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DCI Tom Douglas #2
Šunkelis
Kai jaunutė Ebė Kembel partrenkiama šunkelyje ir paliekama ten mirti, per Litl Melhamo kaimelį nuvilnijusi sukrėtimo banga išjudina įvykius, kurie gali atskleisti ilgai saugotas paslaptis.
Elė Sonders baiminasi, kad išaiškėjus tiesai apie tos nakties įvykius iškils grėsmė jos santuokai ir vaikų saugumui — ji bet kokia kaina privalo apsaugoti šeimą. Elė ne vienintelė, turinti ką slėpti. Tiek ji, tiek jos sesuo Leo tiki, kad vaikystėje patirtas skausmas liko praeityje, bet Leo leidžiasi į tiesos paieškas ir atskleidžia daugybę metų slėptą siaubingą tiesą.
Elės naujasis kaimynas, buvęs detektyvas Tomas Daglasas, atkeliavo į Litl Melhamą ieškodamas ramybės, tačiau nejučia yra įpainiojamas į melų pinkles, mat jo nuojauta kužda, kad jaunosios Ebės nelaimė nėra vien nelaimingas atsitikimas.
Dėmesį prikaustančiame romane pasakojama apie taikią Anglijos kaimo vietovę, kurioje kruopščiai nukarpytos gyvatvorės, uždaros prabangių svetainių durys ir nebylūs pokalbiai slepia baisią tiesą.
Elė Sonders baiminasi, kad išaiškėjus tiesai apie tos nakties įvykius iškils grėsmė jos santuokai ir vaikų saugumui — ji bet kokia kaina privalo apsaugoti šeimą. Elė ne vienintelė, turinti ką slėpti. Tiek ji, tiek jos sesuo Leo tiki, kad vaikystėje patirtas skausmas liko praeityje, bet Leo leidžiasi į tiesos paieškas ir atskleidžia daugybę metų slėptą siaubingą tiesą.
Elės naujasis kaimynas, buvęs detektyvas Tomas Daglasas, atkeliavo į Litl Melhamą ieškodamas ramybės, tačiau nejučia yra įpainiojamas į melų pinkles, mat jo nuojauta kužda, kad jaunosios Ebės nelaimė nėra vien nelaimingas atsitikimas.
Dėmesį prikaustančiame romane pasakojama apie taikią Anglijos kaimo vietovę, kurioje kruopščiai nukarpytos gyvatvorės, uždaros prabangių svetainių durys ir nebylūs pokalbiai slepia baisią tiesą.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
2457 people are currently reading
3811 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Abbott
50 books2,680 followersI was born and brought up in the north of England, and worked for many years as the managing director of an interactive media company. I wrote every day - everything from creative proposals to user manuals - but most exciting of all was writing interactive dramas - including for the Cluedo (Clue in the US) interactive games. I was fortunate enough to sell my company in 2000 and we moved to Italy where we bought and restored an old country house.
I have published six full length novels and one novella, and my seventh Come a Little Closer is due for release in 2018. I now live on the beautiful island of Alderney in the Channel Islands, where I write full time.
Find out more on my website.
I have published six full length novels and one novella, and my seventh Come a Little Closer is due for release in 2018. I now live on the beautiful island of Alderney in the Channel Islands, where I write full time.
Find out more on my website.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 816 reviews
November 19, 2018
I've come to the conclusion I'm suffering from BSP (book series panic). I get a buzz finding a good novel by a new author especially when it's the start of a series.
The continuity of plot, development of character and the familiarity of the environment make the world of a book series an attractive place to revisit. It's good to follow main characters, grow with them and share their lives for a while. It feels like visiting old friends. Only problem is that authors of successful book franchises keep adding to their collections! It used to just be Harry Bosch, Rebus, Roy Grace, Harry Hole etc that I would keep tabs on but now with the recent slew of series I've unwisely started (and my slow reading speed), I'm beginning to lose it. As each series grows ever longer, I can feel lives slipping away from me, personal circumstances shifting to the edge of my memory and whole worlds fading ...... Panic!! If only the authors would take a couple of years off to let me catch up!
Rachel Abbott and her main protagonist Tom Douglas are a relatively new addition to my ‘series to follow’. The Back Road is the third book I’ve read. The books read like stand alone psychological thrillers that feature Tom Douglas a detective. The plots are tricky and not heavily procedural.
Douglas is an unusual hero in that he is surprisingly normal i.e. He's not an alcoholic, he's not hopelessly world weary, he isn’t overly violent, he doesn't have a chaotic private life and he doesn't have a dark secret that is hinted at book after book. He's a pleasant, well balanced, likeable character.
In this novel Tom is between police jobs and has moved to a small village in Cheshire.
A thirteen year old girl out alone late at night, has been run over on a back road and is left for dead ........
It feels like Tom is a bit player at times within the large cast of characters in this story of middle class village life.
The narrative is a tangled affair involving infidelity, greed, child abuse, stalking, social media and of course murder! There is a slightly claustrophobic feel that centres on the group of characters in almost Agatha Christie mode.
The Back Road is not as strong as books 1 and 3 in the series, and a couple of the characters are unintentionally irritating, but the book is generally well written and involving, so I will continue with the series ............. one day!!
The continuity of plot, development of character and the familiarity of the environment make the world of a book series an attractive place to revisit. It's good to follow main characters, grow with them and share their lives for a while. It feels like visiting old friends. Only problem is that authors of successful book franchises keep adding to their collections! It used to just be Harry Bosch, Rebus, Roy Grace, Harry Hole etc that I would keep tabs on but now with the recent slew of series I've unwisely started (and my slow reading speed), I'm beginning to lose it. As each series grows ever longer, I can feel lives slipping away from me, personal circumstances shifting to the edge of my memory and whole worlds fading ...... Panic!! If only the authors would take a couple of years off to let me catch up!
Rachel Abbott and her main protagonist Tom Douglas are a relatively new addition to my ‘series to follow’. The Back Road is the third book I’ve read. The books read like stand alone psychological thrillers that feature Tom Douglas a detective. The plots are tricky and not heavily procedural.
Douglas is an unusual hero in that he is surprisingly normal i.e. He's not an alcoholic, he's not hopelessly world weary, he isn’t overly violent, he doesn't have a chaotic private life and he doesn't have a dark secret that is hinted at book after book. He's a pleasant, well balanced, likeable character.
In this novel Tom is between police jobs and has moved to a small village in Cheshire.
A thirteen year old girl out alone late at night, has been run over on a back road and is left for dead ........
It feels like Tom is a bit player at times within the large cast of characters in this story of middle class village life.
The narrative is a tangled affair involving infidelity, greed, child abuse, stalking, social media and of course murder! There is a slightly claustrophobic feel that centres on the group of characters in almost Agatha Christie mode.
The Back Road is not as strong as books 1 and 3 in the series, and a couple of the characters are unintentionally irritating, but the book is generally well written and involving, so I will continue with the series ............. one day!!
December 22, 2018
4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
This was really good! I will be reading more of Rachel Abbott’s work. This was an intricate plot that kept me guessing. I understood it without reading the one before; though had I known I would have read that one before. I may go back and read it now that I have finished this.
This was all about a small English village where it seems there are secrets and some are easily passed from person to person in typical village or small town fashion, while others are buried deep and fester.
Yeah, ppl love their gossip and rumors in small places don’t they? Thing is, that half of the time there isn’t truth in them— or at least not the entire truth. Not being a gossip is truly a virtue.
I loved how one character in this story handled it. She had been the subject of much of it herself when young and now back for a visit she just kinda rolls her eyes or walks away. Lol. I love it.
This one had a lot to do with childhood abuse and neglect and left me reading with one hand over my mouth or clutching at something.
Certain types of strengths and truth emerge in this story and even if they weren’t all pleasant I liked the understandings that were there.
One unusual thing that I heard in this English village story was that they used “knocked over” instead of “struck down” or “hit by a car “.
It kept reminding me of something just gently being knocked over like in the wind, or bowling, or perhaps a feinting o’possum. Clunk.
Not wham—! Bang! Ohhh my gosh!
Anyway that was a new one for me. There was another too. I think I had heard it once before but it was worded to where the context was different.
“Don’t tell me you’ve found an Indian?” Paraphrasing. Or was it a Indian. Anyway. It meant food ... Indian food restaurant.
Oh, piles.
This was really good! I will be reading more of Rachel Abbott’s work. This was an intricate plot that kept me guessing. I understood it without reading the one before; though had I known I would have read that one before. I may go back and read it now that I have finished this.
This was all about a small English village where it seems there are secrets and some are easily passed from person to person in typical village or small town fashion, while others are buried deep and fester.
Yeah, ppl love their gossip and rumors in small places don’t they? Thing is, that half of the time there isn’t truth in them— or at least not the entire truth. Not being a gossip is truly a virtue.
I loved how one character in this story handled it. She had been the subject of much of it herself when young and now back for a visit she just kinda rolls her eyes or walks away. Lol. I love it.
This one had a lot to do with childhood abuse and neglect and left me reading with one hand over my mouth or clutching at something.
Certain types of strengths and truth emerge in this story and even if they weren’t all pleasant I liked the understandings that were there.
One unusual thing that I heard in this English village story was that they used “knocked over” instead of “struck down” or “hit by a car “.
It kept reminding me of something just gently being knocked over like in the wind, or bowling, or perhaps a feinting o’possum. Clunk.
Not wham—! Bang! Ohhh my gosh!
Anyway that was a new one for me. There was another too. I think I had heard it once before but it was worded to where the context was different.
“Don’t tell me you’ve found an Indian?” Paraphrasing. Or was it a Indian. Anyway. It meant food ... Indian food restaurant.
Oh, piles.
March 17, 2024
Knygoje vis užsimenama, kad veiksmas vyksta kaime, kur visi vieni kitus pažįsta ir vieni apie kitus bei jų praeitį viską žino. Tačiau vis atsiranda vietų, kur pasirodo, kad daugelis daug ko nepažįsta ar nežino turėjusių garsiai per visą kaimą nuskambėti įvykių. Pora kartų net pasimečiau, kad gal kažką sumaišiau ir vis dėl to veiksmo vieta yra miestas, o ne kaimas. Veikėjų yra gan nemažai ir jie vieni su kitais vienaip ar kitaip susiję, tačiau mane trikdė jų visų istorijos, paslaptys bei bėdos. Tai pasirodė kiek perspausta, tiesiog jau per daug, nes iš visų jų nei vienas negyveno "normalaus" bei ramaus gyvenimo.
Knygoje veiksmas rutuliojasi labai lėtai, tad man, pripratusiai prie greitų įvykių, prireikė šiek tiek laiko priprasti. Čia didesnis dėmesys skiriamas ne patiems įvykiams ir jų aprašymams, o psichologinei pusei.
Knygoje veiksmas rutuliojasi labai lėtai, tad man, pripratusiai prie greitų įvykių, prireikė šiek tiek laiko priprasti. Čia didesnis dėmesys skiriamas ne patiems įvykiams ir jų aprašymams, o psichologinei pusei.
October 11, 2013
The Back Road by Rachel Abbott has been one of the most up and down relationships I've had with a book in a long while. A young girl, Abbie, is left for dead on the side of a road that no one uses except the villagers in Little Melham. The news of her being in a coma after someone strikes her in a vehicle places a group of friends on edge who all have their own secrets they need to keep.
Rachel Abbott grips readers from page one with the Prelude that includes two young girls in a closet trying not to make a sound as The Grunter and The Moaner do their business. An attention to detail and intensity had me assuming I was in for a nail biting thriller. Sadly it changed courses when Abbott introduces a group of friends who may, or may not, have had something to do with the abduction and subsequent accident.
The main characters in The Back Road are Leo and Ellie. Leo is a life coach who is on a journey to overcome her past by visiting her half-sister Ellie. Ellie, a nurse, lives in their childhood home, and the place of her sister's tormentor. She's taken by surprise when Leo finally comes to see the newly remodeled home. Leo is happy there are no traces of old memories and settles down to enjoy her sister and also battle her own demons. All hopes of having a quiet holiday cease once the dinner from hell happens.
Ellie and Leo are brilliantly described characters that I enjoyed getting to know. But as I said, I had a love/hate relationship with this book. There are a lot of subplots, twists, and hidden agendas with this novel. Normally this complexity is welcome when the cast is worth caring for. Ellie's friends are snooty, flighty, sinister, and withholding a lot of depth. Their chapters were better spent on giving more depth to Abbie, the victim, who's almost an after-thought most of the time.
What Rachel Abbott does right in The Back Road is what kept me NEEDING to see this through to the last page. Just when I think I know who the culprit is, there's another twist that makes just as much sense thrown into the fray. Although I had the most obvious abductor figured out, I needed closure for some of the other smaller plots that held so much weight for Ellie and Leo.
Ultimately, The Back Road is worth a read. Rachel Abbott has real writing chops and what it lacks in suspense or thrills it more than makes up for in complexity and the element of surprise. I recommend this novel to lovers of suspense set in the English countryside where you can never truly know who your neighbor is and the secrets they may be keeping.
Rachel Abbott grips readers from page one with the Prelude that includes two young girls in a closet trying not to make a sound as The Grunter and The Moaner do their business. An attention to detail and intensity had me assuming I was in for a nail biting thriller. Sadly it changed courses when Abbott introduces a group of friends who may, or may not, have had something to do with the abduction and subsequent accident.
The main characters in The Back Road are Leo and Ellie. Leo is a life coach who is on a journey to overcome her past by visiting her half-sister Ellie. Ellie, a nurse, lives in their childhood home, and the place of her sister's tormentor. She's taken by surprise when Leo finally comes to see the newly remodeled home. Leo is happy there are no traces of old memories and settles down to enjoy her sister and also battle her own demons. All hopes of having a quiet holiday cease once the dinner from hell happens.
Ellie and Leo are brilliantly described characters that I enjoyed getting to know. But as I said, I had a love/hate relationship with this book. There are a lot of subplots, twists, and hidden agendas with this novel. Normally this complexity is welcome when the cast is worth caring for. Ellie's friends are snooty, flighty, sinister, and withholding a lot of depth. Their chapters were better spent on giving more depth to Abbie, the victim, who's almost an after-thought most of the time.
What Rachel Abbott does right in The Back Road is what kept me NEEDING to see this through to the last page. Just when I think I know who the culprit is, there's another twist that makes just as much sense thrown into the fray. Although I had the most obvious abductor figured out, I needed closure for some of the other smaller plots that held so much weight for Ellie and Leo.
Ultimately, The Back Road is worth a read. Rachel Abbott has real writing chops and what it lacks in suspense or thrills it more than makes up for in complexity and the element of surprise. I recommend this novel to lovers of suspense set in the English countryside where you can never truly know who your neighbor is and the secrets they may be keeping.
April 2, 2014
If jumping to conclusions and failure to communicate were Olympic events, Ellie would go home with the gold. Frankly, it became tiresome. I almost didn't finish the book and if it had been paper instead of electronic, I would've thrown it across the room more than once. It's difficult to finish reading a book when the main character is a complete idiot who is completely unsympathetic.
This book tries hard (too hard) to be full of suspense and thrills but it plods and is predictable.
I probably won't try another by this author.
This book tries hard (too hard) to be full of suspense and thrills but it plods and is predictable.
I probably won't try another by this author.
February 1, 2024
Gripping and very complex story that had me on the edge of my seat. Can't wait to read more in DCI Tom Douglas series.
February 26, 2016
"No Excitement Here"
I thought this would be a very good read but I found it not to be. The prologue, for example, I believed initially to have happened in the past of a now mature women. But it wasn't. It was an event which happened the night before a very long narrative of a group of neighbors invited to a house remodeling celebration. The two main characters, Ellie and Leo, were raised together by a very dominating mother. The pace of this story is very, very slow. Frankly, I found it boring, not exciting at all, and it's loaded with day-to-day normal events. I could not read it to the end, read the first 50 percent. I very rarely not finish a book, and I apologize to the author for doing so.
I thought this would be a very good read but I found it not to be. The prologue, for example, I believed initially to have happened in the past of a now mature women. But it wasn't. It was an event which happened the night before a very long narrative of a group of neighbors invited to a house remodeling celebration. The two main characters, Ellie and Leo, were raised together by a very dominating mother. The pace of this story is very, very slow. Frankly, I found it boring, not exciting at all, and it's loaded with day-to-day normal events. I could not read it to the end, read the first 50 percent. I very rarely not finish a book, and I apologize to the author for doing so.
November 23, 2018
Boring. Words just drug along. Couldn't force myself to finish.
July 1, 2018
This book is an exciting page turner with so many twists and turns. It has many odd and mysterious characters that keep you guessing as to who are the good and who are the bad ones. Quick and enjoyable read.
March 22, 2013
Having just read The Back Road in two sittings, I can understand why Rachel Abbott’s first novel, Only the Innocent, reached the Amazon no.1 slot and stayed there for so long. The Back Road will probably do the same. Not only is it tightly plotted, with intricate twists and turns, the writing is also of the highest standard.
The novel opens with a punch in the gut and goes on to tantalise. Leo and her sister Ellie have some seriously bad family history, but both girls have made good - Leo is a successful Life Coach and Ellie has an apparently perfect marriage and affluent life-style. Ellie has just moved into their childhood home - which she has inherited - and is having a dinner party to celebrate its renovation. Leo has come, reluctantly, and is courageously trying to face her demons.
The pace slows, momentarily, for us to meet the dinner guests - a mixture of childhood friends and their partners and a new, very attractive, policeman who has recently moved into the village. The celebrations are overshadowed by a terrible accident that had occurred the previous evening - when a young girl had been knocked down on the back road and left for dead. Ellie is nursing the girl in the hospital intensive care unit and the prognosis isn’t good.
It soon emerges that several of the guests were not where they should have been when the accident took place (including Ellie) and several couples are hiding secrets from each other - secrets that will put their lives in danger, because (in true Agatha Christie style) one of the guests at the table is a killer.
It’s a very complex plot, which owes as much to Ruth Rendell’s psychological thriller genre as it does to Christie’s plotting, and although I worked out who the likely killer was, a few pages from the end, it only racked up the tension and the climax was completely unexpected. Past and present collide head on in the final pages. This novel is a very original mix of traditional crime/thriller elements that really, really, works.
Thanks Rachel - you had me hooked, and, for a puzzle addict, you gave me lots to think about!
The novel opens with a punch in the gut and goes on to tantalise. Leo and her sister Ellie have some seriously bad family history, but both girls have made good - Leo is a successful Life Coach and Ellie has an apparently perfect marriage and affluent life-style. Ellie has just moved into their childhood home - which she has inherited - and is having a dinner party to celebrate its renovation. Leo has come, reluctantly, and is courageously trying to face her demons.
The pace slows, momentarily, for us to meet the dinner guests - a mixture of childhood friends and their partners and a new, very attractive, policeman who has recently moved into the village. The celebrations are overshadowed by a terrible accident that had occurred the previous evening - when a young girl had been knocked down on the back road and left for dead. Ellie is nursing the girl in the hospital intensive care unit and the prognosis isn’t good.
It soon emerges that several of the guests were not where they should have been when the accident took place (including Ellie) and several couples are hiding secrets from each other - secrets that will put their lives in danger, because (in true Agatha Christie style) one of the guests at the table is a killer.
It’s a very complex plot, which owes as much to Ruth Rendell’s psychological thriller genre as it does to Christie’s plotting, and although I worked out who the likely killer was, a few pages from the end, it only racked up the tension and the climax was completely unexpected. Past and present collide head on in the final pages. This novel is a very original mix of traditional crime/thriller elements that really, really, works.
Thanks Rachel - you had me hooked, and, for a puzzle addict, you gave me lots to think about!
August 21, 2013
Having really enjoyed Rachel Abbott's first book Only the Innocent I was keen to see what she would serve up next. The Back Road didn't disappoint. This is a book of many strands, one of which is the relationship between Ellie Saunders and her younger sister Leo. Leo has come to visit Ellie in her newly renovated house, the house where the girls were bought up with a missing father and cruel mother. Ellie wants to find out where their father is but his relationship with Leo has left her unable to trust men and she would rather leave the past behind.
The other strand centres on the village of Little Melham. This is a village with a number of secrets at its heart. When Abbie is found by the side of the road after a hit and run accident it appears that quite a large proportion of the inhabitants weren't where they said they were.
There was plenty to keep the me entertained during this 313 page book, with affairs and secrets buried along with a spate of anonymous texts, I raced on to find out what would crawl out of the woodwork next! This book has a great plot and manages not to loose it's way as the strands wind their way around each other and there were a good number of blind alleys to fool the reader. The ending was satisfying, although for once I had managed to work out who the perpetrator was this didn't take any of the enjoyment away for me. A satisfying read.
http://cleopatralovesbooks.wordpress....
The other strand centres on the village of Little Melham. This is a village with a number of secrets at its heart. When Abbie is found by the side of the road after a hit and run accident it appears that quite a large proportion of the inhabitants weren't where they said they were.
There was plenty to keep the me entertained during this 313 page book, with affairs and secrets buried along with a spate of anonymous texts, I raced on to find out what would crawl out of the woodwork next! This book has a great plot and manages not to loose it's way as the strands wind their way around each other and there were a good number of blind alleys to fool the reader. The ending was satisfying, although for once I had managed to work out who the perpetrator was this didn't take any of the enjoyment away for me. A satisfying read.
http://cleopatralovesbooks.wordpress....
May 19, 2016
This book hit one of my pet peeves: the incredibly clunky scenes where the author goes to ridiculous lengths to try to hide the identity of the person whose actions are being described. Not using pronouns (and thus having to use cumbersome phrases like "the shadowy figure") results in the kind of prose that always throws me out of the book because it calls my attention to the words as words rather than the story they're telling. This is the second book I've read in the series, and as with the first book, Tom Douglas (for whom the series is named) is such a minor character that I don't feel as if I know anything about him at all. Interest in him isn't enough to make me want to carry on with the series, so this might be the last one I read.
October 28, 2015
A pile of badly written tripe. The absolute worst book I have ever read. Use as doorstop or kindling for a fire. There should be minus stars on this app!
September 6, 2021
The Back Road is the informal name used by locals of the fictional Cheshire village of Little Melham to describe the B522. Sadly a young girl became the victim of a hit and run along The Back Road and her accident could reveal many hidden secrets within the village.
The Back Road is the second in the DCI Tom Douglas series but this can clearly be read as a stand-alone. Like the first book, Tom does not take centre stage. This is a character led novel with the three central characters being Max and his wife Ellie plus her sister Leo. But there are another nine characters who will play an integral part in this story. Penny and Gary, Fiona and Charles, Georgia and Pat, plus Tom, Sean and Mimi. It can confuse the reader later on as to who is married to who. For example, was Penny married to Charles, Gary or Pat?
The Back Road is all about secrets and trust. What secrets should be revealed and what secrets should be upheld. Some secrets are current and done on the spur of the moment but others are decades old. Trust is greatly explored throughout this novel and how secrets can damage relationships.
I found The Back Road to have a far better plot than Only the Innocent. Once again there are tonnes of nagging hints that provoke the reader to guess the truth behind the mysteries. This is a very British book and I loved the exploration of our nation’s character. The dialogue and humour is also very British, for example…
‘Come in, Leo, Don’t worry about us. I’m irritating my wife, and she in turn isn’t listening to me. What would you like for breakfast? Bad temper on toast, or an outraged omelette?’
… I really enjoyed reading The Back Road because it was full of content detail, linking into the plot. It also proved good value for money as this story ran to 472 pages, considerably longer than your average novel. I consider The Back Road to be a GOOD 4 star read and look forward to reading other books from Rachel in this series.
The Back Road is the second in the DCI Tom Douglas series but this can clearly be read as a stand-alone. Like the first book, Tom does not take centre stage. This is a character led novel with the three central characters being Max and his wife Ellie plus her sister Leo. But there are another nine characters who will play an integral part in this story. Penny and Gary, Fiona and Charles, Georgia and Pat, plus Tom, Sean and Mimi. It can confuse the reader later on as to who is married to who. For example, was Penny married to Charles, Gary or Pat?
The Back Road is all about secrets and trust. What secrets should be revealed and what secrets should be upheld. Some secrets are current and done on the spur of the moment but others are decades old. Trust is greatly explored throughout this novel and how secrets can damage relationships.
I found The Back Road to have a far better plot than Only the Innocent. Once again there are tonnes of nagging hints that provoke the reader to guess the truth behind the mysteries. This is a very British book and I loved the exploration of our nation’s character. The dialogue and humour is also very British, for example…
‘Come in, Leo, Don’t worry about us. I’m irritating my wife, and she in turn isn’t listening to me. What would you like for breakfast? Bad temper on toast, or an outraged omelette?’
… I really enjoyed reading The Back Road because it was full of content detail, linking into the plot. It also proved good value for money as this story ran to 472 pages, considerably longer than your average novel. I consider The Back Road to be a GOOD 4 star read and look forward to reading other books from Rachel in this series.
November 18, 2013
This one really kept me guessing, and I really enjoyed it.
A fourteen year old girl is hit by a car on a small town’s back road, then dragged to the ditch and left for dead. As she clings to life in the hospital, the residents of Little Melham are abuzz with rumors and suspicions about their neighbors as they wonder who would commit such a crime. Meanwhile, intensive care nurse Ellie has a seemingly perfect life: loving teacher husband Max and five year old twins, plenty of money from her deceased mother’s inheritance that they could afford to completely remodel her childhood home. But all is not well in their household as Ellie tries to fend off the unwanted attention of a stalker while her husband might be having an affair with a fellow teacher.
Ellie’s successful and happily single sister, Leonora, drops by unannounced for a visit. Leo hasn’t been in their childhood home in years because it doesn’t hold any pleasant memories for her after the horrible treatment she suffered at the hands of her stepmother. Ellie is happy to see her sister, and she’s glad to have a distraction around the house to get her mind off her troubles.
To celebrate the completion of their house, Max and Ellie hold a dinner party and invite all of their friends. The guest list includes their new neighbor Tom, who is a detective that is in between jobs at the moment, Ellie’s old neighbors, one of Max’s coworkers and his awkward mistress, the sexy builder, and a few others. This is where the perfect facade of this small town starts to unravel, and the group of friends’ lives aren’t so simple and neat after all because they all hold secrets they want no one to find out. But a few of them have secrets that are deadly.
I give The Back Road a 4.5 out of 5. The writing was excellent and the pacing was perfect. Rachel Abbott does an excellent job of revealing the pieces of the puzzle slowly, but not so slowly that you lose interest. I really love it when I have trouble guessing who the actual bad guy is in a book, and in a book where all of the characters have some kind of flaws, I didn’t guess who the ultimate perpetrator was until the reveal towards the end. The main characters of Leo and Ellie weren’t too cookie cutter or predictable either. The emotional conflicts and reactions of all of the characters in this book were very realistic, and along with the incorporation of the use of social media and text messages in crimes, The Back Road felt fresh, modern, and intense. I highly recommend this book for lovers of mystery and psychological thrillers. However, it took me several chapters to keep the characters straight at first just due to the amount of characters introduced at the dinner party. Once past that, I could not put this book down.
(Also on Bewitched Bookworms)
A fourteen year old girl is hit by a car on a small town’s back road, then dragged to the ditch and left for dead. As she clings to life in the hospital, the residents of Little Melham are abuzz with rumors and suspicions about their neighbors as they wonder who would commit such a crime. Meanwhile, intensive care nurse Ellie has a seemingly perfect life: loving teacher husband Max and five year old twins, plenty of money from her deceased mother’s inheritance that they could afford to completely remodel her childhood home. But all is not well in their household as Ellie tries to fend off the unwanted attention of a stalker while her husband might be having an affair with a fellow teacher.
Ellie’s successful and happily single sister, Leonora, drops by unannounced for a visit. Leo hasn’t been in their childhood home in years because it doesn’t hold any pleasant memories for her after the horrible treatment she suffered at the hands of her stepmother. Ellie is happy to see her sister, and she’s glad to have a distraction around the house to get her mind off her troubles.
To celebrate the completion of their house, Max and Ellie hold a dinner party and invite all of their friends. The guest list includes their new neighbor Tom, who is a detective that is in between jobs at the moment, Ellie’s old neighbors, one of Max’s coworkers and his awkward mistress, the sexy builder, and a few others. This is where the perfect facade of this small town starts to unravel, and the group of friends’ lives aren’t so simple and neat after all because they all hold secrets they want no one to find out. But a few of them have secrets that are deadly.
I give The Back Road a 4.5 out of 5. The writing was excellent and the pacing was perfect. Rachel Abbott does an excellent job of revealing the pieces of the puzzle slowly, but not so slowly that you lose interest. I really love it when I have trouble guessing who the actual bad guy is in a book, and in a book where all of the characters have some kind of flaws, I didn’t guess who the ultimate perpetrator was until the reveal towards the end. The main characters of Leo and Ellie weren’t too cookie cutter or predictable either. The emotional conflicts and reactions of all of the characters in this book were very realistic, and along with the incorporation of the use of social media and text messages in crimes, The Back Road felt fresh, modern, and intense. I highly recommend this book for lovers of mystery and psychological thrillers. However, it took me several chapters to keep the characters straight at first just due to the amount of characters introduced at the dinner party. Once past that, I could not put this book down.
(Also on Bewitched Bookworms)
August 27, 2013
I preferred this to the author's first story but AGAIN I've knocked a star off for editing. Yes, that was better as well but on a paid book still not up to standard. Maybe by book 3 we'll be all systems go !!
It was nice to see the policeman from the last book appear here too though his taste in women hasn't improved, it seems. He does like to pick the troubled types. He's likeable, though.
In this story a teenaged girl is involved in a hit 'n' run on a village road. Being a road that's a shortcut it's pretty much only known to the residents so it seems somebody in their area knows more than they're saying.
One dinnerparty featured which many of the neighbours in attendance made me think of Abigail's Party.......where there are all these little undercurrents occurring. Another reviewer mentioned Midsomer and it is that type of little place.
However, we had missed words like a or would or you, tic was misspelled as tick and chords as cords. The our stepmother was referred to when she was only the stepmother of the one daughter.
I was upset about Smudge initially and not happy with the author but forgave her before the end !
I'll definitely read the author's next book. I do like her covers as well.
It was nice to see the policeman from the last book appear here too though his taste in women hasn't improved, it seems. He does like to pick the troubled types. He's likeable, though.
In this story a teenaged girl is involved in a hit 'n' run on a village road. Being a road that's a shortcut it's pretty much only known to the residents so it seems somebody in their area knows more than they're saying.
One dinnerparty featured which many of the neighbours in attendance made me think of Abigail's Party.......where there are all these little undercurrents occurring. Another reviewer mentioned Midsomer and it is that type of little place.
However, we had missed words like a or would or you, tic was misspelled as tick and chords as cords. The our stepmother was referred to when she was only the stepmother of the one daughter.
I was upset about Smudge initially and not happy with the author but forgave her before the end !
I'll definitely read the author's next book. I do like her covers as well.
April 5, 2013
Rachel Abbott's new thriller, 'The Back Road', is set in the village of Little Melham, a village that is home to a surprising number of unpleasant secrets amd damaged characters.
The author cleverly presents intriguing details and scenes from the past, teasing us with snippets of information that sometimes send us off in the wrong direction. The intricate dance is played out against a setting of beautiful countryside and seemingly idyllic lifestyles (fabulous food!), a contrast that serves to highlight the terrifying twists and turns of past events that have such a devastating impact on the present day lives of the villagers. Tom Douglas, everyone's favourite policeman from 'Only the Innocent', helps to investigate the sordid and shocking events, while a gentle love story begins to unfold and give hope for the future.
'The Back Road' is pure magic from beginning to end - a spellbinding and thoroughly recommended read.
The author cleverly presents intriguing details and scenes from the past, teasing us with snippets of information that sometimes send us off in the wrong direction. The intricate dance is played out against a setting of beautiful countryside and seemingly idyllic lifestyles (fabulous food!), a contrast that serves to highlight the terrifying twists and turns of past events that have such a devastating impact on the present day lives of the villagers. Tom Douglas, everyone's favourite policeman from 'Only the Innocent', helps to investigate the sordid and shocking events, while a gentle love story begins to unfold and give hope for the future.
'The Back Road' is pure magic from beginning to end - a spellbinding and thoroughly recommended read.
September 24, 2013
At various points I'd have rated this anywhere from 1 star (quit in disgust) to 5 (love it) - the odious would-be seducers were sleazy & boring & I got awfully tired of the author's not telling us who leather bush hat was for 200 pages altho' it was easy to figure out who he must be. Fortunately his fate is appropriate. I must salute the author's keeping me from guessing the principal villain. The characters talk a lot in clichés & there are lots of unnecessary minor plot lines that go nowhere & serve only to make this book much longer than it need be. None of the relationships moved me tho' perhaps it's a good lesson that if Ellie had told the truth from the beginning she would have spared herself much anguish & sister Leo's life coaching barely achieved the level of an angony aunt.
June 5, 2015
Ridiculous
I read this book about 2/3 thru, then decided because there was no plot or meaning, only a lot of words on a page, I gave up. I really don't think it deserves a one star. So much inner turmoil, infidelity, introspection.
I read this book about 2/3 thru, then decided because there was no plot or meaning, only a lot of words on a page, I gave up. I really don't think it deserves a one star. So much inner turmoil, infidelity, introspection.
April 23, 2017
I absolutely love this series!!! Can't wait for number three.
June 4, 2022
Antroji autorės knyga, truputį prastesnė turiniu mano nuomone, nei pirmoji. Intriga gal ir yra, dėl to, kas partrenkė merginą, bet daugiau nei pusė knygos užima paslaptys, melas ir intrigos tarp veikėjų (kurių yra daug) , bandai suprasti kas ir prie ko, kas ir su kuo. Pabaigoje aišku viskas pradeda aiškėti, bet manau kažko vistiek pritrūko iki tokio wow.
January 16, 2019
Sometimes, as the tagline to Rachel Abbott's novel suggests, the quietest places really do hide the darkest secrets. The quiet village of Little Melham is the kind of place that might feature in Midsomer Murders: a seemingly idyllic, prosperous corner of the English countryside, which actually hides a host of nasty secrets and is inhabited by a surprising number of treacherous schemers. The dark underbelly of village life is revealed one night when a teenage girl is hit by a car, and left for dead by the side of the road - the "Back Road" of the title.
There are actually two guilty parties: the motorist who hit young Abbie, and the person who was chasing her through the woods prior to the accident. Who these people are, and - in the case of the second person - why they've done what they've done, are the intertwined questions running through this book.
At a dinner party in the village the following night, it becomes clear that several people have something to hide - something that may, or may not, be connected with the hit-and-run incident. What is surprising is just how many of these seemingly respectable, apparently privileged people are leading double lives and engaging in various forms of deceit. Abbott is good at peeling away the layers of ordinary middle class life and examining its occasionally rotten core. Many of these characters are shallow, materialistic, and conniving - and, sadly, all too plausible. The nouveau riche have rarely been presented in a less attractive light.
Sisterhood, and the occasionally tangled and tortuous threads of family life, are ongoing themes in the narrative. Two of the large cast of characters, sisters Ellie and Leo, share an unhappy past and a mystery that continues to plague them. Leo - haunted and troubled by her miserable personal history, but nevertheless trying hard to live with her own flaws and make good despite them - is the one we end up cheering for, and the character I personally found most intriguing. She's a life coach and spends much of her time writing inspirational blog posts for her clients. For the most part, though, her advice is rather un-inspirational, just a collection of trite clichés, and I wondered whether this was deliberate: a case of "Physician, heal thyself", perhaps? (It could be, of course, that I'm just not particularly susceptible to self-help platitudes.)
Ellie, meanwhile, who is trying hard to cling to the happy life that she fears may be unravelling around her, is a rather pitiful character, yet she is also the focal point of much of the novel's considerable tension. She's being stalked, and feels threatened even when she's in her own home. The identity of her stalker is carefully withheld, which makes his constant, watchful presence seem all the more menacing. Abbott builds the tension carefully and cleverly, and releases it at just the right time.
This is also a thoroughly modern novel, in that much of the characters' cruelty and plotting rely on modern inventions such as mobile phones and the Internet. Threatening and misleading texts are sent with remarkable regularity, while other characters are trapped and deceived by online stalkers. The age-old human instinct to torment one another has, as Abbot suggests, found a very convenient new outlet.
There are plenty of twists and turns and red herrings here, enough to keep you guessing right to the end. The Back Road actually forces you to confront some of your own prejudices: you assume things that will, in due course, turn out to be completely wrong. There's one strand of the mystery that, when resolved, will probably leave you reeling, as it did me. It's interesting that our assumptions as readers are frequently challenged, as a tendency to make assumptions is one of the many problems that beset the characters.
Intricately-plotted and intriguing, The Back Road is well worth a read.
There are actually two guilty parties: the motorist who hit young Abbie, and the person who was chasing her through the woods prior to the accident. Who these people are, and - in the case of the second person - why they've done what they've done, are the intertwined questions running through this book.
At a dinner party in the village the following night, it becomes clear that several people have something to hide - something that may, or may not, be connected with the hit-and-run incident. What is surprising is just how many of these seemingly respectable, apparently privileged people are leading double lives and engaging in various forms of deceit. Abbott is good at peeling away the layers of ordinary middle class life and examining its occasionally rotten core. Many of these characters are shallow, materialistic, and conniving - and, sadly, all too plausible. The nouveau riche have rarely been presented in a less attractive light.
Sisterhood, and the occasionally tangled and tortuous threads of family life, are ongoing themes in the narrative. Two of the large cast of characters, sisters Ellie and Leo, share an unhappy past and a mystery that continues to plague them. Leo - haunted and troubled by her miserable personal history, but nevertheless trying hard to live with her own flaws and make good despite them - is the one we end up cheering for, and the character I personally found most intriguing. She's a life coach and spends much of her time writing inspirational blog posts for her clients. For the most part, though, her advice is rather un-inspirational, just a collection of trite clichés, and I wondered whether this was deliberate: a case of "Physician, heal thyself", perhaps? (It could be, of course, that I'm just not particularly susceptible to self-help platitudes.)
Ellie, meanwhile, who is trying hard to cling to the happy life that she fears may be unravelling around her, is a rather pitiful character, yet she is also the focal point of much of the novel's considerable tension. She's being stalked, and feels threatened even when she's in her own home. The identity of her stalker is carefully withheld, which makes his constant, watchful presence seem all the more menacing. Abbott builds the tension carefully and cleverly, and releases it at just the right time.
This is also a thoroughly modern novel, in that much of the characters' cruelty and plotting rely on modern inventions such as mobile phones and the Internet. Threatening and misleading texts are sent with remarkable regularity, while other characters are trapped and deceived by online stalkers. The age-old human instinct to torment one another has, as Abbot suggests, found a very convenient new outlet.
There are plenty of twists and turns and red herrings here, enough to keep you guessing right to the end. The Back Road actually forces you to confront some of your own prejudices: you assume things that will, in due course, turn out to be completely wrong. There's one strand of the mystery that, when resolved, will probably leave you reeling, as it did me. It's interesting that our assumptions as readers are frequently challenged, as a tendency to make assumptions is one of the many problems that beset the characters.
Intricately-plotted and intriguing, The Back Road is well worth a read.
October 24, 2013
Generally the book is well written. Rachel Abbott is clearly a talented writer and the story does have a decent flow to it. It should be noted that this is the slow psychological style of thriller and not the heart racing, fast moving story that many thrillers have become. Abbott is focused on weaving a complex story and trying to keep the reader on edge, and for the most part she is successful. I found the dialog particularly well written. In so many thrillers the conversations are either weird expositions that sound strangely unnatural or collections of one-liners trying hard to be clever. The author rises above that however and most of the dialogue flows naturally and comes off as believable for the various characters.
The characters themselves are an interesting lot. It is a small enough group that they are well constructed and fleshed out, which is nice to see. Abbott also pulled no punches when writing them. While some are very sympathetic and likable she managed to write others as truly nasty people that you can’t help but hate. It is a good balance of characters, although some of their backstories do not work completely. She relied a bit too heavily on characters inheriting money and if this book was a guide then everyone in England has a wealthy relative ready to hand out money when they pass away. That one complaint about the characters aside they all worked for me, both the ones I liked and the ones I hated.
There is one major flaw that really made this book a little tough to read. Abbott was very focused on the mystery part of the tale, specifically hiding the identity of the main antagonist. While it is nearly half the book until that character is reveled for who they are, you still get large sections of the book that are told from the antagonist point of view. The ham handed way that Abbott tries to write for the character while never telling their name is very distracting. I can’t help but feel this book would have been significantly better had we just known who the person was and followed an interesting story. As it is the reader is forced to shift through sections of the book trying very hard to be clever but coming off as annoying.
http://homeofreading.com/the-back-road/
The characters themselves are an interesting lot. It is a small enough group that they are well constructed and fleshed out, which is nice to see. Abbott also pulled no punches when writing them. While some are very sympathetic and likable she managed to write others as truly nasty people that you can’t help but hate. It is a good balance of characters, although some of their backstories do not work completely. She relied a bit too heavily on characters inheriting money and if this book was a guide then everyone in England has a wealthy relative ready to hand out money when they pass away. That one complaint about the characters aside they all worked for me, both the ones I liked and the ones I hated.
There is one major flaw that really made this book a little tough to read. Abbott was very focused on the mystery part of the tale, specifically hiding the identity of the main antagonist. While it is nearly half the book until that character is reveled for who they are, you still get large sections of the book that are told from the antagonist point of view. The ham handed way that Abbott tries to write for the character while never telling their name is very distracting. I can’t help but feel this book would have been significantly better had we just known who the person was and followed an interesting story. As it is the reader is forced to shift through sections of the book trying very hard to be clever but coming off as annoying.
http://homeofreading.com/the-back-road/
February 19, 2018
These are the days of our lives... no wait... that's not right. So, for me, this novel was very much like a soap opera of a read, and not exactly a suspenseful thriller. Everyone is sleeping around... and sneaking around... so the question is, who is responsible for hitting Abbie Campbell on the back road? You know, it's kind of like an Agatha Christie novel... a classic whodunit, only in this case, the victim isn't actually dead.
I'm going to be honest, the storyline didn't work for me, but with that said, I find that Rachel Abbott is a good writer, I just didn't particularly care for this one. Once again, I found that Tom Douglas' character involvement was minimal in this novel, which I find strange for a series that is clearly supposed to contain him as a leading man. With that said, it's probably a good thing that I started this series out of order or I may never have continued on with the series. I have found that some of the later in the series are very well written and do actually feature Tom as more of a leading man. So... to a reader that is starting this series from the start, keep going, I promise it gets better.
I'm going to be honest, the storyline didn't work for me, but with that said, I find that Rachel Abbott is a good writer, I just didn't particularly care for this one. Once again, I found that Tom Douglas' character involvement was minimal in this novel, which I find strange for a series that is clearly supposed to contain him as a leading man. With that said, it's probably a good thing that I started this series out of order or I may never have continued on with the series. I have found that some of the later in the series are very well written and do actually feature Tom as more of a leading man. So... to a reader that is starting this series from the start, keep going, I promise it gets better.
May 2, 2016
Confusing and disjointed
I've read previous books by this author and liked them, but this book was confusing and disjointed in that it can't decide if it wants to be a book reflecting on distrustful relationships or a murder mystery. I was expecting a murder mystery but that's not what I got. Instead this is filled with too many subplots that are tried unsuccessfully to be rolled into one big plot. Plus, nearly every character has some sort of issue that makes them completely unsympathetic. Every time I picked up the book I had to go back several pages to refamiliarize myself with what was going on.
I've read previous books by this author and liked them, but this book was confusing and disjointed in that it can't decide if it wants to be a book reflecting on distrustful relationships or a murder mystery. I was expecting a murder mystery but that's not what I got. Instead this is filled with too many subplots that are tried unsuccessfully to be rolled into one big plot. Plus, nearly every character has some sort of issue that makes them completely unsympathetic. Every time I picked up the book I had to go back several pages to refamiliarize myself with what was going on.
May 21, 2013
Oh dear ... I'm afraid this was not an enjoyable read . In summary : clumsy writing of very intense and emotionally complex topics with a background of other peoples' cultural references shoe horned in (including an appalling spotify playlist in the kindle edition). There was no need for 200 of the 400+ pages as nothing like enough plot took place to justify the length. I am very glad to have finished it......
May 3, 2023
Koks pavadinimas tokia ir serijos dalis. Knyga visiškai nuėjo šunkeliais. Pirmoji tiek apžavėjo, o į šią nežinojau kaip reaguoti. Tomas Daglasas atvyksta į Litl Melhamą ieškodamas ramybės, tačiau randa melo ir pinklių kratinį savo kaiminystėje.
Vieną vakarą šunkelyje, kuriuo dažniausiai naudojasi vietiniai kaimelio gyventojai, partrenkiama jauna mergaitė Ebė Kembel. Vairuotojas pasprunka palikdamas mergaitę likimo valiai. Visi iki vieno turi ką slėpti, o Tomo kaimynė Elė ir jos vyras ypač.
Labai mažai detektyvo šioje dalyje. Daug santykių aiškinimosi, tarpusavio nesutarimų, senų nuoskaudų slopinimas. Svarbiau kas su kuo miegojo, ar kas su kuo nemiegojo nei pati detektyvinė linija.
Iš kitos pusės, šioje dalyje daug paties Tomo kaip žmogaus. Paprasto vyro, kuris yra šarmingas, bet tuo pačiu ir vienišas. Tam tikros pateiktos detalės bus reikšmingos ir kitose dalyse.
Vieną vakarą šunkelyje, kuriuo dažniausiai naudojasi vietiniai kaimelio gyventojai, partrenkiama jauna mergaitė Ebė Kembel. Vairuotojas pasprunka palikdamas mergaitę likimo valiai. Visi iki vieno turi ką slėpti, o Tomo kaimynė Elė ir jos vyras ypač.
Labai mažai detektyvo šioje dalyje. Daug santykių aiškinimosi, tarpusavio nesutarimų, senų nuoskaudų slopinimas. Svarbiau kas su kuo miegojo, ar kas su kuo nemiegojo nei pati detektyvinė linija.
Iš kitos pusės, šioje dalyje daug paties Tomo kaip žmogaus. Paprasto vyro, kuris yra šarmingas, bet tuo pačiu ir vienišas. Tam tikros pateiktos detalės bus reikšmingos ir kitose dalyse.
August 26, 2015
When I searched for a new book I filtered 4 stars or more, thriller and suspense and English setting. The English setting was the only filter that seemed to apply here.
This book went from exceedingly boring, to unbelievably frustrating, to utterly pointless. Instead of focusing on a few characters, this author has chosen to open up the lives of two sisters with an irrelevant and quite boring past.
The author introduces a whole bunch of other idiotic characters (with the exception of the main hero of the book) who consistently make unrealistically stupid decisions to exacerbate some already irritatingly out of control lives.
It was a real chore to finish this book and quite a challenge not to give up on it altogether. The only reason I didn't give it one star was because the language the author uses is straightforward and it is easy to speed read through the tripe to get this awful book finished.
This book went from exceedingly boring, to unbelievably frustrating, to utterly pointless. Instead of focusing on a few characters, this author has chosen to open up the lives of two sisters with an irrelevant and quite boring past.
The author introduces a whole bunch of other idiotic characters (with the exception of the main hero of the book) who consistently make unrealistically stupid decisions to exacerbate some already irritatingly out of control lives.
It was a real chore to finish this book and quite a challenge not to give up on it altogether. The only reason I didn't give it one star was because the language the author uses is straightforward and it is easy to speed read through the tripe to get this awful book finished.
September 26, 2017
I've gone from what I thought was an outstanding 5 star first audiobook in the series, to hardly believing just how boring and dissimilar to it this second one was.
I've rarely skim an audiobook (read: probably never) but had to in order to get through it *sighs hard* sadly, I'll be swiftly moving on from this series...
I've rarely skim an audiobook (read: probably never) but had to in order to get through it *sighs hard* sadly, I'll be swiftly moving on from this series...
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