark, disturbing and shocking book, with deep insight into the chilling psyche of the perpetrator, and the spiralling unsettled mind of his victim.

From the start it is an intriguing read, with some very unpleasant characters. The transformation of victim to vigilante is sharp and explicit, though not without its flaws. It is fairly obvious from quite early on who the perpetrator is, with very few twists.

For such a compelling read, I felt the ending was rushed and left me wanting to know more. The author pulled no punches with this book, but let down the reader at the last.

Thank you NetGalley.

The Silence by Katerina Diamond was a dark, intense read that had me hooked. Loved that the scenes alternate from victim to perpetrator, so we could really get inside their heads. 5 stars from me.

I don’t really know how I felt about this book, it was fairly obvious from early in who the rapist was, but maybe that was the point. I felt it left too much hanging at the end about the aftermath of the crimes too. Other than that, it was a book to make women really angry about the sexual assault statistics and the online incel group was really chilling. I liked the main female characters, but there were no redeeming features in any of the males. I thought the author truly showed the anger and confusion that rape victims must feel. Not a read for anyone that could be triggered by the subject matter.

A book about rape is never an easy read, but this book delves into the psyche of one victim. She reported her rape to the police and was told there was not enough evidence. Then she was raped again how was this possible??? This is her story how this man takes over her life and she wants to find him!!!! This is only the beginning of a harrowing tale when a victim is not believed, the work of incels on line. These are women hating groups who spill their vitriol on line to other like minded men and the strength of one women who stands up and will not be a victim anymore. With the number of rapes coming to trial are in a massive decrease this is a very thought provoking read. Highly recommended and The Queen Of Crime has succeeded in blowing me away!!!!!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

The Silence by Katerina Diamond is a dark read, as you might guess. The topic itself is something not everyone will feel comfortable reading, I hesitated before choosing to read this book, because of the subject matter, but it was a excellent read.

The Silence is a highly intense read and throws up a lot of questions about the way sexual assault cases are sometimes dealt with. There is an angry tone to the book and rightly so.

"The police do nothing, not always because they don't care - I'll give them that much - but because of the very intimate nature of it. It happens in offices, in bedrooms, in the backs of cars, or private cubicles in public bathroom stalls. There are rarely any witnesses, or if there are they aren't sure what they are seeing ."

I was pretty sure early on that I knew who the rapist was but the journey to find out for sure was interesting enough that I didn't care.

The main characters in The Silence weren't overly likeable but that didn't detract from the story and it didn't stop me rooting for them.

I always enjoy reading Katerina Diamond’s books and her new thriller The Silence certainly lived up to my expectations.
Lots of great characters and a story that had me on the edge of my seat.
I couldn’t put this book down and read it in one day.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

⚠️This is a book about Rape!! So please be cautious⚠️

💉Crime Thriller
💉 Thought provoking
💉 Twists
💉 Chilling
💉 Vigilante

So I’ve enjoyed Imogene Grey series and the work by this author. I applaud the author for tackling such a tough subject! Highlighting the struggles victims face when reporting rape, the statics of unreported and about that do not get prosecuted. The author highlights how men can just get away with taking what they want because they “ believe” they can!

This book had so much potential to be a great book especially with the topic, but the author lost me. I really felt for Gail and the pain she was going through from the start. But as we progressed I really disliked Gail and her friend Martha (I know I’m a horrible person). None of the characters had any depth to them unfortunately.

The transition to victimhood/ vigilante lead to a couple of the characters to be completely unhinged in such a way that was unrealistic for me. I totally understand why someone of her background may have a vendatta but the author just didn’t quite get it.

The couldn’t get with the constant repeating, “why am I not the only one” “I wasn’t special” over and over again.

I felt that the twist was easy to identify to be honest. Honestly it was such a shame as an important topic like this the author could really have made this more hard hitting, but she lost me on this.

I’m usually a massive fan of this author but for some reason I just couldn’t gel with this book. I wasn’t keen on Gail’s character and found I guessed the twist fairly early on. Having said that I was compelled to finish the novel so would rate it 3 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

In Katerina Diamond's The Silence, readers are plunged into a different kind of crime thriller that dares to explore the chilling psyche of a victim. Departing from the conventional narrative approach, Diamond primarily follows the harrowing experiences of Gail, the unfortunate soul subjected to unspeakable horrors. However, we are not entirely disconnected from the investigation, as glimpses into the thoughts of DI Shona White offer insight into the tireless pursuit of justice. Additionally, the inclusion of short chapters that delve into the twisted mind of the rapist adds an unnerving layer to the story.
From the opening pages, The Silence succeeds in gripping its audience with an unrelenting intensity. Diamond's skilful storytelling keeps readers on edge, desperate to uncover the truth behind the heinous crimes committed. The author's ability to maintain a tense atmosphere of suspense throughout the narrative is commendable, ensuring that readers remain engrossed from start to finish.
However, as much as The Silence captivates, it also disturbs. One aspect that left me unsettled was the peculiar dynamic between Gail and her attacker. The dialogue she maintained in her mind with her assailant was disconcertingly intimate, blurring the lines between victim and perpetrator. While this unconventional approach adds a layer of complexity to the story.
Regrettably, the ending of The Silence falls short of the expectations set by the preceding narrative. It feels rushed and fails to tie up several loose ends, leaving the reader with a sense of frustration. While the perpetrator's identity, which I had already deduced, is revealed, it appears as though no further exploration of the story is deemed necessary. This abrupt resolution leaves numerous threads dangling, and while they may not be unanswered per se, they remain disconcertingly open, detracting from the overall satisfaction of the reading experience.
In conclusion, The Silence offers a different perspective on the crime thriller genre by placing the victim at the forefront of the narrative. Katerina Diamond's ability to maintain an intense atmosphere of suspense is commendable, keeping readers gripped from start to finish. However, the unsettling nature of Gail's internal dialogue with her attacker and the rushed, unsatisfying ending left me somewhat disappointed and frustrated. Despite its flaws, The Silence is an engaging read for those seeking a unique take on the genre, but be prepared for a conclusion that may leave you wanting.

I have read and enjoyed the authors previous work, so I automatically requested The Silence without knowing the fully what it was about. The Silence is about rape. So, if you are sensitive this is not for you.
Gail Porter wakes up in the middle of the night to find out that she has been drugged and raped in her own home. She tries to report it to the police, but because of some inconsistences the police doesn’t believe her. Two years later she is still struggling to come to terms with it. She visits a support group and meets Martha who was also has been attacked with similar characterises to hers and further investigation find out it is the same attacker. When Martha tells her that the attack was filmed and put on a website called ‘The sanctuary’ where men think that they have the power over women, and they deserved all they endured. The pair are sickened and devise a plan to get revenge not only on their attacker, but others like him.
Thank you, Avon, for a copy of ‘The Silence’ by Katerina Diamond. This is a dark and disturbing thriller from the author and a highly sensitive subject regarding rape and sexual assault and the author has done well in portraying it. This has well developed characters and storyline and I felt for Gail in what she went through and because nobody would believe her that she had to resort to sorting out her problems herself. I am not sure everything would happen that is portrayed in this story. But it is a good story, nevertheless. 4 stars from me.

I could not put this book down. It is so clever and really innovative. It is very disturbing (in the way victims of sexual assault are treated by society and the police) but I was completely glued to it. I read well into the early hours to finish it. Absolutely riveting - you'll be rooting for Gail and the other women all the way through. Really an excellent read. Totally loved it.

This book tackles some sensitive subjects so please so proceed with reading it with caution. As it is a book about sexual violence. It also shows how unwilling the police can be to help people who have had this happen to them. It is sensitively written but it is still what the book is about. So if this is a trigger subject for you please don't read.

This is a book about a really nasty man who goes around drugging, and attacking and assaulting women. One of these women is Gail Reynolds. He targets them in their own home. Leaving no evidence of his crimes, there is no forensic evidence, and because of the drugs there is also not much that Gail can remember about the assault.

When Gail tries to go to the police about it. They don't believe her especially as they look into her history and can see that she has what they seem as a checkered history, and so they claim that she has simply made it all up and try to convince her to withdraw her statement.

The Silence by Katerina Diamond can be a particularly tough book to read. There is no beating about the bush with this one - it's a book about sexual violence. The predatory behaviour of one individual and the unwillingness of the police to do anything about it. If this is a trigger for you, maybe give this book a miss. The violence is not gratuitous in nature, most described after the fact, but it is still something that creates an impact, especially in light of which we go on to discover.

This is a book about a heinous man who drugs and attacks protagonist, Gail Reynolds, in her own home. There is no evidence, she has barely any memory of the assault itself, but she certainly remembers everything that came after. When she attempts to report the case to the police, the very suspect circumstances she describes, the lack of any forensic evidence, and what is considered to be a checkered history, leads the police to quickly dismiss her report as pure invention and convince Gail to withdraw her statement. Unthinkable, you might say. The police are meant to believe the victim first, in all cases. But under pressure from her boss to drop an impossible to prove case, then DS Shona White does exactly that, something which she will eventually come to regret. There are reasons for her actions, facts that are slowly revealed to us readers, but the act itself is unconscionable, and when we learn everything there is to know, it feels almost unforgivable too.

I've got to be honest. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about this book. It's really not something you can say you enjoy, given the horrific subject matter. Even taking into account that she is a victim, I found Gail a hard woman to like or to bond with as a character. I admired her strength of spirit and her conviction, and why shouldn't she have that. She has earned the right to the anger she directs towards her attacker. There was also the acknowledgement by the author about how such violence committed against her had changed Gail's life irrevocably, something which is very skilfully portrayed in the book. But all of this aside, she was quite a spiky character and that meant that, bizarrely, I felt less sympathy for her than I might have expected. I was intrigued by her actions and in seeing how she was going to find her own kind of justice, and that is perhaps more what compelled me to keep reading than finding myself entirely engrossed in the story.

There is a second victim who Gail meets by chance at a group therapy meeting when she speaks of an assault that has distressingly similar hallmarks to her own. Martha is chalk to Gail's cheese, and as victims go their differences make any connection between them almost impossible to fathom. That adds to the mystery and the bit question marks that arise over just who might be committing these acts of violence. When we move into the second part of the book, we gain some insight, with chapters told from the the point of view of a third party, someone who we implicitly understand is connected to the assaults. Those scenes are a touch unsettling, showing us the evolution of a very disturbed character, one whose identity remains successfully hidden until the very end of the book.

We do meet Shona again, the author giving her the chance to redeem herself in the readers, and her own eyes. I can sort of understand her position - a real devil and the deep blue sea moment - but it almost feels a bit to little to late in terms of righting all wrongs. Of all the characters in the book, she and Martha were the easiest to like, and there was something, eventually, about Shona, which grew on me. Then again, she is a woman in what was traditionally a man's world. A job which has all too recently been exposed as a of bed of misogyny and racism. It's hard to underestimate the way in which 'company politics' will have shaped her decision making and her determination to put things right does ring true.

The book does take some unexpected turns, a kind of vigilante edge emerging as the victims try to find some kind of justice where the police have failed. There are many twists and unexpected moments in the book, and some very stark revelations which make the earlier choices made by the police all the more tragic. But the author does highlight a real issue in society, the modern way of victim blaming and shaming. That somehow one man's decision to take what he is not entitled to, to strip away their sense of self and of safety, is somehow the fault of the person who they make their victim.

A difficult read, perhaps one to be approached with caution. It is a subject dealt with sensitively, and not played for reaction, but it provokes one nonetheless. Love of loathe Gail, her situation is so inherent in society that if the book can just provoke discussion around the subject, then it will have achieved a great deal.

I really like this author’s books so was really interested in reading this. There are some trigger warnings for it however as it does contain scenes of sexual assault and rape. Gail is sexually assaulted during the night in her own home. When she reports it to the police, despite the protestations from the interviewing officer, Gail is persuaded not to go ahead with the report. A couple of years later, she is still struggling with what happened, but whilst attending a rape survivor group discovers she may not be the only victim.

This was a really dark read with quite a difficult subject covered. It was however gripping and held my attention from the first page. I liked Detective Sergeant Shona White and enjoyed the investigation into the attacks. I have to admit to not liking Gail as much though. Whilst I was horrified with what happened to her, for some reason I liked her less as the book moved on. The subject of online forums for men who had been accused of rape was shocking and saddened me to think that there are forums for men to vent their anger about women.

Told from the perspectives of Gail and DS White, the story twisted and turned throughout. The author kept the identity of the attacker well under wraps and I didn’t guess who it was until it was revealed. Would recommend, but please be aware of the triggers.

I very much like this author so was very pleased to get an ARC of The Silence. Well written, as always with believable characters. You know who the perpetrator is from quite early on but I think that's the point. It's how they are discovered and caught that's the point. This book does deal with rape so some people could be triggered by this. A definite "twist" at the very end... made me wonder what might happen in the future.
Given the stats on rape this book is very believable in that victims are told to go away and forget about it. It's not quite black and white though with this book so good book group discussion

I have read other books by the author and enjoyed them. However, I struggled with this novel, due in part to the subject matter and failed to finish.Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the src.

I decided to pick this one up to break up all the romance and i read it in 24 hours. I completely binged it. I won’t say I loved it or that I disliked it. I found it an ok read. I had guessed the perpetrator within the first few chapters (maybe that was the idea)
This book is one that you should check the content for TW before reading. There is content involving sexual abuse and rape. I didn’t feel that the characters were overly likeable. Even the lead police officer felt very cold. It was definitely a quick read and my first book by this author and I will read more of her work.