The Time Keeper

DI Erica Swift #11

by M.K. Farrar

Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Time is running out for DI Erica Swift and her team.

The husband of a politician has been kidnapped. Whoever has taken him has set a timer counting down to the moment of his death and is live streaming the event on social media.
To Erica’s horror, he’s not the only one.
A second victim is revealed and streamed online, and then a third.
The kidnappers have impossible demands.
What is the connection between each of the victims, and will Erica and her team find them before the inevitable happens?
With millions watching the events unfold, Erica has to face her most challenging case yet.

246 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 21, 2023

About the author

M K Farrar had penned more than ten novels of psychological noir and crime fiction. A British author, she lives in the countryside with her three children and a menagerie of rescue pets. When she’s not writing—which isn’t often—she balances out all the murder with baking and binge-watching shows on Netflix.

Reviews

[Alan Cotterell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good premise, lots of drama, intrigue and suspense. Good pace, but the twist at end was a bit predictable and the extra drama involving her daughter was not really necessary, so dropped a star.
Looking forward to the next instalment

[Jazz Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

How often do you get to review a book that not only has a character in it named after you but is also dedicated to you?! Well for me this is a first and I feel elated that I can! Thanks @marrisafarrar enough for not only having an awesome character called Jasmin Webb but for dedicating the book to me as a book junkie and blogger there is nothing better than that!
In this installment of the Erica Swift series we have a killer live streaming tbeir victim, through live on social media. There’s a countdown and the pikice can only assume what happens at the end of the countdown. Searching for their allusive ‘killer’ who is live streaming what can only be described as torture rooms. It was great as for once I had zero idea who the 'killer' was (well not until the last part of the book anyway!
I love Erica Swift she's one of my favourite detectives and I cannot help but love this installment. It's so hard to get a book by someone who writes so well, to keep you entertained and engaged in the prose.
How do you find a victim with no clues just a video link and a countdown. Plus why have they been kidnapped and where are they.
As usual Erica and her team are set the task and they are set to the case and need the help of hacker Jasmin!

To say much more I will spoil the book. It's one of my favourite in this series! If you've not read the first 10 well read them!! @Mkfarrar is an amazing author Plus they are all on kindle unlimited!!

[Tony Sommer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

I loved the story. Full of intrigue, drama and suspense. I read enjoyed the twist at the end. Enjoy it!

[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book eleven of the DI Erica Swift Thriller series and the story starts with an online post that may or may not be fake. A politician’s husband has been taken and a livestream video of him chained to a chair in a concrete bunker of a room, has been posted to the internet. The perpetrator has mentioned the man’s name, which was the only way he was identified and found to have disappeared without anyone noticing, just after he had dropped off his kids at school that morning. The reactions of the victim on screen are certainly leading Swift to make a case of this to her boss DCI Gibbs, but they have to check out if he is truly missing or if this is some fake story or prank. There is a countdown clock in the corner of the screen, with a reducing timeline, showing that they are running out of time. When a second victim is added to the post, they get some slight clues, but then a third victim is posted online and that one is even more worrying. The latest victim was taken about a month ago and the perpetrator has been slowly killing them. All three timeclocks are showing exactly the same amount of time remaining, but the team still have no clues as to where any of the victims are being held, at all!

Swift and her team need to find out what links the three victims and try to find out who has a reason to want them dead, making an example of them publicly as they are. There is more behind this set of kidnappings than is obvious at the start, but it will soon all be linked together. There is a bit more about the romantic yes or no relationship between Erica and her partner at work, Shawn Turner. Plus a little of her daughter Poppy, who gets to go on an adventure of her own, as do many final year primary school children in many parts of the country. Erica may be missing her daughter, but this case certainly keeps her busy and plans to spend time with Shawn are put aside as the clock ticks down! The views of the post are increasing every second and someone is posting fairly specific comments about a situation many have strong opinions about and it seems they want people to take action now before matters in the world get worse. How these comments are going to affect what the kidnappers are doing and possibly even stop their actions before the clocks run down, is hard to fathom. But someone has to come out on top, it just depends at what cost to those involved. Another shocking case to be solved by Erica Swift and her team with some unexpected twists along the way, in a case that is very reminiscent of current events. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.

[JJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subplot with her daughter was integrated really weirdly at the the end, taking away from actually solving the main plot case and had no cohesion. The relationship development in this book felt very rushed after all that build up, something I was quite disappointed by and I disliked the actual case in this one, it felt like the police were being incompetent on purpose to continue ticking time on the timer. They knew that they were being kept in London but didn't consider the Thames as a source of water and completely ignored the very obvious climate allegory of the deaths. With this, I would expect it to be more fast-paced a book, but it was quite slow and leisurely.
I did however like the character perspectives written and was emotionally invested in the story in a way I could overlook certain faults in the writing.

[Julie Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good crime thriller in the series, where people are kidnapped, tortured and videoed for the Internet. There is also a Countdown.

This story, in my opinion, is the perfect example of how disgusting humans have become - anything goes for greed and entertainment. There doesn't seem to be much decency left.

A disturbing story, though one which highlighted the modern world and was done well.

Plenty of dilemmas, tension and suspense and well-written (only a couple of errors...should be storeys not stories, for example) and I liked the English setting and writing style.

Recommended.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

DI Erica Swift is back on the job in The Time Keeper book eleven in the series. If you love intrigue, drama, mystery, and suspense then this is the book for you. I loved the live streaming and countdown clocks they made this a nail biter. This is definitely one of those books that you should set aside time to read otherwise you will be like me laying in bed wondering how everything will end. I gave up and finished the book and yes you are going to want to read it too. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book.

[Oliver Dowson · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the hands of a gifted wordsmith, this could be a fine book. The plot is original and timely, centred around the likes of Extinction Rebellion - or is it? Unfortunately, the detection has no credibility, relying on convenient coincidences. The style of writing is pedestrian, fact after fact, minimal suspense, zero emotion. In many places the story leaps forward with no obvious continuity. I haven't read all the previous books and this gave me no incentive to do so. The attempt at a domestic twist towards the end is irrelevant, falls flat, and distracts from the story.

[Claudete Takahashi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Time Keeper has an interesting plot involving crime, climate change, hackers, and greed for money and power. Once you start to read this story you just want to know how it ends and who the culprit is, and it kept me awake through the night. Entertaining!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Don Glass]

Brilliant

Always a good read with enough twists and turns to keep the reader interested at each stage of the saga.

A good guessing game on whodunnit with a surprise twist at the end.

Nice inclusion of modern policing techniques

[poodlechick17 · Rating 5 out of 5]

FANTASTIC

This is one of my favourites. It was very quick and fast moving.I loved the background aswell, just enough to make it interesting and not too much to make it the main story. A great read

[SkyeWake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the premise, lots of tension and pace in the story. Not entirely sure the extra bit about the daughter is necessary, so I dropped a star.

[mrs deirdre briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant

Absolutely brilliant series of books great characters and believable stories can’t wait for book 12 recommend this series if you enjoy suspense and crime fiction

[helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

really good

After a slow start the action started. Twists and turns , exiting, fast paced and exiting .an unexpected twist at the end .

[Holly Fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I genuinely love this series. I’ve given nearly every book 5 stars. So easy to read, real page turners and great twists.