Title:After Anna
Author:Alex Lake
Published:August 2016, Harper
Format:Paperback, 400 pages
Source:Publisher
The real nightmare starts when her daughter is returned…
A bone-chilling psychological thriller that will suit fans of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Daughter by Jane Shemilt, and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.
A
girl is missing. Five years old, taken from outside her school. She has
vanished, traceless. The police are at a loss; her parents are beyond
grief. Their daughter is lost forever, perhaps dead, perhaps enslaved.
But the biggest mystery is yet to come: one week after she was abducted,
their daughter is returned. She has no memory of where she has been.
And this, for her mother, is just the beginning of the nightmare.
My thoughts:I first heard about this book during Harper’s online presentation for Bloggers and I knew it was a book I had to read…and I’m so glad I did! I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers, and while I have only read 1 of the 3 books that this is being compared to (have not nor do I have any intentions of reading Gone Girl, but have Daughter on my list to read, and did read Girl on Train) – I’m going to be completely honest and say it’s not the comparisons that led me to this book – it was the synopsis itself.
Once I started reading this book, I had a hard time putting it down. It was written in such a unique way – told from two distinct point’s of view, Julia, the mother of the missing girl; and the child abductor. All along we know that the abductor has taken Anna and is going to give her back but we don’t know why – we just know that she really doesn’t like Julia. And once Anna is given back, things are definitely not over, we definitely haven‘t seen the last of the abductor…but why this intense hatred?
As the book progressed, I had my suspicions as to who might have taken Anna…and then I thought – “No way –I couldn’t have figured it out that easily.” I was back and forth between who I thought it was and then I dismissed my guesses, but it turned out, I had in fact guessed correctly, though I had only touched the tip of the ice burg. And believe me, this in no way detracted from my complete enjoyment of this book – I was in awe of how this all came together!
This is a twisted book – there are so many little twists and turns and the suspense will have you flipping through the pages to see how it‘s all going to end. And the characters…you will love some, you will hate some…you will want to scream at what happens, but believe me…it’s all worth it to find out what happens in the end.
This is an author worth keeping an eye out for…I know I will be and cannot wait to see what comes next from her. In the meantime…I just might have to reread this book to see I if pick up anything else I missed the first time! Do you like to reread mysteries once you know “whodunit?”
