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This Dark Town #1
When You're Gone
The first book from 'This Dark Town' mystery thriller trilogy.
Eighteen-year-old Lydia Stone wakes up one morning in the north London gothic mansion she shares with her family, to find that her twin sister Kate has disappeared off the face of the earth.
CCTV footage shows Kate entering a night club in south London on the night she went missing, but there is no evidence that she ever came out of the club, and police are considering the idea that she was sex-trafficked.
In the days and weeks that follow, Lydia takes a closer look at her twin sister's life; her modeling career, penchant for fetish clubs, and interesting array of older friends. It seems like Kate was definitely hiding something.
But she isn't the only one. . .
RUNNING TIME ⇒ 6hrs. and 11mins.
©2017 Marguerite O'Callaghan (P)2020 Marguerite O'Callaghan
Eighteen-year-old Lydia Stone wakes up one morning in the north London gothic mansion she shares with her family, to find that her twin sister Kate has disappeared off the face of the earth.
CCTV footage shows Kate entering a night club in south London on the night she went missing, but there is no evidence that she ever came out of the club, and police are considering the idea that she was sex-trafficked.
In the days and weeks that follow, Lydia takes a closer look at her twin sister's life; her modeling career, penchant for fetish clubs, and interesting array of older friends. It seems like Kate was definitely hiding something.
But she isn't the only one. . .
RUNNING TIME ⇒ 6hrs. and 11mins.
©2017 Marguerite O'Callaghan (P)2020 Marguerite O'Callaghan
Audible Audio
First published August 26, 2017
1843 people are currently reading
1658 people want to read
About the author
Marguerite O'Callaghan
10 books14 followersHi There! Thanks for checking me out on Author Central! I am so excited to be here, and able to share my works of fiction with you all!
I started writing full time a couple of years ago, when I threw myself into completing the 'This Dark Town' trilogy, a mystery thriller series that's set in present-day London (and parts in the US). Now, I really can't imagine doing anything else except writing every day! I'm working on two new books right now - a dark psychological thriller, and another lighter project about social networking and vloggers! I'm also planning to release audio versions of the This Dark Town trilogy in 2019 and am developing a pilot script for a television series of the trilogy.
My background is in television, where I worked as a producer/interview director on various true crime drama shows, often helping survivors of crimes to tell their own story in their own words for the first time.
I am originally from Cork, Ireland, and moved to the UK in 2007, and fell in love with London. The city inspires me, and definitely feels like home for now!
I started writing full time a couple of years ago, when I threw myself into completing the 'This Dark Town' trilogy, a mystery thriller series that's set in present-day London (and parts in the US). Now, I really can't imagine doing anything else except writing every day! I'm working on two new books right now - a dark psychological thriller, and another lighter project about social networking and vloggers! I'm also planning to release audio versions of the This Dark Town trilogy in 2019 and am developing a pilot script for a television series of the trilogy.
My background is in television, where I worked as a producer/interview director on various true crime drama shows, often helping survivors of crimes to tell their own story in their own words for the first time.
I am originally from Cork, Ireland, and moved to the UK in 2007, and fell in love with London. The city inspires me, and definitely feels like home for now!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 184 reviews
February 18, 2019
I've read a lot of books that are a part of a series. Never have I read any book in a series that didn't include the entire story in the excerpt. This book is a sham. The entire story is not included in the book. There's no resolution to anything. The story is garbage anyway. One of the worst books I've ever read, and getting all the way to the end only to read that the story continues in the next book is ridiculous.
October 17, 2019
What. Was. This. Rubbish.
July 3, 2020
I realize this is a first novel, but it really needed to have a critique group going over before it was published. There aren't grammar mistakes to make me say that, it's the first person POV from every character, the switching of POV mid-page and then back again, and the "telling" every feeling. A critique group would have helped with these things. The way the book is written is like reading a newspaper article, a reporting of the news. The worse thing of all though was that the book didn't have an ending. You must buy the next book in the series to get more info. This is a grievous act on the part of the author. I won't be reading further.
February 16, 2019
Not a complete book at all
Typically one of those freebies that just stops in the middle so to read the end you will have to pay for the rest ( lord knows how many or how much that will be) I truly hate this con of giving it away free but only giving half of the story. Be honest from the beginning and tell people its incomplete and they will have to buy the rest. 2 stars because of the CON
Typically one of those freebies that just stops in the middle so to read the end you will have to pay for the rest ( lord knows how many or how much that will be) I truly hate this con of giving it away free but only giving half of the story. Be honest from the beginning and tell people its incomplete and they will have to buy the rest. 2 stars because of the CON
February 13, 2019
This plodding police procedural features a teenage model who goes missing after a night at a fetish club. Her parents and identical twin sister are devasted and the police, though motivated, are flummoxed. There is a subplot about human trafficking. It ends in a cliff hanger with no resolution which just underscores how completely annoying this book is. Hard to engage with any of the characters with the possible exception of the twin and her little dog. at least the lead detective does not have the usual substance/alcohol abuse/broken marriage baggage although his partner does. Starts slowly but picks up toward the end. Don't know that I care enough to read the sequel.
February 15, 2019
I feel totally duped! I read this book and got really into the story, only to come to the "end" and find out that I needed to buy Part II of this "series." I thought when I saw this was a trilogy, that sure there were three books, but that each would standalone with a complete story. Not a very good way to treat your readers.
June 10, 2019
This book is a mess and why it was ever published in this state is beyond me. It feels like a first very rough draft, there are tons of grammar and syntax errors, the characters are one-dimensional and the whole plot is completely unrealistic.
The whole fetish/s&m theme is only there for shock value and it is painfully obvious that the writer knows nothing about this subject.
Add to this that after suffering through the clunky, immature writing, there's no proper ending, but only "if you want to know what happens next, buy my next novel!".
An insult to the reader.
The whole fetish/s&m theme is only there for shock value and it is painfully obvious that the writer knows nothing about this subject.
Add to this that after suffering through the clunky, immature writing, there's no proper ending, but only "if you want to know what happens next, buy my next novel!".
An insult to the reader.
September 25, 2019
A rambling mess of words that fail to deliver or even make believe that the author knows their genre.
Since when do us Brits have social security numbers? How come a suspect is allowed to be interrogated without being read their rights or offered legal representation? And when have you ever read that a tech team can do a sweep on a mobile and laptop in a matter of hours without receiving a warrant?
Since when do us Brits have social security numbers? How come a suspect is allowed to be interrogated without being read their rights or offered legal representation? And when have you ever read that a tech team can do a sweep on a mobile and laptop in a matter of hours without receiving a warrant?
February 14, 2019
This was a gripping fast paced book and one that I really enjoyed. However left on a cliffhanger, I’m now off for book 2
February 20, 2019
I didn't like the dialogue in this book- I can't really put my finger on it, but it felt kind of perfunctory, like a screenplay more than a novel. They all said the right things but the way it read just didn't come together for me. And then you get a real cliff hanger that the end that pushes you to buy the next book to see what happens- I really don't like that. I thought about it and decided that I didn't care enough what happens to order the next book.
February 24, 2019
Easy reading for a winter afternoon
Can't wait to see how it ends.
It is a bit odd to read a book in the present tense, but I'm getting accustomed to it.
I can't say I have a favorite character so far, they all seem to lack depth, for my taste. But as I said previously, it goes well for a light winter afternoon.
Can't wait to see how it ends.
It is a bit odd to read a book in the present tense, but I'm getting accustomed to it.
I can't say I have a favorite character so far, they all seem to lack depth, for my taste. But as I said previously, it goes well for a light winter afternoon.
January 23, 2021
This book was a mess, but I’m not even mad about it, because reading it was kind of hilarious.
I feel like every single review of this already says that it’s not a complete story, which is definitely true, but wasn’t my main problem here. However, I do believe this could have been a lot better had it been one book instead of a trilogy, it might have felt a little less all over the place then. There were so many random plotlines and elements of the book that lead nowhere, maybe they will be relevant in the sequels, but as a standalone everything felt very disconnected.
It definitely had potential, there were plenty of ideas and elements of it that could have made an interesting story, but in the end it failed to actually flash out any of them. One thing I thought was really cool was having an identical twin investigating her sister’s disappearance, since there’s a lot that can be done with her pretending to be her sister in order to find her. I think there was definitely way more the book could have done with that, but I did still like that aspect. Setting the book around this kind of fetish club sound like an interesting idea too, but again I don’t think the book came anywhere close to using the potential that had.
None of the characters were actually flashed out, either they were boring, or their motivations and actions throughout the book kept confusing me. Mainly Lydia made zero sense in my eyes. The choice of perspective felt all over the place, I don’t think the reader needed to see the story from so many perspectives, maybe it would have even been best had Lydia been the only person this story followed. That would have allowed for more character development and more suspense as well.
I was never too invested in the actual mystery, I wasn’t thrilled or scared, or anything a thriller is typically supposed to make you feel. Honestly, most of the time I was literally laughing because of how bad this was.
The way the police investigated in this book seemed very unrealistic at parts. It also felt like they were only focusing on the club Kate went missing from and everything fetish related they could find out, but didn’t really look into other aspects of her life to maybe find connections there for why she went missing. It just didn’t feel like they were doing a good and thorough job at the investigation. And then there’s this one scene where they’re literally suspicious of a person because he wears women's clothing and glitter, and I can’t believe for a second that people who are that guided by their prejudices would be able to solve a case like this.
Let’s talk about the whole fetish club thing, because there’s plenty of things that made zero sense there, and a lot that made me laugh. At the very beginning of the book, when the family learns that Kate went missing, someone (I think the mother) says something along the lines of “she’s 18 she can’t even know what the word fetish means”, which is funny to me because when I was 18 I was the most innocent person you could imagine, but I definitely knew the word fetish. Now, since it was probably the mother who said it, it still makes sense, a lot of mothers would probably like to believe that. However, the weird thing is that soon after the sister who is painted as “the innocent one” says how she’s not surprised Kate was into “dungeons and whips and all kinds of weird shit”, and the mother isn’t shocked by how her other daughter knows what a dungeon is? This just doesn’t add up at all.
Like in that quote all kinds of kinky things kept being called weird throughout the entire book, to a point where I had read that word so often that I started wondering whether it was even a real word, like when you say something a lot of times until it doesn't sound like a word anymore. First of all, has this author never heard of something called a synonym? But also, on a more serious note, it didn’t always just feel like the characters themselves being uncomfortable with these things, but went into an area where it felt more like straight-up kink-shaming. Later there is a scene where Lydia goes into the fetish club her sister went missing from, and I actually kind of liked that scene, because Lydia realizes that the people there aren’t the way she imagined them, and that it’s maybe all not as scary as she had thought. But while I appreciated that scene by itself it also didn’t really made sense how we suddenly get there? It didn’t feel consistent with Lydia’s character or the tone of the book, so I was kind of confused. It suddenly jumped from “kinky stuff is so weird and scary” to Lydia feeling rather comfortable at that club, and I wish I could say it felt like it wanted to make a point about the misconceptions lots of vanilla people have about any kind of fetish/kink/BDSM thing, but if that was its intention I don’t think it did enough compared to how much kink-shaming there was in the first half of the book. So in the end it only made the book feel disconnected.
But what really made this entire thing hilarious to me was that at least in the first part of the book, it clearly wanted to make the reader feel uncomfortable and unsettled with the kinky elements of the story. Which could have worked, had it either actually made an effort to create a dark atmosphere out of that, or focused on some of the actual dangers of disgusting people using kink and fetish, or even specifically this kind of club, to do horrible things to other people. Unfortunately it missed both of these opportunities, in fact I even got the feeling at some parts that the book didn’t have a good grip on the difference between consensual BDSM and things that are obviously abusive or criminal. Or maybe it knew the difference, but still decided to paint some areas of BDSM as very disgusting and perverted throughout the entire book, while others it destigmatized at least a bit in that scene in the club. Anyways, back to the actual point of the book trying to make the reader uncomfortable. It basically just felt like it was saying “look there’s bondage and latex and human pets isn’t that so out there and dark?”, and then there’s me who literally would be a million times more uncomfortable reading your average vanilla sex scene than any of the things this book mentioned, just laughing at how hard it was trying to unsettle me with things I don’t find weird at all. It also always blows my mind how some people seem to write about a subculture or just a certain group of people, clearly not expecting anyone from that group, or even someone who’s not a part of it but knows some things about it, to ever read their books.
Apart from this book completely failing as a thriller, there are also gems like Lydia having “assumed a psychic would be a g**** with long skirts and jewelry around her head and neck” or “Tony jokes to his friend that if he ever goes through with a sex change he wants to look exactly like one of the Stone twins”. First of all trans women are already often not taken seriously, and “jokes” like that in media are feeding into that. And also, that’s not how any of this works, Tony.
Part of me wants to give this an extra star, just for how much it entertained me, but since no one is actually going to read this entire review, and I don't want people to assume this book is any better than it is based on my rating, it's getting one star.
I feel like every single review of this already says that it’s not a complete story, which is definitely true, but wasn’t my main problem here. However, I do believe this could have been a lot better had it been one book instead of a trilogy, it might have felt a little less all over the place then. There were so many random plotlines and elements of the book that lead nowhere, maybe they will be relevant in the sequels, but as a standalone everything felt very disconnected.
It definitely had potential, there were plenty of ideas and elements of it that could have made an interesting story, but in the end it failed to actually flash out any of them. One thing I thought was really cool was having an identical twin investigating her sister’s disappearance, since there’s a lot that can be done with her pretending to be her sister in order to find her. I think there was definitely way more the book could have done with that, but I did still like that aspect. Setting the book around this kind of fetish club sound like an interesting idea too, but again I don’t think the book came anywhere close to using the potential that had.
None of the characters were actually flashed out, either they were boring, or their motivations and actions throughout the book kept confusing me. Mainly Lydia made zero sense in my eyes. The choice of perspective felt all over the place, I don’t think the reader needed to see the story from so many perspectives, maybe it would have even been best had Lydia been the only person this story followed. That would have allowed for more character development and more suspense as well.
I was never too invested in the actual mystery, I wasn’t thrilled or scared, or anything a thriller is typically supposed to make you feel. Honestly, most of the time I was literally laughing because of how bad this was.
The way the police investigated in this book seemed very unrealistic at parts. It also felt like they were only focusing on the club Kate went missing from and everything fetish related they could find out, but didn’t really look into other aspects of her life to maybe find connections there for why she went missing. It just didn’t feel like they were doing a good and thorough job at the investigation. And then there’s this one scene where they’re literally suspicious of a person because he wears women's clothing and glitter, and I can’t believe for a second that people who are that guided by their prejudices would be able to solve a case like this.
Let’s talk about the whole fetish club thing, because there’s plenty of things that made zero sense there, and a lot that made me laugh. At the very beginning of the book, when the family learns that Kate went missing, someone (I think the mother) says something along the lines of “she’s 18 she can’t even know what the word fetish means”, which is funny to me because when I was 18 I was the most innocent person you could imagine, but I definitely knew the word fetish. Now, since it was probably the mother who said it, it still makes sense, a lot of mothers would probably like to believe that. However, the weird thing is that soon after the sister who is painted as “the innocent one” says how she’s not surprised Kate was into “dungeons and whips and all kinds of weird shit”, and the mother isn’t shocked by how her other daughter knows what a dungeon is? This just doesn’t add up at all.
Like in that quote all kinds of kinky things kept being called weird throughout the entire book, to a point where I had read that word so often that I started wondering whether it was even a real word, like when you say something a lot of times until it doesn't sound like a word anymore. First of all, has this author never heard of something called a synonym? But also, on a more serious note, it didn’t always just feel like the characters themselves being uncomfortable with these things, but went into an area where it felt more like straight-up kink-shaming. Later there is a scene where Lydia goes into the fetish club her sister went missing from, and I actually kind of liked that scene, because Lydia realizes that the people there aren’t the way she imagined them, and that it’s maybe all not as scary as she had thought. But while I appreciated that scene by itself it also didn’t really made sense how we suddenly get there? It didn’t feel consistent with Lydia’s character or the tone of the book, so I was kind of confused. It suddenly jumped from “kinky stuff is so weird and scary” to Lydia feeling rather comfortable at that club, and I wish I could say it felt like it wanted to make a point about the misconceptions lots of vanilla people have about any kind of fetish/kink/BDSM thing, but if that was its intention I don’t think it did enough compared to how much kink-shaming there was in the first half of the book. So in the end it only made the book feel disconnected.
But what really made this entire thing hilarious to me was that at least in the first part of the book, it clearly wanted to make the reader feel uncomfortable and unsettled with the kinky elements of the story. Which could have worked, had it either actually made an effort to create a dark atmosphere out of that, or focused on some of the actual dangers of disgusting people using kink and fetish, or even specifically this kind of club, to do horrible things to other people. Unfortunately it missed both of these opportunities, in fact I even got the feeling at some parts that the book didn’t have a good grip on the difference between consensual BDSM and things that are obviously abusive or criminal. Or maybe it knew the difference, but still decided to paint some areas of BDSM as very disgusting and perverted throughout the entire book, while others it destigmatized at least a bit in that scene in the club. Anyways, back to the actual point of the book trying to make the reader uncomfortable. It basically just felt like it was saying “look there’s bondage and latex and human pets isn’t that so out there and dark?”, and then there’s me who literally would be a million times more uncomfortable reading your average vanilla sex scene than any of the things this book mentioned, just laughing at how hard it was trying to unsettle me with things I don’t find weird at all. It also always blows my mind how some people seem to write about a subculture or just a certain group of people, clearly not expecting anyone from that group, or even someone who’s not a part of it but knows some things about it, to ever read their books.
Apart from this book completely failing as a thriller, there are also gems like Lydia having “assumed a psychic would be a g**** with long skirts and jewelry around her head and neck” or “Tony jokes to his friend that if he ever goes through with a sex change he wants to look exactly like one of the Stone twins”. First of all trans women are already often not taken seriously, and “jokes” like that in media are feeding into that. And also, that’s not how any of this works, Tony.
Part of me wants to give this an extra star, just for how much it entertained me, but since no one is actually going to read this entire review, and I don't want people to assume this book is any better than it is based on my rating, it's getting one star.
May 8, 2020
4.5 ⭐️s for the first installment “#When You’re Gone” of the trilogy series by Marguerite O’Callaghan!!
Let me tell you, this book comes in installment of three books, #When You’re Gone, #The House in the Woods and #Us and Them. So readers have to be patient to reach the conclusion, as it is revealed through the three books.
When You’re Gone starts with the disappearance of beautiful, teenage, model Kate Stone on the night, when she visited Fetish club Haven, without the knowledge of her parents and twin sister Lydia Stone. Lydia is Kate’s conjoined twin and is almost her mirror image, except being just the opposite in nature. Kate was bold and experimental, where Lydia was shy and conventional, the docile daughter of her parents. The story explore various angles of sadomasochist world as the investigation proceeds and it also entail the dark web of crimes that undergoes in a fet-world.
I loved the characters in the story, as the way they are described will make the readers visualize each one of them as a movie scene. Kate’s mom, Barbara Stone is a beauty and hold many secret under her silence. While Brian, her husband is caring, comforting and doting. Lydia is one character, who doesn’t stop to surprise. Though she is docile, meek, however she does not hesitate to visit Haven, to explore the underworld herself and she easily make friends with few of the club members like Yukio and others. However, she always stay within her limits and that’s what is starkly different between her and Kate.
The introduction of Ida, the psychic, may appear little skeptical to some, who does not believe in telepathy or the power of thinking, but the author makes the character believable, by making her appear in very less instances and only by allowing her character to deliver few suspected names or incidents. Ida is lovable in her own way, with her cat Angel to accompany her. I think readers are going to accept her premonitions as well as her character in the story.
The two detectives, McCarthy and Davies are worth mentioning. The author has nicely balanced Davies, who is nonchalant, and simply following the orders given by McCarthy. On the other hand McCarthy is attentive, focused, dedicated and sincere, as a detective is supposed to be. He acts fast as per needed and that’s what make him more adorable.
Simon, Lydia’s boyfriend has been portrayed in an interesting way and it will be hard for the readers in the beginning to understand his intentions,until he himself surprises everybody with his disclosure.
The writing style is good and enjoyable. Readers will off course yearn to know more and turn the pages in gripping thoughts. This book is off course a page turner. Plot is extensive and twisted and at a time readers may feel that everybody is under the magnifying glass. But the book stops revealing more in the first part, with a promise to deliver more in the second part. So yes, it’s like a web-series where you have to watch the second and third episodes to know more about the ending. So get ready, have some binge eats and stay with this book installments... I promise you will not be disappointed.
Thanks #Bookbub for sending me the first part. After finishing the first part, I have started reading the second part and believe me, I am happy, that I downloaded the two books from Amazon!! It’s keeping its promise so far and maintaining the suspense!!
Overall: for the first part: A really interesting book with lot of information and overwhelming suspense. Loved reading the first part. Worth trying off course!!
Happy Reading!!
Let me tell you, this book comes in installment of three books, #When You’re Gone, #The House in the Woods and #Us and Them. So readers have to be patient to reach the conclusion, as it is revealed through the three books.
When You’re Gone starts with the disappearance of beautiful, teenage, model Kate Stone on the night, when she visited Fetish club Haven, without the knowledge of her parents and twin sister Lydia Stone. Lydia is Kate’s conjoined twin and is almost her mirror image, except being just the opposite in nature. Kate was bold and experimental, where Lydia was shy and conventional, the docile daughter of her parents. The story explore various angles of sadomasochist world as the investigation proceeds and it also entail the dark web of crimes that undergoes in a fet-world.
I loved the characters in the story, as the way they are described will make the readers visualize each one of them as a movie scene. Kate’s mom, Barbara Stone is a beauty and hold many secret under her silence. While Brian, her husband is caring, comforting and doting. Lydia is one character, who doesn’t stop to surprise. Though she is docile, meek, however she does not hesitate to visit Haven, to explore the underworld herself and she easily make friends with few of the club members like Yukio and others. However, she always stay within her limits and that’s what is starkly different between her and Kate.
The introduction of Ida, the psychic, may appear little skeptical to some, who does not believe in telepathy or the power of thinking, but the author makes the character believable, by making her appear in very less instances and only by allowing her character to deliver few suspected names or incidents. Ida is lovable in her own way, with her cat Angel to accompany her. I think readers are going to accept her premonitions as well as her character in the story.
The two detectives, McCarthy and Davies are worth mentioning. The author has nicely balanced Davies, who is nonchalant, and simply following the orders given by McCarthy. On the other hand McCarthy is attentive, focused, dedicated and sincere, as a detective is supposed to be. He acts fast as per needed and that’s what make him more adorable.
Simon, Lydia’s boyfriend has been portrayed in an interesting way and it will be hard for the readers in the beginning to understand his intentions,until he himself surprises everybody with his disclosure.
The writing style is good and enjoyable. Readers will off course yearn to know more and turn the pages in gripping thoughts. This book is off course a page turner. Plot is extensive and twisted and at a time readers may feel that everybody is under the magnifying glass. But the book stops revealing more in the first part, with a promise to deliver more in the second part. So yes, it’s like a web-series where you have to watch the second and third episodes to know more about the ending. So get ready, have some binge eats and stay with this book installments... I promise you will not be disappointed.
Thanks #Bookbub for sending me the first part. After finishing the first part, I have started reading the second part and believe me, I am happy, that I downloaded the two books from Amazon!! It’s keeping its promise so far and maintaining the suspense!!
Overall: for the first part: A really interesting book with lot of information and overwhelming suspense. Loved reading the first part. Worth trying off course!!
Happy Reading!!
Read
December 31, 2021Well, I was a bit frustrated to come to the end of the book and realize that it was just bait for the second. I really dislike when an author does that - and, mostly, when I don't take the time to figure that out before selecting the book. (Yes, I saw the "I" in the heading, but I figured the case would be solved in book I and that the established team would move on to another in book II.)
O'Callaghan's writing style is easy and quick-paced, but the plot had spots where logic was, while not totally abandoned, at least a bit suspended. This happened so frequently that I didn't feel drawn to any of the characters, not even the victim. In addition, new twists were introduced towards the end that led the story in a totally different direction and overshadowed the initial storyline. (I'm sure the author had a master plan scripted out in advance, but, as the reader, it just felt disjointed and I felt duped.) I will need to pick up the second in the series if only to find out how it all ends (because that's how I'm wired), but I don't have a compelling need to do so immediately (and being okay with that kind of delay isn't how I'm wired, so that's a strange sensation.)
To be fair, I'll withhold my recommendation until after I complete the second book in hopes that O'Callaghan comes back for her reader to bring them into the adventure.
O'Callaghan's writing style is easy and quick-paced, but the plot had spots where logic was, while not totally abandoned, at least a bit suspended. This happened so frequently that I didn't feel drawn to any of the characters, not even the victim. In addition, new twists were introduced towards the end that led the story in a totally different direction and overshadowed the initial storyline. (I'm sure the author had a master plan scripted out in advance, but, as the reader, it just felt disjointed and I felt duped.) I will need to pick up the second in the series if only to find out how it all ends (because that's how I'm wired), but I don't have a compelling need to do so immediately (and being okay with that kind of delay isn't how I'm wired, so that's a strange sensation.)
To be fair, I'll withhold my recommendation until after I complete the second book in hopes that O'Callaghan comes back for her reader to bring them into the adventure.
February 20, 2022
it's not the worst thing i've read but it very much has the "first novel i've ever written"-feeling all over it with the most basic plot you can imagine. and like most other reviews mentioned, it's not even a complete book??
February 18, 2019
Keeps you guessing
Usually good at working out the plot but this book kept me guessing all the way through and eagerly awaiting the next instalment
Usually good at working out the plot but this book kept me guessing all the way through and eagerly awaiting the next instalment
February 15, 2019
Fast Paced
I literally read this novel in two sittings! A storyline that grabs you from the very first page. Kate Stone is missing, her identical twin Lydia is looking for clues at the club Kate was last seen entering. The police have no clues. The action and questions heat up as Lydia's ex becomes a suspect. Really great read, cant wait to read the next chapter.
I literally read this novel in two sittings! A storyline that grabs you from the very first page. Kate Stone is missing, her identical twin Lydia is looking for clues at the club Kate was last seen entering. The police have no clues. The action and questions heat up as Lydia's ex becomes a suspect. Really great read, cant wait to read the next chapter.
February 16, 2019
Definitely a good read !
I enjoyed the twists and turns in this story - if anything , I would have liked there to have been more dialogue from the characters . Great storyline tho - bravo !!
I enjoyed the twists and turns in this story - if anything , I would have liked there to have been more dialogue from the characters . Great storyline tho - bravo !!
March 12, 2019
Brilliant page turner.
There was nothing I disliked about this book except when it was over. Looking forward to reading the next two parts.
There was nothing I disliked about this book except when it was over. Looking forward to reading the next two parts.
March 2, 2023
Beautiful Kate Stone has it all: money, a high-flying modelling career, and a family who adores her. But she's missing and as the detectives (and her twin) delve into her life, they find that not everything about Kate is as straightforward as it seems.
Nothing was tied up at the end of this story. I wish the author had noted that this book is the first part of a trilogy; I probably would have let it slide by if I had known. While I liked the premise, the execution left me cold. Beyond the use of the present tense and changing viewpoints, the pace was just too slow.
Nothing was tied up at the end of this story. I wish the author had noted that this book is the first part of a trilogy; I probably would have let it slide by if I had known. While I liked the premise, the execution left me cold. Beyond the use of the present tense and changing viewpoints, the pace was just too slow.
March 22, 2020
An eighteen year old model has gone missing and her family grows concerned. Detectives were brought in to investigate the case while the mother and sister played detectives.
When the twins were younger they were inseparable, but when Kate became a model their lives went in different directions. Lydia misses her sister. While gathering information about Kate, Lydia makes the most of this opportunity to get a taste for Kate’s secret life.
Overall:
I felt like this story was working from two components. One was Lydia adapting to Kate’s lifestyle while she’s missing. The second is the detectives actually investigating and gathering information regarding Kate’s disappearance. It seemed a bit unbalanced spending far more time on Lydia’s curiosity about her sisters life. It seemed inconsequential with her sister missing. In the beginning I felt she was genuinely making progress but then she reached a point of interest and finding her sister fell to the wayside.
Nothing too interesting was happening given the type of scenario being produced of Kate’s character. The dark underground world could’ve been darker but it was just a brush of dark nothing too deep. Things got messy when Lydia tried to play detective. Rather than gather information she instead got sucked into her sisters world.
The story wasn’t dialogue driven enough for my liking. The author got too hung up on the routine details of noting every move these characters made. I prefer to be given just enough information that I can formulate my own ideas. I prefer to use my imagination over an author providing every minute detail.
Not every book is for every reader, sometimes an author writes a book that doesn’t work for a reader...this was that book for me. This was my first read by this author. Unfortunately, her writing style doesn’t line up with what I’m looking for. I need dialogue driven stories with minimal details.
I’m disappointed how stretched out this author made this book. It easily could’ve been wrapped up into one book instead another book awaits the reader.
When the twins were younger they were inseparable, but when Kate became a model their lives went in different directions. Lydia misses her sister. While gathering information about Kate, Lydia makes the most of this opportunity to get a taste for Kate’s secret life.
Overall:
I felt like this story was working from two components. One was Lydia adapting to Kate’s lifestyle while she’s missing. The second is the detectives actually investigating and gathering information regarding Kate’s disappearance. It seemed a bit unbalanced spending far more time on Lydia’s curiosity about her sisters life. It seemed inconsequential with her sister missing. In the beginning I felt she was genuinely making progress but then she reached a point of interest and finding her sister fell to the wayside.
Nothing too interesting was happening given the type of scenario being produced of Kate’s character. The dark underground world could’ve been darker but it was just a brush of dark nothing too deep. Things got messy when Lydia tried to play detective. Rather than gather information she instead got sucked into her sisters world.
The story wasn’t dialogue driven enough for my liking. The author got too hung up on the routine details of noting every move these characters made. I prefer to be given just enough information that I can formulate my own ideas. I prefer to use my imagination over an author providing every minute detail.
Not every book is for every reader, sometimes an author writes a book that doesn’t work for a reader...this was that book for me. This was my first read by this author. Unfortunately, her writing style doesn’t line up with what I’m looking for. I need dialogue driven stories with minimal details.
I’m disappointed how stretched out this author made this book. It easily could’ve been wrapped up into one book instead another book awaits the reader.
May 29, 2019
A Good Story Written Like a Book Report
This is a Brirish crime mystery. It started out stilted and I expected it to improve. The author's planned plot line, characters appear to be thought out with lots and I do mean lots of red herrings or such. The main isdue is the story is written like a major book report. Each section stops,a new one starts with no transition. Block writing, like lots of cut and past after writing several story lines....I think the intent was to create intrigue but it creates reading fatigue or frustration at least to me.
At the end of the book the author says this is her first book which may explain much. Because the story was left haning and unfinished I am going to try reading the second book. However, if is stilted and just stops suddenly trying to keep you buying more books...I will not.
This is a Brirish crime mystery. It started out stilted and I expected it to improve. The author's planned plot line, characters appear to be thought out with lots and I do mean lots of red herrings or such. The main isdue is the story is written like a major book report. Each section stops,a new one starts with no transition. Block writing, like lots of cut and past after writing several story lines....I think the intent was to create intrigue but it creates reading fatigue or frustration at least to me.
At the end of the book the author says this is her first book which may explain much. Because the story was left haning and unfinished I am going to try reading the second book. However, if is stilted and just stops suddenly trying to keep you buying more books...I will not.
December 21, 2019
First off you should know that this story is not wrapped up in this book.
It moves along fairly slowly, revealing extra pieces of information as drips. There is huge amounts of introspection by just about everybody but mainly the lead character the twin sister of a missing 18 year old girl. One is outgoing and everyone loves her, the other (the lead character) is more introverted and quiet. Things only start to move when the introverted one becomes more extroverted. Almost impersonating the missing sister.
Maybe it's because I'm a guy that I find the whole introspection a bit laboured as one secret after another is painstakingly revealed. With the sister being streets ahead of the police in finding out more and more secrets about her sister.
I'm sorry to say that I probably won't be getting the next in the series as I'm not a glutton for punishment.
It moves along fairly slowly, revealing extra pieces of information as drips. There is huge amounts of introspection by just about everybody but mainly the lead character the twin sister of a missing 18 year old girl. One is outgoing and everyone loves her, the other (the lead character) is more introverted and quiet. Things only start to move when the introverted one becomes more extroverted. Almost impersonating the missing sister.
Maybe it's because I'm a guy that I find the whole introspection a bit laboured as one secret after another is painstakingly revealed. With the sister being streets ahead of the police in finding out more and more secrets about her sister.
I'm sorry to say that I probably won't be getting the next in the series as I'm not a glutton for punishment.
March 3, 2019
This is an easy, appealing read. It’s not terribly unique among psychological thrillers, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
I occasionally thought the tense was off, but that could just be me. Perhaps I just prefer a past tense.
The only thing I really didn’t like was the ending. Don’t get me wrong... I’m all about a sequel, and I love reading series. That said, I believe any book should be able to stand on its own. Maybe you need another book for background or for the next thrilling event... but any book should at least wrap up its topic. If it then lures you with the interest of another even better.
This book stopped right in the middle of the original drama, so essentially I felt as though this book really didn’t accomplish anything.
I occasionally thought the tense was off, but that could just be me. Perhaps I just prefer a past tense.
The only thing I really didn’t like was the ending. Don’t get me wrong... I’m all about a sequel, and I love reading series. That said, I believe any book should be able to stand on its own. Maybe you need another book for background or for the next thrilling event... but any book should at least wrap up its topic. If it then lures you with the interest of another even better.
This book stopped right in the middle of the original drama, so essentially I felt as though this book really didn’t accomplish anything.
May 24, 2019
What a cheap ending! A weak shot at getting you to buy the next book. No thanks. It could have been good. The twist was coming around until they stopped solid. The description of the S&M club was a bit over the top for me.
Kate is missing. She lives a high profile as a model at eighteen, but her family can’t imagine her wanting to run away nor why anyone would want to take her. Her twin sister, Lydia, will do anything to get her back. While investigating her sister’s room she comes across photos and hobbies she never expected. With the help of detectives, and a tarot card reader, Lydia is determined to find her. No matter the cost.
Kate is missing. She lives a high profile as a model at eighteen, but her family can’t imagine her wanting to run away nor why anyone would want to take her. Her twin sister, Lydia, will do anything to get her back. While investigating her sister’s room she comes across photos and hobbies she never expected. With the help of detectives, and a tarot card reader, Lydia is determined to find her. No matter the cost.
April 15, 2020
Angered after reading
This book had several spelling and grammatical errors. I looked passed it because the story was very gripping. I felt like there was a turn at every corner that made me want to read more. When I got to the end I was completely angered and disappointed. The author broke this book up into multiple books. This is super frustrating a story that could have been told in one book now in three. This obviously is a tactic to make money but completely unnecessary. This books ends without resolve or knowing what happens. I refuse to read the other books and have no idea how the story ends.
This book had several spelling and grammatical errors. I looked passed it because the story was very gripping. I felt like there was a turn at every corner that made me want to read more. When I got to the end I was completely angered and disappointed. The author broke this book up into multiple books. This is super frustrating a story that could have been told in one book now in three. This obviously is a tactic to make money but completely unnecessary. This books ends without resolve or knowing what happens. I refuse to read the other books and have no idea how the story ends.
March 30, 2020
Book 1 of 3
I definitely enjoyed this book...what I didn't enjoy is the fact that it didn't end. Like, it literally did not have any sort of ending whatsoever. With that being said, I was basically forced to purchase the next book to hopefully find some closure(somehow I get the sneaking suspicion that I'll be buying a 3rd book for similar reasons).
Well , I'm off to start book 2 now...
I definitely enjoyed this book...what I didn't enjoy is the fact that it didn't end. Like, it literally did not have any sort of ending whatsoever. With that being said, I was basically forced to purchase the next book to hopefully find some closure(somehow I get the sneaking suspicion that I'll be buying a 3rd book for similar reasons).
Well , I'm off to start book 2 now...
July 9, 2020
Very long story
I rated 2 stars as this book is a little too long and has a lot of descriptive parts without anything really going on. You have too go through a lot of thoughts from different characters which really have no impact on the plot itself. Everything is mixed up and not really tense and keeping you attached to the pages. In my opinion it should have been just one book without further descriptions. Also not reading other parts...
I rated 2 stars as this book is a little too long and has a lot of descriptive parts without anything really going on. You have too go through a lot of thoughts from different characters which really have no impact on the plot itself. Everything is mixed up and not really tense and keeping you attached to the pages. In my opinion it should have been just one book without further descriptions. Also not reading other parts...
February 15, 2019
When You're Gone?
This is a fairly well written book until you get to the important part, the end. I normally try to stay away from books set in the UK but this one was much easier to follow until you come upon the words "The End" just out of the blue. Who writes a book and ends it just as you think it might be getting interesting.
This is a fairly well written book until you get to the important part, the end. I normally try to stay away from books set in the UK but this one was much easier to follow until you come upon the words "The End" just out of the blue. Who writes a book and ends it just as you think it might be getting interesting.
February 24, 2019
Only part of a book
Confusing story introducing tons of mysterious bits and pieces that you wonder about only to discover the book ends with nothing resolved, explained or any idea of what is going on. Hate when authors try to force purchase of subsequent books not because you want to know more but because u are left having read nothing but a jumble of facts.
Confusing story introducing tons of mysterious bits and pieces that you wonder about only to discover the book ends with nothing resolved, explained or any idea of what is going on. Hate when authors try to force purchase of subsequent books not because you want to know more but because u are left having read nothing but a jumble of facts.
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