What do you think?
Abandoned
Terrified. Drugged. Abandoned.
A rural area in the north of England is put on edge as teenage girls start to go missing. The local authorities are stumped in their search for the one responsible.
Charles Lee lives a very normal life, in stark contrast to his troubled past. Putting years of abuse, neglect and loss behind him, he has built a new life in the countryside with his beloved family and border collie. However, his past soon starts to haunt him as burned bridges are resurrected, old grievances resurface and a lust for revenge takes over.
Will Detective Taylor and psychological profiler Georgina Riley suss out the clues and piece together the jigsaw in time to stop the disappearances?
217 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 18, 2017
A mystery thriller that broke my heart to pieces. A story about a man and the choices he made in life. And yet, I can't bring myself to hate him. My empathy for him was so staggering that I keep asking myself, what the heck is wrong with me?
Empathy stems from two different factors. One is emotional, meaning empathy is triggered by your baggage, your family experience, what you bring to the table. The other is cognitive, which is your perspective, and, say, how interested you might be in hearing another person’s side of the story.
And Lee wrote this in the MC's perspective so well that for the first time, I am seeing a troubled person in a new light.
How I wish he got the chance to meet his mother. Maybe then everything will be okay. What he did was unforgivable, even for the reason that set his mind to do it, but I really wanted him to be happy.
Sincerely,
Sympathy for a psychopath.
Empathy stems from two different factors. One is emotional, meaning empathy is triggered by your baggage, your family experience, what you bring to the table. The other is cognitive, which is your perspective, and, say, how interested you might be in hearing another person’s side of the story.
And Lee wrote this in the MC's perspective so well that for the first time, I am seeing a troubled person in a new light.
How I wish he got the chance to meet his mother. Maybe then everything will be okay. What he did was unforgivable, even for the reason that set his mind to do it, but I really wanted him to be happy.
Sincerely,
Sympathy for a psychopath.
May 30, 2017
Maybe further books will be more 'polished'
I hate not giving fully positive reviews as the authors have managed publication and for that I congratulate them. However, I did feel like I was reading a teenagers essay where women were portrayed as the stay at home good wives and even the female detective slept with the,married colleague within days. I love crime,and thriller novels and the actual story relating to this genre was ok but a good bit of the first half of the book was,almost a separate story and included a lot about the main characters military background - none of which was massively important to the main story and gave the impression of a disjointed book. Sorry - you've achieved a published book though and for that I admire you!
I hate not giving fully positive reviews as the authors have managed publication and for that I congratulate them. However, I did feel like I was reading a teenagers essay where women were portrayed as the stay at home good wives and even the female detective slept with the,married colleague within days. I love crime,and thriller novels and the actual story relating to this genre was ok but a good bit of the first half of the book was,almost a separate story and included a lot about the main characters military background - none of which was massively important to the main story and gave the impression of a disjointed book. Sorry - you've achieved a published book though and for that I admire you!
January 12, 2020
What a debut! So gripping packed with twists and turns. Could not put it down!
November 13, 2017
Chilling content and difficult continuing reading at some points as very graphic descriptions!
Very interesting choice by the author to write it from a different perspective than most crime thrillers! Despite the controversial subject I felt compelled to keep on reading till the bitter end.
Very interesting choice by the author to write it from a different perspective than most crime thrillers! Despite the controversial subject I felt compelled to keep on reading till the bitter end.
September 8, 2016
The story of a man who was adopted at a young age and then on losing these parents was then placed in to foster care. What happened to him stayed with him and despite becoming a professional family man the haunts are still there. A chilling tale of how the past can shape our lives if we let it and don’t seek help or are powerless to do so. Hiding a deeply disturbed personality we would think would be hard in someone leading a “normal” life without leaving clues or even small tell-tale signs. A well described book and fast moving enough to keep you hooked. For a first novel this is excellent- keep going Lee!!
Can I just add that some other reviews have mentioned bad English- I am picky about such things and have not seen anything to date so please don’t be put off by a few others
Can I just add that some other reviews have mentioned bad English- I am picky about such things and have not seen anything to date so please don’t be put off by a few others
February 5, 2017
5 star rating.
It had so much detail to it, an incredible read, will defo recommend. Good author, goin to read more of his books
It had so much detail to it, an incredible read, will defo recommend. Good author, goin to read more of his books
December 1, 2015
Preferred the first half written wise, the second half was a bit cliched, still I've never written a book so can't criticise too much, I'm sure the next ones will be better. Good story though, bit gory in places.
March 26, 2016
Couldn't put it down. Enjoyed the whole story
Totally captivating. I would of liked the main character to have met his mother at the end. It shows how people are affected by abuse.
Totally captivating. I would of liked the main character to have met his mother at the end. It shows how people are affected by abuse.
September 25, 2016
Wow what a read!
An absolutely outstanding first novel from this author. Quite disturbing and difficult to read objectively at times, this book kept me turning pages right through to the end. Lee is an exciting new talent and I'll be first in the queue for the next book!
An absolutely outstanding first novel from this author. Quite disturbing and difficult to read objectively at times, this book kept me turning pages right through to the end. Lee is an exciting new talent and I'll be first in the queue for the next book!
March 9, 2016
Brilliant !
Absolutely Brilliant! One of the best books I have ever read. Gripped from the first page to the last .
Absolutely Brilliant! One of the best books I have ever read. Gripped from the first page to the last .
March 16, 2016
I enjoyed this, found some of the chapters a bit too graphic but still it was a good read
August 13, 2026
Writing style wasn't bad, but far too much was given away about Charles far too quickly. While the whole "mummy issues" and childhood trauma criminogenic factors are wholly common in rape and murder and so therefore relatively predictable, it could have at least kept us in the dark as to his motives for a bit longer than one chapter. I didn't get past chapter 1 for that reason.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2017
Excellent
Gripping stuff, excellent narrative, realistic page turner. Strongly recommended police thriller, with great characterisation. Read and enjoy. But not late at night!
Gripping stuff, excellent narrative, realistic page turner. Strongly recommended police thriller, with great characterisation. Read and enjoy. But not late at night!
January 15, 2019
An excellent read
I rated this masterpiece 5 stars as from the minute I started reading this, I couldn't put it down. So many twists and turns.
I rated this masterpiece 5 stars as from the minute I started reading this, I couldn't put it down. So many twists and turns.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews