Girl Broken

by S. Williams

The escaped victim of a cult is at risk of being swallowed up again in this tense novel of psychological suspense by the author of Only You . . .

When Daisy wakes up, she knows something is very wrong. She is alone in her flat and a mobile phone is ringing. A message for her flashes up on the screen. The problem is, Daisy doesn't own a mobile . . .

As a survivor of a malevolent cult known as The Fishermen, she still suffers from her past. Having made a simple existence for herself, she now finds that her life has been invaded. Because the message, a single image, has been sent by them--shattering the fragile reality she has made.

She shows it to her new friend, Jay, who tries to reassure her. But is Jay all she seems? Because if The Fishermen are back, Daisy can't trust anyone. Not even herself . . .

330 pages, Paperback

Published August 16, 2021

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this one up as I thought it was the same author as Tuesday Falling (one of my favourite thrillers of all time), but there's no way this is the same S Williams. This book is trash.

Firstly, the characters here are ridiculous. Flat, no personality, basic, stupid, and every word they speak is dribble. You're not going to see any intelligence here.

Secondly, there's no real plot, and the timeline makes zero sense. When you get to the end, you find out that you have to read book two if you want to find out what happens next. No, thank you.

Thirdly, there's smartphones and smart watches and an array for techy gadgets, but the Internet is dial-up. What in the world.

A one star piece of trash (but I'll admit I enjoyed the hate read).

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

GIRL: BROKEN is a psychological thriller by S. Williams

Daisy woke up with strange cuts on her body. She lived in an apartment, triple-locked and bolted. No TV. No Computer. No Phone.

She had been woken up to the ringing of a cell phone displaying the flashing message, “Daisy. Daisy. Daisy.”

But she didn’t own a phone?

Daisy is the victim and survivor of a cult, “The Fisherman”, and still suffers from her past. When Daisy was younger, she was part of a cult, no longer active, but an aspect of it might still be active.

Jay, a police officer has been recruited to secretly work undercover to investigate the Fisherman cult, and needed to befriend Daisy. Jay meets Daisy at her therapy meetings, and poses as her only friend in order to obtain details about her past life. Daisy has just started to remember all about the blackouts, gaps in memory…her past, but couldn’t tell Jay.

Daisy shows the message on the phone to her new friend, Jay, who tries to reassure her.

But not all is as it seems…

Daisy can't trust anyone.

I have to admit I had a little difficulty getting into this book as I found the beginning a little slow and confusing but with all the twists and turns, I soon became totally involved.

Note: Trigger warnings for graphic physical and mental child abuse/violence.

Many thanks to the author and Bloodhound Books for my digital copy.

[Linda Strong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy escaped from a particularly violent cult .... known as the Fishermen ...with little memory of what transpired while she was captive. Supposedly, all cult members were killed.

When a homeless man was found with a slit throat, he was later identified as one of the cult. So how many others survived and are out there?

Daily wakes up confused .. she hears a phone ringing, but she doesn't have a phone. Someone has been in her apartment, but her door is locked and chained from the inside. The phone keeps ringing and when he musters enough bravery, she answers... and hears a song.. a song that shatters her fragile reality.

She talks to her only friend .. Jay ... who questions Daisy's' memory, but also reassures her at the same time. But Jay isn't exactly who she says she is ... she has a secret agenda.

This is a well -written novel, suspenseful, a real page turner. There are twists and turns that keep the eyes riveted to each and every page. The characters are solidly drawn. The conclusion is surprising and unexpected.

Many thanks to the author / Bloodhound Books for the digital copy of this psychological thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

[Caroline 'relaxing with my rescue dogs' · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I started reading this and thought I couldn't continue but I took a break and read some of the reviews and went back to it and I am so glad I did. I struggled to work out which reality was true. That really suited the nature and plot line of the book.

I was given an advance copy by Bloodhound books but the review is entirely my own.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my goodness. What a harrowing and amazing read that was. I was hooked from start to finish. Trigger warnings for fairly graphic physical and mental child abuse and violence. But this is a book that is going to stay with me a while. One thing do make sure you are reading dates in the chapter headings. Otherwise you may find some of it a bit confusing at first. I did.

Briefly, The Fishermen was a terrible cult in the 1970’s. Running houses where the children of ‘the family’ were systematically abused to an appalling degree. When they were about to be closed down they blew up the properties and all the adults died but the children escaped. Daisy was one of those children. Living a solitary life she has blanked out most of what happened to her but it is now coming back to her. Jay is a policewoman. Ostensibly on suspension, for assaulting another officer, she has been recruited by a covert group to go undercover and find out what Daisy remembers.

This is a great read, well written, with some brilliant characters. Of course I loved Daisy and Jay but I also thought Joseph was a great character and, for me, Slane was the most malevolent character, with no empathy, and I hated her. I would definitely recommend this book as long as you are able to deal with the subject matter. But that ending. Nooooooooo. 4.5⭐️

[Dianne McKenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to follow

The plot was interesting, but was very hard to follow. Too choppy. It was as if the plot came and went. Ending was severely disappointing. This author has other good books, she could have done better with this one.

[Sally Gutteridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent

Amazing book read in one sitting, really easy to escape into, intelligent and thought provoking. Loved the good characters, thank you to the writer.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for Pop Sugar 2023 Prompt #7 A book with "Girl" in the title.

I thought I would like it more.

[Alyson Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daisy might have escaped the Fishermen cult who carried out appalling abuse on children and then blew themselves to pieces when they feared detection but she is still being monitored by the authorities, namely Inspector Slane and undercover policewoman Jay Starling who has problems of her own to overcome. Jay's mission for the highly secretive F-Branch is to befriend Daisy and help investigate the cult which is believed by some still to be in existence many years later. Daisy trusts no one and is scared of everything, moving from one place to another to keep safe and is currently living in Leeds. She is starting to trust Jay a little when she wakes one morning to find a strange mobile phone in her flat which displays a message. A picture of something Daisy knows only too well. A picture showing her that The Fishermen are back or maybe they never went away. The story switches back and forth between different months, as the reader hears about two murders, Jay’s dealings with Daisy and cult expert psychologist Professor Joseph Skinner’s input into the investigation. What seems clear cut to start with soon becomes horribly twisted and turns into something completely different as the story progresses.
This is an incredibly well written story and the author skilfully draws the reader into the mystery. The bouts of total confusion I experienced at times and the shock revelations thrown at me just made me even more eager to read on and get to the bottom of what was really happening. Definitely an amazing book that will hook you completely and only release you when you know the final awful truth. An electric and riveting read. 5*

[Sallie Greenhalgh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daisy is the victim of a cult as a child now befriended by Jay a policewoman who has issues of her own. Jay has been recruited to work undercover to investigate the Fishermen cult where Daisy grew up who were believed to have been eradicated years ago - or were they? This book is incredibly well written and I struggled to put it down as I needed to know what happened next. The twists and turns are immense - I thought I had the plot figured out about half way through but I was so wrong - and the actual plot was better than I had imagined. This is a book to start when you have time so that you can do it justice and not have to wait to find out what happens next!

I was given a free Advanced Reader Copy of this book.

[Bobbi Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this suspensful story. This is a new author for me which I enjoyed from beginning to end. I look forward to seeing what is next for them. This is a well written story that has twists and turns that left me sitting on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what would happen next. I enjoyed being pulled into the story by the characters are they are strong and creative. I also enjoyed the author's use of details to not only give life to the story but made it feel realistic. The characters are connectable and made the story engaging. This is a fast paced story that is full of action and as you will soon see things may not be as they seem. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daisy has endured unimaginable mental and physical torture at the hands of a notorious cult called The Fisherman. Narrowly escaping when she was a young girl, she now lives a solitary life without much connection to many. Except Jay. Jay is a woman with her own secrets and issues but together they slowly allow their friendship to form. Unfortunately, danger is never truly that far away, and the girls find themselves in the middle of a crazy game of cat and mouse. But who’s pulling the strings? When everyone seems to have their own agenda who can you really trust?

What a fantastically detailed story! There’s so much depth and back story and we’ve only just scratched the surface. I’m looking forward to reading more.

[Sandra Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story comes out September 8, 2021. This is a story about a woman name Daisy. Daisy is a woman who escape from a cult. And she a brave woman she have one unique detail to describe Daisy is her eyes, one eye is blue iris. and the other is brown . She have a place she make sure it secure from top to bottom, so no one coming inside when she home. The details in this book is just wonderful. The Author S. Williams make the story come alive from the first page all the way to the last. The twist and turns is real great, I enjoyed reading Girl: broken by S. Williams.

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started a little slow and very confusing but once you got into the plot it is impossible to put it down.
The book is incredibly well written with lots of twists and turns that makes guessing what the reality is almost impossible.

I can wait to find out what happens next the plot is that good.

[Joo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this Daisy's story or Jay's story? We follow both their stories in a dual timescale of a few weeks apart. As the story comes together and the links get linked I throughly appreciated the hints in one direction that evolved to send my mind spinning in another direction.
Whilst the underlying story is uncomfortable, the storytelling around this is great.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a while to get into but I’m glad that I stayed with it.

Girl Broken....but which one?! Because Daisy and Jay both have their own story to tell.

With twists that will have you changing your mind, and this creates a gripping storyline.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 out of 5