What do you think?
Rate this book
Emma Holden Suspense Mystery #1
The One You Love
Emma Holden's nightmare has just begun. Her fiancé vanishes, leaving the battered and bloodied body of his brother in their London apartment. Someone is stalking her, watching her every move. And her family are hiding a horrifying secret; a secret that threatens all those she loves. In a desperate race against time, Emma must uncover the truth if she ever wants to see her fiancé alive again.
The One You Love is a fast-paced suspense mystery, full of twists and turns, following in the tradition of writers such as Nicci French and Sophie Hannah.
The One You Love is a fast-paced suspense mystery, full of twists and turns, following in the tradition of writers such as Nicci French and Sophie Hannah.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 27, 2011
5464 people are currently reading
11852 people want to read
About the author
Paul Pilkington
18 books254 followersPaul Pilkington is a British author of mystery, suspense and thriller novels.
He is best known for his Emma Holden Suspense Mystery series, which follows the story of a young actress named Emma Holden who is thrown into a world of danger and intrigue after the sudden disappearance of her boyfriend. The three novels of the trilogy - The One You Love, The One You Fear, and The One You Trust - have gained thousands of five star reviews worldwide.
Pilkington has also written several best-selling standalone novels, including For Your Own Protection and the Kindle Number One Someone to Save You.
His highly rated Detective Paul Cullen mystery series, featuring a dedicated and determined british transport police detective, is currently at Book 4.
Paul's new novel, You Must Remember Everything, is a psychological thriller about a woman who wakes up in a sealed room, unable to remember who she is or how she got there. To escape, she must face her darkest memories and fears.
Paul Pilkington's writing style is fast-paced, suspenseful, and character-driven. His novels explore the most human of themes and issues, such as love, loss, family, and redemption, in a way that keeps those pages turning.
He is best known for his Emma Holden Suspense Mystery series, which follows the story of a young actress named Emma Holden who is thrown into a world of danger and intrigue after the sudden disappearance of her boyfriend. The three novels of the trilogy - The One You Love, The One You Fear, and The One You Trust - have gained thousands of five star reviews worldwide.
Pilkington has also written several best-selling standalone novels, including For Your Own Protection and the Kindle Number One Someone to Save You.
His highly rated Detective Paul Cullen mystery series, featuring a dedicated and determined british transport police detective, is currently at Book 4.
Paul's new novel, You Must Remember Everything, is a psychological thriller about a woman who wakes up in a sealed room, unable to remember who she is or how she got there. To escape, she must face her darkest memories and fears.
Paul Pilkington's writing style is fast-paced, suspenseful, and character-driven. His novels explore the most human of themes and issues, such as love, loss, family, and redemption, in a way that keeps those pages turning.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,438 reviews
April 22, 2013
You want to read a book, don't know which one. It is too late to get to the library and do not want to spend any money or time browsing through a catalogue and buying one. THAT is when you get this. A typical fiction that is a suspense/thriller wannabe. Don't expect much from it in terms of challenge. None of the characters really make any impact, you do not feel sorry or excited about anything that is happening, but at the same time you want to complete the book. You are more than likely to forget the book after sometime, and if you have happen to chance on it again after a few pages you would say, "oh, I have read this one" put it back and pick up another one. The book does not belong on a bookshelf, but possibly on your e-reader where you can delete it after you have read through it.
Emma Holden is engaged to be married a second time when her fiancé goes missing, like how her first one did. The story is her pursuit of finding her fiancé - a pursuit which opens up secrets that the family is holding from her, attempts to bond the family together, brings back a past which she had left locked behind to haunt her in more ways than one.
Emma Holden is engaged to be married a second time when her fiancé goes missing, like how her first one did. The story is her pursuit of finding her fiancé - a pursuit which opens up secrets that the family is holding from her, attempts to bond the family together, brings back a past which she had left locked behind to haunt her in more ways than one.
May 9, 2012
Don't read this book. Seriously. Unless you are bored, the book is free, and you don't mind torture.
I am a person who, if the book entertains me, I am all happy to give a 4 or 5.
For me to rate a book a 1 something has to go tragically wrong on many levels.
This book is torture to read. Honestly, this book, THIS book makes me want to take the author, the editor and the publishing staff all to an undisclosed location with some former government operatives and have all of them tortured. It is only fair, since each of them failed to fix things that should have been fixed prior to publication, and tortured me with the book as is.
This book is torture. The p a c e is maddening, the many almost-tells too annoying in snippets that always end up empty -- hinting but never telling. Also, I didn't care about the characters. People were hurt from practically page one and all the OH NOES did not develop any of them into 3 dimensions. Sad. Plot was worthy, execution left me tortured.
(OH NOES, It isnt happening AGAIN is it?) -- a refrain every five pages it would seem.
And no hint of what IT was before, IIRC, until half the book is gone. Along with my interest. I have no idea how I managed to finish this book -- it took me 6 or 7 tries.
The only reason I give it a star at all -- once the story is fully told, I found it interesting. So I applaud interesting plot, even though in this book, it was strangled to death.
I am a person who, if the book entertains me, I am all happy to give a 4 or 5.
For me to rate a book a 1 something has to go tragically wrong on many levels.
This book is torture to read. Honestly, this book, THIS book makes me want to take the author, the editor and the publishing staff all to an undisclosed location with some former government operatives and have all of them tortured. It is only fair, since each of them failed to fix things that should have been fixed prior to publication, and tortured me with the book as is.
This book is torture. The p a c e is maddening, the many almost-tells too annoying in snippets that always end up empty -- hinting but never telling. Also, I didn't care about the characters. People were hurt from practically page one and all the OH NOES did not develop any of them into 3 dimensions. Sad. Plot was worthy, execution left me tortured.
(OH NOES, It isnt happening AGAIN is it?) -- a refrain every five pages it would seem.
And no hint of what IT was before, IIRC, until half the book is gone. Along with my interest. I have no idea how I managed to finish this book -- it took me 6 or 7 tries.
The only reason I give it a star at all -- once the story is fully told, I found it interesting. So I applaud interesting plot, even though in this book, it was strangled to death.
August 20, 2013
So I downloaded this book mainly because I’d seen it in the Kindle free 100 so many times that I decided to find out what the fuss was all about. Several hundred completely unnecessary pages later I am still none the wiser.
First off, let’s deal with the elephant in the room; the writing is horrible. Okay, so it might be slightly better than the writing in certain recent bestsellers (Such as Fifty Shades of Grey – a book in which the only really obscene acts were the ones perpetrated against harmless prepositional phrases.) but make no mistake – this prose still smells.
Early Amazon reviews of this book complain about grammar, spelling and typographical errors. Thankfully the author seems to have taken at least this lesson on board and cleaned up a little bit, but there are far more fundamental problems here – cliches, said bookisms, he-said-she-said dialogue that makes you feel as though you are watching a tennis match and pacing problems out the wazoo. For instance, at one point the heroine’s brother seems to spend about three days wandering around Regent’s Park, and on another occasion nips to Canada and back as if Toronto was located two doors down from the corner shop. Granted, the character drinks quite a bit, but his strange time-and-space-warping properties apparently have nothing to do with this tendency to knock them back like a pissed fish at Happy Hour.
The writing is repetitive and hand-holdy. In the short prologue the unknown narrator not only tells us he’s in London but helpfully describes several London landmarks just in case we weren’t clear. About a page or two later the heroine is in a noisy pub and her phone rings. She thinks she won’t be able to hear the conversation so she signals to her friend that she’s going outside because she won’t be able to hear her phone and then, when she finally reaches the pavement she tells the person on the end of the line that she just left the pub because it was noisy and she...oh, you get the general idea.
Then she has a conversation about her fiance’s general whereabouts (unknown) and then goes back into the pub to have the exact same sodding conversation with her best friend. It’s one thing to bog your pacing down with mundane details but to repeat the same mindless details three times in the same section is beginning to look like you don’t have a clue what you’re doing.
Anyway, it transpires that Emma’s boyfriend Dan is missing and when they get to Dan’s flat the door is locked and there’s loud music blaring and the neighbours are very upset. They get into the flat to find that Richard is lying on the bathroom floor and he may very well be dead.
Who the fuck is Richard? Yes, I know. I said the exact same thing.
As it transpires, Richard is Dan’s brother and is bleeding profusely from the head following two heavy blows with a blunt instrument. Since he has also been lying there bleeding into his brain for the past couple of chapters it should probably – according to traditional medical wisdom – be goodnight Richard there and then, but the plot demands that he spend the book in a coma and so he’s saved from death by some unspecified ‘first aid’ performed by Emma’s brother Will. Not sure what kind of ‘first aid’ you can perform on a sub-arachnoid bleed but presumably Will had his Black & Decker handy and indulged in a spot of DIY trepanation. (For the love of God, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.)
And then the book gets really stupid.
Yes, Richard is in a coma and Dan is missing. The obvious conclusion here is that Dan is now wanted by the police for attempted murder. Time to round up everyone and get statements about where they last saw Dan, what frame of mind was he in when they last saw him, was there any friction between him and his brother, etc. You know – police work.
Now, I do appreciate that one of the biggest problems of the mystery genre is figuring out what to do with the police, particularly when you’re writing an amateur sleuth. It’s a perennial problem – even the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie wrangled with this one. Sometimes you’ve got to dumb down the forces of law and order so as to make your lead character shine; every Holmes needs his Lestrade.
Unfortunately in this case Emma Holden is the kind of dingbat who would be hard pushed to find her own bottom with two hands and a map. By some kind of odd, proportional logic this now means that the police officers in this book are wandering around like people who would actually drown if they weren’t told to close their mouths while standing in the shower. Instead of taking statements they seem happy to let Emma and her friends frisk merrily off to the hospital so that Emma can wallow in a bit of backstory and cough out a few vague sentiments about why bad things (attempted murder) happen to good people (poor old comatose Richard.)
By the time the book is halfway through Emma should be facing at least four counts of perverting the course of justice, or she would be if the author had done even a fraction of the required research into police procedures. At one point she and her friend discover that all the photographs of her and Dan were taken from the flat when Richard was attacked; I remember this point quite clearly because it was the moment when I was screaming “NO, THAT WOULD BE THE FIRST THING THEY ASKED!”
Seriously. Any sign of a break-in? Was this a burglary gone awry? Excuse me, Miss Holden, I realise this may be difficult but would you mind taking a look around and seeing if anything is missing?
Everyone in this book is an idiot. At one point a character wavers about phoning in a suicide because then the police will know he was there. (It doesn’t seem to have occurred to him to dial 999 from a public phone) And why does he not want to know the police to know he was there? Because he’d gone round to the guy’s house with a gun. Not to kill him. Just to scare him a bit.
Idiots. Total idiots.
It’s kind of lucky for the author that everyone is so eyewateringly silly in this book, because it’s only by dint of their continued and jawdropping foolishness that the mess of a plot even slightly makes sense. After all, this is a book where the authorities reached a verdict of ‘suicide’ on a man who had helpfully stabbed himself and tied himself up in a bedsheet before throwing himself into a canal. I mean, maybe he was just a very thorough suicide but even then, you would wonder, wouldn’t you?
Much of the book is taken up with people making increasingly poor decisions and then when something actually happens they fail to react in any kind of realistic way. There could have been real conflict and tension when Dan – prime suspect in a very ugly attempted murder – apparently contacts Emma. After all, her withholding this information from the police should come with very serious consequences; not only could she be charged for doing so but her continued failure to alert the professionals could very well be placing Dan is deeper danger. As it is, Emma just says “I don’t trust the police,” or “I’ll tell them later,” and then sulks, scratches herself and buggers off for yet another insipid pow-wow with her best friend, Lizzy. Worse, this happens several times and on one such occasion a handwritten letter from Dan magically transforms into a typewritten one about three chapters later.
By the end of the book even Emma Holden herself is screaming “Why won’t this end?” and well she might. The One You Love feels interminable. This is largely due to the author’s habit of repeating pointless minutiae, although it’s helped considerably by the fact that there is no such thing as character voice in this book and so everyone blurs into the same bland droning automaton. By the middle of the book everyone involved seems so bored of the plot that they amble off to get drunk, attend a couple of salsa classes and enjoy a boat party on the Thames; I am not even kidding.
If you like books about cardboard characters skipping consequence-free through a convoluted plot that makes no sense as soon as you take into consideration that it’s supposed to take place in the real world, you’ll enjoy The One You Love. If you don’t you’d probably have more fun attempting home trepanation with a Black & Decker drill (THIS IS A JOKE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS) but in this case I’m giving it two stars. One for the time it kept me off the internet long enough to avoid Breaking Bad spoilers, and one for plot, characterisation, dialogue, research, consistency and narrative voice. That is to say, everything else.
First off, let’s deal with the elephant in the room; the writing is horrible. Okay, so it might be slightly better than the writing in certain recent bestsellers (Such as Fifty Shades of Grey – a book in which the only really obscene acts were the ones perpetrated against harmless prepositional phrases.) but make no mistake – this prose still smells.
Early Amazon reviews of this book complain about grammar, spelling and typographical errors. Thankfully the author seems to have taken at least this lesson on board and cleaned up a little bit, but there are far more fundamental problems here – cliches, said bookisms, he-said-she-said dialogue that makes you feel as though you are watching a tennis match and pacing problems out the wazoo. For instance, at one point the heroine’s brother seems to spend about three days wandering around Regent’s Park, and on another occasion nips to Canada and back as if Toronto was located two doors down from the corner shop. Granted, the character drinks quite a bit, but his strange time-and-space-warping properties apparently have nothing to do with this tendency to knock them back like a pissed fish at Happy Hour.
The writing is repetitive and hand-holdy. In the short prologue the unknown narrator not only tells us he’s in London but helpfully describes several London landmarks just in case we weren’t clear. About a page or two later the heroine is in a noisy pub and her phone rings. She thinks she won’t be able to hear the conversation so she signals to her friend that she’s going outside because she won’t be able to hear her phone and then, when she finally reaches the pavement she tells the person on the end of the line that she just left the pub because it was noisy and she...oh, you get the general idea.
Then she has a conversation about her fiance’s general whereabouts (unknown) and then goes back into the pub to have the exact same sodding conversation with her best friend. It’s one thing to bog your pacing down with mundane details but to repeat the same mindless details three times in the same section is beginning to look like you don’t have a clue what you’re doing.
Anyway, it transpires that Emma’s boyfriend Dan is missing and when they get to Dan’s flat the door is locked and there’s loud music blaring and the neighbours are very upset. They get into the flat to find that Richard is lying on the bathroom floor and he may very well be dead.
Who the fuck is Richard? Yes, I know. I said the exact same thing.
As it transpires, Richard is Dan’s brother and is bleeding profusely from the head following two heavy blows with a blunt instrument. Since he has also been lying there bleeding into his brain for the past couple of chapters it should probably – according to traditional medical wisdom – be goodnight Richard there and then, but the plot demands that he spend the book in a coma and so he’s saved from death by some unspecified ‘first aid’ performed by Emma’s brother Will. Not sure what kind of ‘first aid’ you can perform on a sub-arachnoid bleed but presumably Will had his Black & Decker handy and indulged in a spot of DIY trepanation. (For the love of God, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.)
And then the book gets really stupid.
Yes, Richard is in a coma and Dan is missing. The obvious conclusion here is that Dan is now wanted by the police for attempted murder. Time to round up everyone and get statements about where they last saw Dan, what frame of mind was he in when they last saw him, was there any friction between him and his brother, etc. You know – police work.
Now, I do appreciate that one of the biggest problems of the mystery genre is figuring out what to do with the police, particularly when you’re writing an amateur sleuth. It’s a perennial problem – even the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie wrangled with this one. Sometimes you’ve got to dumb down the forces of law and order so as to make your lead character shine; every Holmes needs his Lestrade.
Unfortunately in this case Emma Holden is the kind of dingbat who would be hard pushed to find her own bottom with two hands and a map. By some kind of odd, proportional logic this now means that the police officers in this book are wandering around like people who would actually drown if they weren’t told to close their mouths while standing in the shower. Instead of taking statements they seem happy to let Emma and her friends frisk merrily off to the hospital so that Emma can wallow in a bit of backstory and cough out a few vague sentiments about why bad things (attempted murder) happen to good people (poor old comatose Richard.)
By the time the book is halfway through Emma should be facing at least four counts of perverting the course of justice, or she would be if the author had done even a fraction of the required research into police procedures. At one point she and her friend discover that all the photographs of her and Dan were taken from the flat when Richard was attacked; I remember this point quite clearly because it was the moment when I was screaming “NO, THAT WOULD BE THE FIRST THING THEY ASKED!”
Seriously. Any sign of a break-in? Was this a burglary gone awry? Excuse me, Miss Holden, I realise this may be difficult but would you mind taking a look around and seeing if anything is missing?
Everyone in this book is an idiot. At one point a character wavers about phoning in a suicide because then the police will know he was there. (It doesn’t seem to have occurred to him to dial 999 from a public phone) And why does he not want to know the police to know he was there? Because he’d gone round to the guy’s house with a gun. Not to kill him. Just to scare him a bit.
Idiots. Total idiots.
It’s kind of lucky for the author that everyone is so eyewateringly silly in this book, because it’s only by dint of their continued and jawdropping foolishness that the mess of a plot even slightly makes sense. After all, this is a book where the authorities reached a verdict of ‘suicide’ on a man who had helpfully stabbed himself and tied himself up in a bedsheet before throwing himself into a canal. I mean, maybe he was just a very thorough suicide but even then, you would wonder, wouldn’t you?
Much of the book is taken up with people making increasingly poor decisions and then when something actually happens they fail to react in any kind of realistic way. There could have been real conflict and tension when Dan – prime suspect in a very ugly attempted murder – apparently contacts Emma. After all, her withholding this information from the police should come with very serious consequences; not only could she be charged for doing so but her continued failure to alert the professionals could very well be placing Dan is deeper danger. As it is, Emma just says “I don’t trust the police,” or “I’ll tell them later,” and then sulks, scratches herself and buggers off for yet another insipid pow-wow with her best friend, Lizzy. Worse, this happens several times and on one such occasion a handwritten letter from Dan magically transforms into a typewritten one about three chapters later.
By the end of the book even Emma Holden herself is screaming “Why won’t this end?” and well she might. The One You Love feels interminable. This is largely due to the author’s habit of repeating pointless minutiae, although it’s helped considerably by the fact that there is no such thing as character voice in this book and so everyone blurs into the same bland droning automaton. By the middle of the book everyone involved seems so bored of the plot that they amble off to get drunk, attend a couple of salsa classes and enjoy a boat party on the Thames; I am not even kidding.
If you like books about cardboard characters skipping consequence-free through a convoluted plot that makes no sense as soon as you take into consideration that it’s supposed to take place in the real world, you’ll enjoy The One You Love. If you don’t you’d probably have more fun attempting home trepanation with a Black & Decker drill (THIS IS A JOKE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS) but in this case I’m giving it two stars. One for the time it kept me off the internet long enough to avoid Breaking Bad spoilers, and one for plot, characterisation, dialogue, research, consistency and narrative voice. That is to say, everything else.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2011
I am at a loss to understand why this book is averaging 3 or 4 stars. A kidnap mystery that believes in quantity rather than quality - everyone has a dark secret, everyone is a suspect, everyone is lying...it's entirely overdone. Awful, cringey dialogue that feels as though it has been written with a made-for-tv film in mind. I was skimming by the end just to find out whodunnit. And then I realised I really didn't care. The one star is for the unintended hilarity of the rotting chicken in the basement moment (yes, we were supposed to think it was a body, as she trembled down the dark stairs...).
March 22, 2015
I got this kindle book simply because it was cheap on Amazon and the blurb was well-written. If a high-school student had written it, he/she would have received an A; but for a professionally-written and published book it was pretty amateurish to my eyes and ears. The plot was so loosely-woven it frequently was puzzling and confusing; the dialog was stilted, and the narration was sometimes circuitous, leaving the reader more aware of the technique than the actual story. I found myself continually stopping and trying to analyze why the book wasn't working, and the numerous grammatical and structural errors irritated me. A good copy-editor could have improved this book quite a bit since the author actually had a pretty interesting plotline.
August 19, 2012
The plot in the story is reasonable but the actions of the characters are SO far-fetched at times. The author's writing style is incredibly bland and uninteresting, can't believe he is classed as a novelist - the language used is around high school standard - correct but totally unimaginative. There were several occasions when I nearly gave up reading it. The characters are not developed at all and the reader doesn't get involved with them or have any empathy towards them. Just proves that a decent plot is only the START of writing a good book, and that free downloads should be given a wide berth.
December 26, 2012
really enjoyed this book.
for the start it had me wanting to turn the pages to find out more an easy read that filled the boredom. . personally I felt that the story line was great and got you thinking and guessing the end along the way.
there was a few points in the book I felt that I got lost with time frames of what was happing when but could have been just my lack of concentration on my part and also how well the main character was coping with what was happening I felt was a bit unrealistic.. but never the less I enjoyed the book and would recommend it .
for the start it had me wanting to turn the pages to find out more an easy read that filled the boredom. . personally I felt that the story line was great and got you thinking and guessing the end along the way.
there was a few points in the book I felt that I got lost with time frames of what was happing when but could have been just my lack of concentration on my part and also how well the main character was coping with what was happening I felt was a bit unrealistic.. but never the less I enjoyed the book and would recommend it .
July 31, 2012
I'm cutting "The One You Love" by Paul Pilkington some slack since it was a FREE Kindle book and since it pretty much saved my life as I could read it over the weekend on my iPhone when I had to lie flat on my back with eyes toward the ceiling after eye surgery Friday. That's not all that comfortable for hours and hours. I've decided this would make a wonderful Lifetime Channel movie. Characters are somewhat memorable and story is definitely interesting with some twists and turns. The ending...comes to a screeching halt. Reminds me of those short stories students sometimes write when the ending is "And then he woke up." No, this story was not a dream sequence (so it's not a spoiler) but the ending was just as abrupt.
So, if you're anything like me with so many unread books on your shelves that you have no business buying a single book until they are all read, and you find yourself in need of something to read electronically, check out this FREE Kindle book.
Now, I can get back to "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" since I can sit up again to read. Just couldn't hold anything except the iPhone straight up in the air for extended periods of time. Sigh.
So, if you're anything like me with so many unread books on your shelves that you have no business buying a single book until they are all read, and you find yourself in need of something to read electronically, check out this FREE Kindle book.
Now, I can get back to "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" since I can sit up again to read. Just couldn't hold anything except the iPhone straight up in the air for extended periods of time. Sigh.
July 26, 2015
I had a really hard time finishing this book. I think at any point I could have just stop reading it and not cared how it ended.
A few questions or things that stuck out to me:
1. I can't remember which chapter it was in but at one point it was a male character talking to himself. Not sure who it was, even after finishing it. All that was known at that point was him getting ready to cut himself with a knife.
2. Why would Lizzie be surprised that Emma wants to protect Dan? I don't get it? They're engaged and have been together for a while now, getting ready to get married too. So what's so surprising?
3. The police are so certain that Dan is the one who hurt his brother. This is after talking with the neighbor, Mrs. Henderson....who suffers from dementia...yet for some unknown reason the police consider to be a reliable witness.
4. Chapter 9. I have no clue who or what was going on in that chapter. It's all questionable to me.
5. At one point Emma is talking to Lizzie. She's telling her how she doesn't think Stephan is calculating/smart enough to try to lure Emma to him. Yet she thinks he was capable of beating her future brother in law, almost to death and kidnapping Dan. Right....
6. Why did Frank think it better off him and Will not tell Emma that Stephan had died? Did they just assume that after having someone stocking you for over a year, that once you moved to another area that all was well again?
7. After Emma chases the guy that lured her out to the front of her building, saying he needed help...why does Stuart show up? It's like she is woken up by Stuart, then it jumps to the next morning not really explaining anything.
8. Lastly, I did not like how the book ended either. It's like stuff is happening and then nothing. A brick wall suddenly pops up and I'm left like "huh? What just happened?'
Honestly, this is just my opinion but I really disliked this book. To me it could have been an authors first book, someone just starting out. The author didn't really describe anyone. That the characters were very two dimensional in that I just didn't really care what was going on to you. I only finished this book because I hate not finishing. Needless to say, I will not be moving on to the second in this series.
A few questions or things that stuck out to me:
1. I can't remember which chapter it was in but at one point it was a male character talking to himself. Not sure who it was, even after finishing it. All that was known at that point was him getting ready to cut himself with a knife.
2. Why would Lizzie be surprised that Emma wants to protect Dan? I don't get it? They're engaged and have been together for a while now, getting ready to get married too. So what's so surprising?
3. The police are so certain that Dan is the one who hurt his brother. This is after talking with the neighbor, Mrs. Henderson....who suffers from dementia...yet for some unknown reason the police consider to be a reliable witness.
4. Chapter 9. I have no clue who or what was going on in that chapter. It's all questionable to me.
5. At one point Emma is talking to Lizzie. She's telling her how she doesn't think Stephan is calculating/smart enough to try to lure Emma to him. Yet she thinks he was capable of beating her future brother in law, almost to death and kidnapping Dan. Right....
6. Why did Frank think it better off him and Will not tell Emma that Stephan had died? Did they just assume that after having someone stocking you for over a year, that once you moved to another area that all was well again?
7. After Emma chases the guy that lured her out to the front of her building, saying he needed help...why does Stuart show up? It's like she is woken up by Stuart, then it jumps to the next morning not really explaining anything.
8. Lastly, I did not like how the book ended either. It's like stuff is happening and then nothing. A brick wall suddenly pops up and I'm left like "huh? What just happened?'
Honestly, this is just my opinion but I really disliked this book. To me it could have been an authors first book, someone just starting out. The author didn't really describe anyone. That the characters were very two dimensional in that I just didn't really care what was going on to you. I only finished this book because I hate not finishing. Needless to say, I will not be moving on to the second in this series.
June 16, 2013
Looks like I am reading a lot of mystery stuff these days. After L.L.Bartlett’s “Murder on the mind” I picked up “The one you Love”. This book, written by Paul Pilkington is one of the top kindle downloads (1 million +) in the last one year. This has actually prompted me to take the book up.(Quite obvious isn’t it?)
Emma Holden, a starlet with big aspirations is stung when her life goes topsy-turvy over night. Her fiancée is missing, his brother is found in her apartment with grave head injuries. The circumstantial evidence points fingers at someone she believes was not involved in the crime. Her own family and a few trusted friends are all she have as she embarks on the arduous journey of uncovering the truth. How Emma uncovers the truth, and what has happened actually forms the real plot of the story.
Her past, Her ex-boyfriends, the secrets her family keeps from her and the twists and turns actually juice up the story wonderfully. The writer actually did a very good job while building up the plot. The novel is fast paced and has been a page turner. The suspense regarding the culprit is very well maintained till the end.
This review first appeared on. http://satyasurya.wordpress.com/2012/...
Coming to the way the characters are portrayed, I liked the female protagonist part. Long time since I read a novel with a female protagonist. Then coming to the others characters and the characterization, the guilt consciousness and the way it affects a person’s psyche are very well portrayed. I personally loved the character of Lizzy, she made me remember Sam in the Lord of the Rings.
With such a nice plot and so many twists and turns, I was wondering like how a book like this can become a freebie in Kindle. How would it feel if there is dawn immediately after midnight. The ending almost seemed similar to me. Quite opposite to the one I read in Bartlett’s “Murder on Mind”. I felt that the author actually rushed through it. Moreover when the book has prologue, why does it not have an epilogue? telling us like what happened to some of the most important characters in the book.
All in all, it’s a good book. Definitely worth reading once. It’s definitely a page turner and you are bound to enjoy it. Personally I would rate somewhere around 3.75 on the scale of 5. I would have given a whole-hearted 5 on 5 had it not been for the dampener ending
Emma Holden, a starlet with big aspirations is stung when her life goes topsy-turvy over night. Her fiancée is missing, his brother is found in her apartment with grave head injuries. The circumstantial evidence points fingers at someone she believes was not involved in the crime. Her own family and a few trusted friends are all she have as she embarks on the arduous journey of uncovering the truth. How Emma uncovers the truth, and what has happened actually forms the real plot of the story.
Her past, Her ex-boyfriends, the secrets her family keeps from her and the twists and turns actually juice up the story wonderfully. The writer actually did a very good job while building up the plot. The novel is fast paced and has been a page turner. The suspense regarding the culprit is very well maintained till the end.
This review first appeared on. http://satyasurya.wordpress.com/2012/...
Coming to the way the characters are portrayed, I liked the female protagonist part. Long time since I read a novel with a female protagonist. Then coming to the others characters and the characterization, the guilt consciousness and the way it affects a person’s psyche are very well portrayed. I personally loved the character of Lizzy, she made me remember Sam in the Lord of the Rings.
With such a nice plot and so many twists and turns, I was wondering like how a book like this can become a freebie in Kindle. How would it feel if there is dawn immediately after midnight. The ending almost seemed similar to me. Quite opposite to the one I read in Bartlett’s “Murder on Mind”. I felt that the author actually rushed through it. Moreover when the book has prologue, why does it not have an epilogue? telling us like what happened to some of the most important characters in the book.
All in all, it’s a good book. Definitely worth reading once. It’s definitely a page turner and you are bound to enjoy it. Personally I would rate somewhere around 3.75 on the scale of 5. I would have given a whole-hearted 5 on 5 had it not been for the dampener ending
September 15, 2012
Emma Holden is seriously unlucky in love. On the eve of her hen night, two weeks before the wedding is due to take place, her fiancée Dan goes missing. The first attempt to track him down leads back to their flat and to the discovery of the battered body of Dan’s brother on the bathroom floor. This is only the beginning of Emma’s troubles as it soon becomes clear that she is being stalked by some mysterious individual and also that her brother Will knows more about what’s going on than he’s willing to say.
The One You Love is a real thriller. Emma’s quest to find the truth about Dan and about her own family is really suspenseful and Paul Pilkington’s plotting means that the answers are kept hidden until almost the very end of the book. There’s plenty of action and intrigue involved as Emma chases about looking for her AWOL fiancée and so, while a quick read, the book is really gripping. The story is quite involved as Pilkington has worked in many different plot strands and so has generated lots of questions for the reader to attempt to answer if they are to solve the mystery before Emma does. That’s not to say that all the questions are necessarily answered though!
Emma Holden is a very good heroine. Pilkington has created a character that it is easy to feel empathy for but who is also believable in quite an action-packed role. Over the course of The One You Love Emma is really tested and is forced to discover just how far she is prepared to go for the sake of love. Not that she has to act entirely on her own, as her best friend Lizzie is often on hand to provide advice and assistance in between taking acting jobs.
There is a complicated yet predominantly plausible mystery at the heart of The One You Love and the initial suspense caused by Dan’s disappearance is maintained throughout. It could be suggested that, after all the build-up, the ending is a little rushed and that an extra chapter or two would have been welcomed. However, that’s just of neatness’s sake and doesn’t mean that the actual ending isn’t ultimately satisfactory on its own. The One You Love is therefore a recommended read for fans of thrillers who don’t mind a little romance thrown in alongside the central mystery!
The One You Love is a real thriller. Emma’s quest to find the truth about Dan and about her own family is really suspenseful and Paul Pilkington’s plotting means that the answers are kept hidden until almost the very end of the book. There’s plenty of action and intrigue involved as Emma chases about looking for her AWOL fiancée and so, while a quick read, the book is really gripping. The story is quite involved as Pilkington has worked in many different plot strands and so has generated lots of questions for the reader to attempt to answer if they are to solve the mystery before Emma does. That’s not to say that all the questions are necessarily answered though!
Emma Holden is a very good heroine. Pilkington has created a character that it is easy to feel empathy for but who is also believable in quite an action-packed role. Over the course of The One You Love Emma is really tested and is forced to discover just how far she is prepared to go for the sake of love. Not that she has to act entirely on her own, as her best friend Lizzie is often on hand to provide advice and assistance in between taking acting jobs.
There is a complicated yet predominantly plausible mystery at the heart of The One You Love and the initial suspense caused by Dan’s disappearance is maintained throughout. It could be suggested that, after all the build-up, the ending is a little rushed and that an extra chapter or two would have been welcomed. However, that’s just of neatness’s sake and doesn’t mean that the actual ending isn’t ultimately satisfactory on its own. The One You Love is therefore a recommended read for fans of thrillers who don’t mind a little romance thrown in alongside the central mystery!
August 26, 2016
Emma Holden is due to get married in a couple weeks. Then it happens... again. Her fiance disappears, but not before his brother is attacked. Did her fiance Dan do it? She doesn't think so, but if he didn't, who did? Emma doesn't know what to make of the situation. Thankfully she has her friend Lizzy and her brother Will to get her through. One of them knows more than they're letting on though...
So, I'll say the book was okay, but I was not impressed. Seems like it may have been a good story had it been written a little better... or by someone else. I noticed some spelling and grammar issues, as well as using the wrong words in some cases. The author is from the UK, so that may explain some of it, but surely he had the book proofed before putting it out?
The reactions to certain things by some of the characters were a bit unrealistic. There were definitely lots of twists and turns which I normally like, but it seems like each twist built up to a whole lot of nothing.
When it finally ended, I felt a bit robbed of the finishing details...
So, I'll say the book was okay, but I was not impressed. Seems like it may have been a good story had it been written a little better... or by someone else. I noticed some spelling and grammar issues, as well as using the wrong words in some cases. The author is from the UK, so that may explain some of it, but surely he had the book proofed before putting it out?
The reactions to certain things by some of the characters were a bit unrealistic. There were definitely lots of twists and turns which I normally like, but it seems like each twist built up to a whole lot of nothing.
When it finally ended, I felt a bit robbed of the finishing details...
April 2, 2012
It was awful and I didn't finish reading it. The premises was that of some sort of mystery that'd keep the reader turning the pages.
From the start, it smelt something fishy and as the story progressed it became clear there was nothing concrete to look forward to just an endless page after page of silly endings the author thought as cliffhangers.
In my opinion the story would have benefited from a good editing, starting from the actual writing.
It wasn't ready and the author put it online anyway.
Edit, edit, edit and then edit some more and keep silly cliffhangers where they should remain, in your keyboard. Don't try to fool your readership.
If it sounds foolish, it's because it is.
From the start, it smelt something fishy and as the story progressed it became clear there was nothing concrete to look forward to just an endless page after page of silly endings the author thought as cliffhangers.
In my opinion the story would have benefited from a good editing, starting from the actual writing.
It wasn't ready and the author put it online anyway.
Edit, edit, edit and then edit some more and keep silly cliffhangers where they should remain, in your keyboard. Don't try to fool your readership.
If it sounds foolish, it's because it is.
January 8, 2014
Hmmmmm not particularly interesting nor well written, quite immature like reading student work samples from school.
October 24, 2015
So Slooowwww. Abrupt Ending! Just glad its over. Great Narration (audible whispersync review)
I can't really say I enjoyed this book. It was so slow and went on and on. I am so glad its over.
I don't really even know how to review this book. It wasn't a romance mystery at all. It was just a mystery and a bad one at that. The story line and plot just dragged. It was like the author was desperately trying to make this such a mystery with twists and secrets that it became just boring and annoying. You just wanted it to end, and when it did, it was THE END, very abrupt. Like the author wants you to get the next book to find out all the things that happened to Dan. Well, I don't care. So no thanks.
There is lots of dialogue throughout the entire book, actually it was mostly dialogue. I love lots of dialogue. However, the conversations were written in a choppy, in-circles type of way that was just annoying. The author was trying so hard at not wanting you to figure anything out, that the entire story suffered.
I cannot recommend this book.
I can recommend the narrator. I really enjoy Fiona Hardingham. She does have a british accent. And at times it is thick depending on the character. Her cockney accent is very good. Some people complain about her accent but I like it. She does a good job with the mens voices and she has a very nice reading voice. The narrator is the only reason I finished this book.
I got this on amazon for free and the whispersync for 1.99. Glad I didn't spend any more than that on this poorly written book.
I can't really say I enjoyed this book. It was so slow and went on and on. I am so glad its over.
I don't really even know how to review this book. It wasn't a romance mystery at all. It was just a mystery and a bad one at that. The story line and plot just dragged. It was like the author was desperately trying to make this such a mystery with twists and secrets that it became just boring and annoying. You just wanted it to end, and when it did, it was THE END, very abrupt. Like the author wants you to get the next book to find out all the things that happened to Dan. Well, I don't care. So no thanks.
There is lots of dialogue throughout the entire book, actually it was mostly dialogue. I love lots of dialogue. However, the conversations were written in a choppy, in-circles type of way that was just annoying. The author was trying so hard at not wanting you to figure anything out, that the entire story suffered.
I cannot recommend this book.
I can recommend the narrator. I really enjoy Fiona Hardingham. She does have a british accent. And at times it is thick depending on the character. Her cockney accent is very good. Some people complain about her accent but I like it. She does a good job with the mens voices and she has a very nice reading voice. The narrator is the only reason I finished this book.
I got this on amazon for free and the whispersync for 1.99. Glad I didn't spend any more than that on this poorly written book.
February 27, 2014
This was a free book, I think via Bookbub or Freebooksy.
I read 27% of the book before I tossed this in the DNF pile. It was like reading a young teen's first journey into writing a story. That is fine, for an English teacher or another teen to read, but when it is published as a book, when it is put out as part of a series that I am supposed to read and then purchase other parts of... no. No thank you.
Plot is all over the place with too many sub-plots that link to the main plot, somehow... I didn't feel like wading through the poorly written dialog and poor characterizations of the protagonist and secondary characters to figure it all out. Not to mention the tangents this author takes you on before you realize that the particular chapter you are reading took place in the past.
No thanks.
I read 27% of the book before I tossed this in the DNF pile. It was like reading a young teen's first journey into writing a story. That is fine, for an English teacher or another teen to read, but when it is published as a book, when it is put out as part of a series that I am supposed to read and then purchase other parts of... no. No thank you.
Plot is all over the place with too many sub-plots that link to the main plot, somehow... I didn't feel like wading through the poorly written dialog and poor characterizations of the protagonist and secondary characters to figure it all out. Not to mention the tangents this author takes you on before you realize that the particular chapter you are reading took place in the past.
No thanks.
September 3, 2011
some light relief after the horror of Confederacy of Dunces...
oh dear slightly too light!!!
The idea was okay and it was suspenseful but the writing let it down. It was poorly structured, none of the characters were fleshed out: they were just people who talked a lot. I couldn't get a sense of any of them and certainly none of the suffering that should have been happening. And then the obvious plot twist happened and it ended, without explaining some really crucial things.
And the editing... don't even get me started.
Not for me, sorry Paul.
oh dear slightly too light!!!
The idea was okay and it was suspenseful but the writing let it down. It was poorly structured, none of the characters were fleshed out: they were just people who talked a lot. I couldn't get a sense of any of them and certainly none of the suffering that should have been happening. And then the obvious plot twist happened and it ended, without explaining some really crucial things.
And the editing... don't even get me started.
Not for me, sorry Paul.
February 9, 2018
"I don't know what to say," she admitted. "This is all so... oh, I don't know. So unbelievable" - Emma Holden
The main character has perfectly summed up this ridiculous story line. Not only was the story like all bad Bold & Beautiful episodes in one, but the writing itself was also a bit stilted and tried too much to tell the reader what has happening.
It gets a second star because I did get it free on kindle and the cover is neat.
The main character has perfectly summed up this ridiculous story line. Not only was the story like all bad Bold & Beautiful episodes in one, but the writing itself was also a bit stilted and tried too much to tell the reader what has happening.
It gets a second star because I did get it free on kindle and the cover is neat.
August 4, 2020
This is a trilogy and all three are continuing/cliffhanger. This whole thing is from basically Ellen’s POV. I found her to be a times a complete idiot. Then other times she was an average person who irked me to no end. I enjoyed the mystery end but her dippiness was annoying. Her best friend was a gem and her brother was a wuss.
So far, I am curious what direction Paul Pinkington is going with this mystery. I love mysteries and I want to see where it’s going.
So far, I am curious what direction Paul Pinkington is going with this mystery. I love mysteries and I want to see where it’s going.
November 15, 2020
This was a great beginning but as it progressed it became more and more unbelievably. I think it should be a one off novel and at present I don’t want to embark on the sequel. Anyone who has gone through life changing experiences like these would not be able to move on without significant help and fear for the future.
February 9, 2016
This is one of the books I picked while browsing my Kindle library for a really nice cover and promising synopsis. More than once I was let down by my choices but this one really turned out to be a page turner despite some flaws.
Meet Emma, who is on cloud nine because of her oncoming wedding when her fiancé, Dan, goes missing and his brother is badly hurt. While friends and family try to help her it becomes obvious that a lot of them are actually hiding things – the line between friend and foe starts to disappear. Emma is no longer sure who to trust and soon her stable and normal life is falling apart.
The book does a good job keeping the action going – as soon as you think you finally figured things out something changes and a whole new situation opens up. I thought it to be a little annoying that the book tries really hard to convince you again and again that something is a solution only to turn around suddenly. It just gets old after the third or fourth time. Also, I somehow managed to spot the real culprit quite early. Usually, I’m not that quick – so, prob-ably more of a coincidence.
Emma is a difficult character to like. For once her reaction in the beginning of the book is easy to understand and relate to. But the more the story progresses she lost me with her ac-tions. I was also torn about the way the topic of stalking was handled in the book. It was defi-nitely well-written and added a lot to the atmosphere but I didn’t like how people reacted to it – especially Emma. I guess she jumped to conclusions too many times for my liking which made her quite childish in my eyes.
Although I don’t like the whole ‘let’s-keep-it-a-secret-it-won’t-hurt-anyone’-mentality I still think of the other characters as interesting. Maybe some of them were just too convenient that it became unbelievable.
I think the atmosphere and the constant chasing for answers keep me reading until late at night. The author did a good job creating enough suspense to get me going while I also had pauses to reflect what had happened. The ending was not that surprising to me but it made me curious to find out what the other books in the series are about. I knew this was part of a series when I started to read but at least in my opinion this also could have been a stand-alone novel. Don’t know if the series can take more secrets before turning into a mess but I guess I’ll have to read on to answer this question.
Meet Emma, who is on cloud nine because of her oncoming wedding when her fiancé, Dan, goes missing and his brother is badly hurt. While friends and family try to help her it becomes obvious that a lot of them are actually hiding things – the line between friend and foe starts to disappear. Emma is no longer sure who to trust and soon her stable and normal life is falling apart.
The book does a good job keeping the action going – as soon as you think you finally figured things out something changes and a whole new situation opens up. I thought it to be a little annoying that the book tries really hard to convince you again and again that something is a solution only to turn around suddenly. It just gets old after the third or fourth time. Also, I somehow managed to spot the real culprit quite early. Usually, I’m not that quick – so, prob-ably more of a coincidence.
Emma is a difficult character to like. For once her reaction in the beginning of the book is easy to understand and relate to. But the more the story progresses she lost me with her ac-tions. I was also torn about the way the topic of stalking was handled in the book. It was defi-nitely well-written and added a lot to the atmosphere but I didn’t like how people reacted to it – especially Emma. I guess she jumped to conclusions too many times for my liking which made her quite childish in my eyes.
Although I don’t like the whole ‘let’s-keep-it-a-secret-it-won’t-hurt-anyone’-mentality I still think of the other characters as interesting. Maybe some of them were just too convenient that it became unbelievable.
I think the atmosphere and the constant chasing for answers keep me reading until late at night. The author did a good job creating enough suspense to get me going while I also had pauses to reflect what had happened. The ending was not that surprising to me but it made me curious to find out what the other books in the series are about. I knew this was part of a series when I started to read but at least in my opinion this also could have been a stand-alone novel. Don’t know if the series can take more secrets before turning into a mess but I guess I’ll have to read on to answer this question.
Read
December 22, 2013I didn't actually finish this. I downloaded it for my Kindle firstly because it was free, and secondly for research - I was wondering about self-published, what types of books sell and this one had sold a lot. I like this kind of mystery too though, so I didn't expect it to be a chore or anything, I expected to enjoy it. I didn't, and that was mostly because of the main female protagonist who was the stupidest, most idiotic female who seemed absolutely determined not to learn from a single one of her mistakes. She drove me absolutely crazy with the way she kept things back from the police, lied to herself, let her ex-boyfriend back into her life, was so self-pitying, was apparently so deeply in love with the man she wanted to marry but didn't actually seem to bothered about the fact that he'd apparently dumped her and she had this weird, almost incestuous relationship with her brother.
There were so many twists and turns in this plot it was very difficult to keep up. At one point pretty much everyone was a suspect. I like twists and turns, but I don't like being manipulated for the sake of it, just to distract me from the scent, so to speak. So in the end that's why I gave up. I was pretty sure from about half-way that I knew what was going to happen but I didn't actually mind not knowing.
This book is obviously lots of others' cup of tea. It just didn't work for me.
There were so many twists and turns in this plot it was very difficult to keep up. At one point pretty much everyone was a suspect. I like twists and turns, but I don't like being manipulated for the sake of it, just to distract me from the scent, so to speak. So in the end that's why I gave up. I was pretty sure from about half-way that I knew what was going to happen but I didn't actually mind not knowing.
This book is obviously lots of others' cup of tea. It just didn't work for me.
July 10, 2013
I quite enjoyed this: it starts well, with a realistic yet intriguing situation, attractive characters and cliffhanger chapter endings ...
But then one finds oneself being played with on practically every page. Nameless characters are introduced, broad hints are dropped that characters are lying, or are keeping secrets, or have something they are desperate to hide, or aren't who they say they are, or have dubious motives of one sort or another for various mysterious reasons. I mean, it just begins to get a bit silly.
The characters are likable, though flimsy, and sometimes treated too casually by the author; however, I did want to know the answers. Before long, though, things became simply unbelievable, mainly in the service of all the thrilling twists and turns.
Tiresome, too, is the characters' tendency never merely to say anything: they assert, affirm, confirm, deny, comfort, bawl, chide, growl, rasp, etc. (actually I did make a couple of those up - but maybe not the ones you think).
A flawed attempt, but a page-turner that might distract you on a plane or train journey.
But then one finds oneself being played with on practically every page. Nameless characters are introduced, broad hints are dropped that characters are lying, or are keeping secrets, or have something they are desperate to hide, or aren't who they say they are, or have dubious motives of one sort or another for various mysterious reasons. I mean, it just begins to get a bit silly.
The characters are likable, though flimsy, and sometimes treated too casually by the author; however, I did want to know the answers. Before long, though, things became simply unbelievable, mainly in the service of all the thrilling twists and turns.
Tiresome, too, is the characters' tendency never merely to say anything: they assert, affirm, confirm, deny, comfort, bawl, chide, growl, rasp, etc. (actually I did make a couple of those up - but maybe not the ones you think).
A flawed attempt, but a page-turner that might distract you on a plane or train journey.
June 9, 2013
Emma Holden’s boyfriend goes missing on his own stag night and no-one knows what has happened to him. This is the beginning of a mystery that takes Emma up and down the country, questioning everything she ever knew or thought she knew in a bid to find out what exactly happened that night.
The One You Love is a suspense novel with a romantic element and can be enjoyed by anyone who likes a good mystery. Hints and clues were dropped into the story line but every time I thought I might have it worked out, something else came up to make me change my mind. I liked the way small insights were given as to what was happening that the main characters didn’t necessarily know or, if they did, they weren’t sharing with each other. It unfolded rather like a crime drama seen on TV and kept me hooked and interested the whole way through.
Really enjoyable read and I shall definitely be adding the other books in the series to my reading list.
The One You Love is a suspense novel with a romantic element and can be enjoyed by anyone who likes a good mystery. Hints and clues were dropped into the story line but every time I thought I might have it worked out, something else came up to make me change my mind. I liked the way small insights were given as to what was happening that the main characters didn’t necessarily know or, if they did, they weren’t sharing with each other. It unfolded rather like a crime drama seen on TV and kept me hooked and interested the whole way through.
Really enjoyable read and I shall definitely be adding the other books in the series to my reading list.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2012
This was a kindle free book that I had started on vacation. I had a hard time getting into the book. Once I did get into it the book felt incomplete. In the end so much was going on and it felt that the author was trying to do too many things in not enough pages. I liked the book for the story, but was not overly impressed. If I find another free book by the author I may read it but I wont go out of my way to search for it. The main character is out on her bachelorette party when her finacee goes missing. She goes back to her apartment and find her financees brother beating. He ends up in a coma. She spends the whole book trying to figure out what happened. Her finacee calls off the wedding and never appears again. A stalker from the past is a part of the book. Her brother and father have a ton of secrets.
February 1, 2013
I found the beginning enjoyable, the middle riveting and the ending slightly disappointing.
The book opens with the mystery of a missing fiance, the brother of whom has been attacked and found in Emma's flat the night of her hen party and Dan's stag do. Added to the mix are the fact that Emma has, in the past, had a stalker and a previous failed relationship. Her brother, Will, and father, Edward, have something to hide and there are a devious photographer and film-maker circling the periphery, too. It is difficult to pin suspicion and the reader bounces around from character to character in a bid to pinpoint the culprit.
This would have had five stars, but the fact it ends with unanswered questions prevents it from being a stand alone book. There is a sequel, however, for those interested in bringing events to a satisfying conclusion.
The book opens with the mystery of a missing fiance, the brother of whom has been attacked and found in Emma's flat the night of her hen party and Dan's stag do. Added to the mix are the fact that Emma has, in the past, had a stalker and a previous failed relationship. Her brother, Will, and father, Edward, have something to hide and there are a devious photographer and film-maker circling the periphery, too. It is difficult to pin suspicion and the reader bounces around from character to character in a bid to pinpoint the culprit.
This would have had five stars, but the fact it ends with unanswered questions prevents it from being a stand alone book. There is a sequel, however, for those interested in bringing events to a satisfying conclusion.
March 21, 2025
If I could give more than 5 stars for this book, I would! It's been in my Kindle library for 14 years so I can't believe it's taken me so long to read 🤦🏼♀️
This book had me hooked right from the beginning! It kept me guessing right until near the end of the book when I finally figured out what was going on. The mystery around what happened meant I was glued to the book and could not put it down as there were so many different elements to the story and different lives that were entangled. Throughout the book I was constantly wondering what was going on, trying to guess who was involved in the kidnapping.
It's SO well written and the storyline was super interesting!
I cannot recommend this enough. I enjoyed it so much, I immediately purchased part 2 and 3 and began reading straight away. I NEED to know what happens next!
This book had me hooked right from the beginning! It kept me guessing right until near the end of the book when I finally figured out what was going on. The mystery around what happened meant I was glued to the book and could not put it down as there were so many different elements to the story and different lives that were entangled. Throughout the book I was constantly wondering what was going on, trying to guess who was involved in the kidnapping.
It's SO well written and the storyline was super interesting!
I cannot recommend this enough. I enjoyed it so much, I immediately purchased part 2 and 3 and began reading straight away. I NEED to know what happens next!
March 6, 2013
Imagine you are driving a winding country road, so remain focused. Emma's fiancé is missing and suspect, after his brother is found near death, and in a coma. A stalker with a camera, another stalker with a camera, a former boyfriend who had dumped Emma without explanation, a brother tormented by something he had done years before, an inattentive father, a movie producer keen on giving Emma a part that will launch her career, and a best friend any woman would be proud to have.
If you enjoy a who-done-it, as I do, you've come to the right place. There are many twists, turns and unanswered questions, that will keep you captured throughout the story, and, in fact, until the very last sentence. Needless to say, a good read!
If you enjoy a who-done-it, as I do, you've come to the right place. There are many twists, turns and unanswered questions, that will keep you captured throughout the story, and, in fact, until the very last sentence. Needless to say, a good read!
February 4, 2023
Reading this book will change your life! Did that get your attention? Well unfortunately it's not true, unless you happen to suffer from insomnia - it may help with that. Seriously, this book had me going "WTF?!" every other page! From the main character who neglects to tell the police anything of what is going on, preferring instead to have endless conversations with her BFF, to those same police (who I am surprised manage to find their way out of their own house of a morning), it's unbelievable. And not in a good way.
Read
August 31, 2011Dear Mr. Pilkington:
Before writing another novel, please check your dictionary for the difference between exacerbate and exasperate. There is a vast difference!
Also, brushing up on your pronouns would be a help. I'm afraid it's NOT "Her and Lizzy" but "SHE and Lizzy".
Errors of this sort made your interesting story a painful reading experience.
Sincerely,
Ajuma
Before writing another novel, please check your dictionary for the difference between exacerbate and exasperate. There is a vast difference!
Also, brushing up on your pronouns would be a help. I'm afraid it's NOT "Her and Lizzy" but "SHE and Lizzy".
Errors of this sort made your interesting story a painful reading experience.
Sincerely,
Ajuma
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,438 reviews