However, I felt it ended too quickly and wrapped up sharply, leaving me feeling a bit short -changed. I thought I was only halfway through the main book, but it was actually near the end and I just thought ‘is that it? Samuel is growing up in a broken household, with dad Marko remarried and mum Lou bringing Samuel up on her own. Thank you to the lovely team at Hachette Australia for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Overall: highly recommend this thriller, especially if you are looking for something quick to get stuck into.

I feel conflicted about the ending as I had to suspend my belief (and not necessarily in a good way). Pomare also very cleverly ekes out backstory here, giving us clues to past secrets before it all unravels for Lou, her ex-husband and for Samuel. I reckon a lot of people will pass this one over due to the lockdown emphasis and they are gonna miss out on a short and fast listen. Pomare does a great job at re-planting readers back into the time of curfews and lockdowns, with brief forays outside to exercise or healthcare and the like.The whole story with Jessica fascinated me and I so wish it had gone down that path and not where it went. The book is mainly from her perspective - a tortured look into her reality, her life beginning and seemingly revolving around Samuel. If anything, it ends abruptly and was a little on the short side in terms of resolution, but all in all, a satisfying read and a terrific way to finish a weekend of reading. I won’t spoil it for you, so reach out and grab a copy when you can, it’s a compressed style read that you will whip through in no time!

With a few red herrings and unexpected twists, this is one engaging read that you won't want to put down. I’m a fan of this author generally and I’m sad about this because for several chapters I thought this was a 5 star read. Lou has to ponder whether Samuel is in danger, or whether he is just being a typical 19 year old boy trying to build his own independence at a time when the world has changed unexpectedly around them. Twists come out of nowhere and the high drama of the final few chapters is edge-of-the-seat stuff' New Zealand Women's Weekly'A twisty small-town mystery with a protagonist I didn't want to let go' IAN RANKIN'The pay-off is criminally good .Weak and unsubstantial - as evidenced by the way that almost a third of the paperback is actually a seven chapter preview of his next book! Pomare builds the tension well as Lou, unable to reach her son as the lockdown comes into effect, begins to panic. Opening with an outstandstanding prologue, this twist-filled, fast-paced mystery moves at a breathless speed.

With limited resources and an unhelpful ex-husband Lou does all she can to try to track down her son.

I have to say I was ambivalent about reading a book set in the pandemic and it did bring me back to that time and my own feelings about being in lockdown. Seems like no one really has good memories of Covid and This book kinda has nothing to do with it, except a situational relevance. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. His is a rare talent that continues to turn out crime masterpieces' Herald Sun'Deftly plotted, pacey and sharply written.