I hit February before finding my first three star read of the year; that's not bad going. The Interview is a book that has a good narrative hook to it but ends up being too repetitive and slow moving to reach greatness. It's topic matter is dark and if you have a sensitivity to child abuse, sexual and physical and sexual violence, then be wary of this. But despite the dark and gritty topic, the novel failed to really grab me. It was a quick read rather than a powerful or thought provoking one.

Fourteen year old Jenny is found at the side of the road, traumatised and covered in blood. Doctors quickly discover that it is not her blood, but they also find evidence of long term and systematic abuse. Detectives Laura and Niamh from the sexual violence team are called to fact find, a mission that is made more urgent when it is discovered that her stepfather - and the likely source of the abuse - is missing. It becomes a battle of wills between the detective and the teenager, one that Laura's own spiraling mental health is not helping.

The first two thirds of this novel are slow. Really, very slow. The use of three perspectives didn't help here. You get Laura's perspective, who is frankly fairly incompetent despite being described as the best detective Niamh knows. You have Niamh, who is the only competent adult in the room. And Jenny, who is distressed and disjointed which is understandable, but is also written in a way where it's difficult to know what's been said out loud and keeps calling herself and everyone else dumb bitches which gets tedious quickly.

Whilst the core of the novel is the detectives trying to tease details out of Jenny, it also spirals outwards as Laura's mental health plummets. You get glimpses into her past, including her training and her own experience with sexual violence and it ricochets into the present affecting her thoughts and actions. The abuse and violence is depicted very graphically, and often repeated, yet is set alongside fairly mundane descriptions of Laura's home life and how her anxiety is crippling her in the wake of becoming a parent. It's strange and the two halves didn't always fit together well.

That said, at the core of this is an interesting story. It just took a long time to get anywhere and was waylaid by repetition and a lack of direction. It's dark and graphic to the point of being uncomfortable at times, yet I failed to engage with any of the characters even the ones like Jenny who should have been sympathetic. So it's a solid three stars from me; not awful, but not stand out either.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this title.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed some elements and hated others. I liked the premise of the story but I felt that the execution failed a bit. For a thriller, it was too slow for me.

the interview followed a girl who mysteriously appears at a hospital, mute and unresponsive. A whole drama unfolds when things are revealed about her family life; and the book also follows an agent who works alongside victims of suspected assault, whilst it felt dragged out at times describing her life, it gave a good back story

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for a copy of this book to read.

I dont know what to say, I think I enjoyed the book, but it took a while for me to get along with the way it is written - told in different timelines I usually enjoy this writing style but I felt a bit like at times too much was being thrown at the reader and it was hard to keep up with what was going on in each POV, i enjoyed the story enough to continue and think the last third of the book was the strongest.

Not the worst thriller but would only recommend to a handful of people.

3 stars

A harrowing but brilliantly written book following two special Victim investigation officers interviewing a 14 year old girl. The story was told in such a way that you knew most of what was happening with enough left ambiguous as to not reveal everything at the beginning.

I loved all three points of view and found that each character had such a distinct voice. There are a lot of trigger warnings for this book so please look them up before reading.

I am so pleased there is going to be another book following this investigation team.

Jenny a fourteen year old girl is bought to hospital after being found in the street covered in blood, although she doesn't appear to be injured .. so whose blood is it?

Jenny's mother and brother have been found injured after a car crash and Jenny's stepfather Stuart is missing.

Jenny is admitted to a psychiatric ward at Abbot's hill hospital. After a medical examination it is clear that Jenny has been abused.

Laura Shaw and Niamh Darmady specialist victim interviewers, from the Irish Gardaare are sent to interview Jenny who is refusing to speak. As they struggle to reveal the truth Laura finds herself questioning her own past - can she help Jenny and find out what happened as well as dealing with her own issues?

I was gripped by this psychological thriller. The tension is dark, gritty but well written, it's dealing with difficult subjects.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange of an honest review.

A bit of a slow burn initially but definitely worth persevering with. An intriguing read and a great debut novel. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this. I tried a few times to finish it but I just couldn't connect with the characters.

I'm sorry, I'm going to have to DNF this one. It's definitely dark and I'm finding the implied themes of child abuse too uncomfortable to read about. Other reviews suggest the whole thing basically takes place in the interview room, and everyone in that room is already both annoying and boring me, so I'm cutting my losses with this one.

This started out quite intriguing, I have to be honest though, it did drag out a bit in the middle. However, the ending was good with some twists and turns.

The download date was unfortunately missed, I would be happy to re-review if it became available again. I have awarded stars for the book cover and description as they both appeal to me. I would be more than happy to re-read and review if a download becomes available. If you would like me to re-review please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.

A dark, disturbing crime thriller set in Ireland. I found the narrative slow paced and I could not engage with the story so failed to finish the novel.

The opening of this book had me intrigued. But sadly it went a little downhill fast. I found this too slow paced. While the Laura side story kept taking me out of the story. Her parts always made me dislike her more. While I understood her trauma she still came across unlikeable with how she treated people, especially her husband.
By the time the story with Jenny picked up pace it was too late for me to care how it ended.

I have already reviewed this book but under a different author’s name. Please refer to that.
I think this may be because the first authors name isn’t as appealing as this. For some reason the author’s with initials are not. Although JK Rowling would disagree!

This is tense, gripping and completely addictive. I have felt as though I have been watching the events of this one play out. This is realistic and believable, guaranteed to send shivers down the spine of the reader.

This has been completely unpredictable and been a book I have devoured. I literally thought I had this figured out then BANG, a twist thrown in that completely pulls the floor from under you.

I enjoyed this quick read and I sped through it with intrigue. It was a unique perspective taken and I enjoyed reading through this story quite quickly. I did feel engrossed in the story and really didn’t want to put this down!

Dark, disturbing, harrowing at times, but very well written.
I had to put this down a few times as it got to me a bit and then I decided to read it and am glad I did, although I did feel really upset at times. A good book though.

This book is a psychological suspense thriller, a genre which is one of my favourites to read so I was excited to read this. It is told in three alternating viewpoints – Laura (the detective), Niamh (a Special Victims Garda and Laura’s friend) and Jenny, who is their suspect/victim.
I really enjoyed this one and it was a page turner of a book.
Quite a dark book but overall a good read.

A darkly compelling mystery, well written but a bit slow at times
Is Jennifer a victim or a perpetrator of violence? She is 14 years old and has been discovered covered in blood which is not her own plus her step father is missing.
She refuses to speak to the investigating officers, Laura and Niavh in anything but a fairytale which they must unravel.

I found this book to be quite dark and disturbing Psychological thriller. Throughout the storyline you are trying to decide if the suspect, Jenny is a victim or a murderer. But it had me intrigued and surprised with the ending.