Cover Image: The Heatwave

The Heatwave

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Member Reviews

I finished reading The Heatwave yesterday, and it was everything I wanted in a novel: intense, fast-paced, had me guessing constantly and also was easy to read - I don’t have a huge amount of time with a toddler on the go and so a book that I don’t need to delve into to find meaning within paragraphs is perfect.

The story is told from a 2-person and dual-timeline narrative: Felicity is an adult in the present who returns home to help solve the mystery of missing girl Mandy Green, and Jasmine is a teenager in the past dealing with dark secrets surrounding a previously missing girl.

The plot kept me absolutely hooked, and I only just guessed the twist a few lines before it was revealed - in fact I shouted it to my son, who really didn’t care as he was eating blocks at the time - it was such a good twist!

I can’t wait for Diamond’s next work!

Thank you netgalley for allowing me an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you NetGalley and Avon for a copy of The Heatwave by Katerina Diamond. This is a dark, compelling thriller with a surprising twist at the end that you do not see coming.
Felicity lives with her husband Chris in the Lake district with there two kids. She has a happy marriage, but she is keeping some dark secrets from her past. She sees a news report about a missing girl Mandy Green. This is not unusual but, the girl has gone missing from her childhood town of Sidmouth in Devon. As soon as she sees she decides to pack her bags and go to Sidmouth to find the girl as she reckons it is her fault that she has gone missing.
The story goes back and forth in time to tell the story of when Felicity was 16 then named Jasmine and the events that leads up to the fatal day.
This is a slow burner of the story that you do not get the full picture until the last third of the story. Of Jasmine (now Felicity) and her life with her parents and the lodger Tim that from the instance she sees him, something just is not right. I found this story is tense and creepy. I really enjoyed this as it just the right kind of book to take my mind of the current situation we are in. 4 stars from me.

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I hadn’t previously read a book by this author, Katerina Diamond, but thought this one would be a good introduction.
The Heatwave is told I through dual narrators, many years apart. In both timelines, a young girl mysteriously vanishes. What links the two girls and the narrators?
I couldn’t put this book down and would recommend it. I’ll will now be looking for more by this author.

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A great read that kept me gripped . I got totally absorbed in this and did not see the end coming. I had not read any of Katerina Diamonds work before but I will now!

Thanks Net Galley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest opinion!

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Well that was unexpected and a very good read. Twists and turns and a very well written plot. You know it's a good book when you can't warm to all of the characters.

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Since The Teacher came out I have been an avid fan of Ms Diamond's books. This is a stand alone book that I got as an ARC from NetGalley.
My rating is 3, 5 stars but I gave 4 as unable to split stars and 3 seemed too low
The book starts off really well with the prologue and then is good but not top notch. The story flips between the past-Jasmine story and the present- Felicity story. This works well and the plot is well written and crafted. There are occasional Americanisms which jar slightly and the usual spelling, layout errors that will doubtless be tidied up before publication.
I did have a problem with the characters-well drawn and fleshed out they were all loathsome. I felt I should have been able to empathise with Felicity more but somehow I just couldn't. I also had a problem with "believability". Quite a few things didn't ring true. I also felt the last few pages were a bit rushed

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Another great read by this fabulous author, a great story and one that you will want to finish to the end. Twisting, gripping storyline as we have come to expect. However, this was not as much a page turner as the previous books by this author. If this is your first read b Katerina Diamond then please read some of the others as this one was not the best in my opinion. Won't stop me looking out for her books though!

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Wow, don't really know how to describe this book. It starts of innocently with a woman who wants to, needs to return to her hometown after another young girl disappears from there, like one did many years ago. As soon as she returns to the town things start happening that the reader, every time you flick a page over, can't keep up with! There is twists and turns galore, and I did not see the final twist coming, well done! Recommended.
TB

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This truly is the most riveting book you will read this summer, I began reading, then did not put it down until I finished. This is so intricate, complex, exciting and totally unguessable, for me anyway, that I felt as if I could not risk stopping, that I was living the story. I am very familiar with Sidmouth and that too made the whole event come to life even more, I knew where she was, where she sat, where the events were happening, at times I felt that I was having a too real dream! Great storytelling, great writing, I must read more from this author...but only when I have time to read from start to finish. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC and the author, Katerina, for being so good.

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This book is exactly why Katerina Diamond is my favourite author. Shocking twists and turns if ever there were any!

Why has a girl gone missing 16 years ago and again recently? Flick has to go back to Sidmouth and try to figure it out but she must overcome her own fears from the memories of that summer. What happened to everyone?

Told from the perspective of Flick but then also from Jasmine's. Just as you came to a gasp-out-loud moment, Katerina starts a new chapter with the opposite narration. Brilliant. Flick is first person narrative and Jasmine is out with. You have to get used to that change.

So much going on but written with such ease in order to follow the plot. I was very much looking forward to reading a standalone novel by Katerina to see if there was a difference to her series but this is just as gripping.

Once again I highly recommend this book

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A great whodunnit as always from Katerina Diamond. A young woman leaves her home town. Sets a new life with a husband and family. But what are the secrets from her past that she can’t share. When she hears on the local news that a girl has gone missing from her old town, she knows she has to return and face the demons of the past. It’s a painful journey for her to relive but she’s knows she must do it. A clever crime thriller with a massive twist at the end. Really enjoyed it! A page turning read during lockdown.

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Utterly engaging, could not put this book down. I kept thinking I had it all figured out then another clue would drop to make me realise I had it all wrong.

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I really enjoyed the story and the authors way of writing . Entertaining and twisted , everything I love In a book !!I would like to read more by this author !!

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WOW!! Don’t start this one at night! You’ll never get the first wink of sleep! What a well written thriller!

It starts out pretty mundane with hubby, wife and 2 children in English suburbia (???). The wife sees something distressing on the TV news and knows that she must go back where she grew up to find out just what’s going on and to lay to rest the demons from her own life. This is the same situation that happened 16 years previous when she was living in that place.

The story is told in a series of alternating first person memories by our protagonist and her best friend who (we learned) died in that fateful time 16 years ago. This aspect of the plotting was confusing from time to time and I had to remind myself just who the speaker was. However, in the end I realized the author’s genius for doing it that way! Well crafted!

My only complaints about this book were the title and the artwork on the cover. Neither had anything to do with the story. I’ve noticed a couple of other new books lately with titles that have nothing – whatsoever – to do with the plot and have wondered about that.

I will definitely look for more books by Katerina Diamond! I’m so very thankful to have discovered her.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes psychological suspense.

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Well, this book is a slow growing, hum dinger!

The story picked me up, spun me round, and dropped me back in my reading chair! 

This was a slow burner for me, with the first chapter feeling a bit weird. Like I had been dropped into a swimming pool to suddenly find that I needed to sit an exam in five minutes  - a bit surprising, out of blue and took me a while to settle in after this. But I am so glad that I kept reading.

The story is dark, emotional and so so clever. I love the snips of information that are drip fed for a reader ‘a-ha’ moment. The range of emotions portrayed is done so with an authentic telling. And I love the darkness which sits within the final pages!

The characters are deep, complex and have their own dark, if not sinister, secrets. Each character is fully developed, with a meaningful background. The revelations at the end of the book are ground breaking and shocking. This ending shows the strength of some and the evil in others. Sometimes evil can hide in the kindest of places.

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I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for asking me to read and review.
This story was a wonderful read.
It is well written with some great characters and as a reader you feel you are right there with them. The plot draws you in and keeps you turning those pages.
A brilliant, heartwarming read.

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I raced through this book in one day
It leaps between the present and sixteen years earlier when Felicity was a teenager. The characters were really well drawn. And the ending came as a big surprise.

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This writer conned me from the start. The deception was so brilliant that I had to back to the start of the book to check how deceived I was and so carefully. Clearly, Chris didn't know, but he was only the husband. So many times I believed what was coming next, sometimes it did and often it didn't. This novel takes a twisted story view of now and then to bring the deception together.

The twists and turns make the novel a wonderful read. I always wanted to turn the next page. It offers various options at each stage of the story and the reader wonders what will happen next.

I wonder how a girl keeps such a pack of secrets for so long. I'm pleased I wasn't there when the various confrontations brought the story to a head. I would have exited quickly..

Each character has at least two sides. This excellent writer shares each side as the reader wonders how the most recent evolution will bring out more clues.

A mystery and thriller, the unravelling must be read quickly. I can't wait to read more by this writer.

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This is the first book by Katerina Diamond I have read and I enjoyed it for most of the time. I found it a bit over descriptive in parts but that was easy to skim through. Felicity hears that a 16 year old girl has gone missing from her home town in Devon. She feels the need to leave her home in the Lake District and travel back to try to save the girl if she can. What secrets from her childhood s she hiding? How is this affecting her marriage and family?

The book keeps you guessing throughout and you can't wait to find out how it ends. The ending is very good with lots of twists and turns along the way. A good thriller of a read.

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Thank you to NetGalley for sending this book to me in exchange for an honest review.
The book begins with Felicity returning to her home town when a girl goes missing. She hasn't been home for 16 years, as she fled when her life was turned upside down by a stranger, and another girl going missing.

To say that I was gripped by this book is an understatement. I couldn't stop reading it, and every chapter left me wanting more information. The transitions between past and present were smooth and well done, and the writing was excellent. The only thing that I didn't like about this book so much was that some of the plot twists and turns felt a bit far-fetched and unrealistic. However, this wasn't much of a problem for me when reading.

As a fan of the other books Katerina Diamond has written, and gripping thrillers in general, this book was perfect for me, and definitely one I will be buying when it is out!

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