Storm Child by Michael Robotham is book 4 in the Cyrus Haven series. Cyrus, a forensic psychologist, and Evie, a girl with a tragic past, are having a break by the sea in Lincolnshire when bodies start floating in to shore. The boat has capsized as it made its way from France to England with illegal immigrants on board. Cyrus tries to save some of them. Cyrus, finding out that the refugee boat was rammed, ends up helping the police with the investigation. There are whispers about someone called the Ferryman, who controls the illegal boats. Michael has a wonderful way with words and is such a consistently great writer. You are swept along, and wherever the story is, you are there right in the middle of it. You also feel the horror of what is happening, and has happened, with the illegals and the lives that are affected by this. I really like Evie, although she is still a bit of a mystery, but we do find out quite a bit more about her and the traumatic events of her childhood as these events gradually come to the surface. She is very much her own person. Cyrus is a great character too, a gentle, calm and considered person, particularly with Evie. This is a book that will stay with me, and I also found it emotional at times. Thank you to Netgalley, Little Brown Book group and the author for the advanced copy of the book.

Took a little while to get into this, but once I did I stormed through it!
Love this series and it was good to explore Evie's history that she's intentionally forced herself to forget. Michael Robotham managed to incorporate real life issues and ideas about asylum seekers, those fleeing conflict, etc, but worked it really well in to the story.

My Rating: 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ love this series even when its a bit OTT and wild!!

Some memories are buried for a reason… The most painful of Evie Cormac’s memories have been locked away, ever since she was held a prisoner as a child - a child whose rescue captured hearts and headlines.

Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven’s mission is to guide her to something near normality. But today, on a Lincolnshire beach, seventeen bodies wash up in front of them. There is only one survivor, with two women missing. And Evie’s nightmares come roaring back…

Whatever happened all those years ago lies at the core of this new tragedy. Because these deaths are no accident. The same dark forces are reaching out, dragging her back into the storm. Evie must now call upon Cyrus’s unique skills, and her own, in their search for the missing pieces of this complex and haunting puzzle.

But will that be enough to save them?
And who will pay for the past?

Ok first up…. I have been a fan of this series from the start, way back when Evie was Angel Face… and if you too have been a fan waiting for this book I think you will like it. If you are new here… and you haven’t read the books prior … this might be a bit meh… or a bit confusing.. there is a long story at play here and I do recommend reading from the start.

Having said that I did have some issues with this book…. BUT as a fan I overlooked almost all of them because I love this series… so take that as you will because if you read it and go WTF KARLY WHY 4 STARS… well… you were warned.

Now… I couldn’t put this down, its been ages since I’ve read a book that I kept thinking about while I was at work and couldn’t wait to get back to it. Its easy to read, told from Cyrus and Evie’s POV alternatively throughout which I love. I liked hearing this story play out in the interactions and inner monologues of both Cyrus and Evie. I felt that Cyrus was a little less of a know it all asshole in this book… Evie of course was not but thats all part of her charm… or lack thereof.

I think Michael Robotham skirted the edges of “woke” really well.. he mentioned a few things here and there that I thought were done really well… and it enhanced rather than took away from the story. I also did like the secondary characters but I missed Lenny… she is one of my favourites.

This is a pretty far fetched tale… there are a lot of things that happen where if you don’t suspend your disbelief you will be rolling you eyes until you are dizzy… but knowing that up front I was all fine with it.. I threw it out the window and lent hard into this one. There are some plot holes… when I was thinking back I was like what happened to… or what about… but again… I don’t actually care … I read it and loved it… I will definitely be reading the next one.

I really liked the ending I thought it was a really nice way to find out more information that we have been waiting for since book 1 and I really enjoyed that. I think Cyrus and Evie’s relationship is questionable but I think they too skirt the edges of what is appropriate and honestly… I am not going to complain about it because as I said I love this series and I don’t mind.

I did knock one star off just because it did get a little toooo far fetched in places and I thought 5 stars was super generous but I enjoyed it… I was so excited when I got approved by NetGalley that I abandoned what I was reading immediately and dove into it head first.

Overall, if you love this author or this series… definitely read it. If you haven’t the first idea about either then read the synopsis and some other reviews first. If you like mysteries where you need to throw your disbelief into the sea then again pick this up.. however I don’t recommend starting part way through I highly recommend starting at the start… book 1 and 2 were also by far my fave in this series so far. Although this was close behind it…

Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I’ll be the first to admit it took me a while to settle with the Cyrus and Evie series, the first two books had such a strong focus on the backstories of our lead characters. The third book brought things together very nicely and I was very eager to read this.

WOW! Storm Child is a modern masterpiece.

Opening with a day at the beach, which ends in tragedy as bodies start washing up on the beach. Cyrus’s compulsion to care for the sole survivor and investigate the people trafficking operation that brought him to England will drag Evie back into painful memories of her own journey.

The balance of progression on the ongoing case with Evie’s story is just perfect, it steadily builds to a very powerful and thrilling finale and sets up for the continuation of this series exquisitely.

As deep, dark and stormy as the North Sea this is truly compelling crime writing, building on the already wonderfully developed characters of Cyrus and Evie. This is an essential book in what is now an epic series.

Definitely recommended, definitely best read in order from Book 1, Good Girl, Bad Girl.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK