The Stolen Girls by Patricia Gibney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
These mysteries grow on me, and I can’t help but like them despite the characters all being so over-the-top stereotypical. I liked the first of this series enough to give the second book a go, and I wasn’t disappointed.
It picks up almost where it left off, and I admire the author’s ability to not shy away from the emotional trauma the characters have faced. None have had a proper recovery in such a short space of time – and I like that the busy life of a working, single, mum is shown realistically.
The theme of the series so far, seems to hinge on not knowing what our children are really up to. It has clever use of social media and other online apps that children use, that parents are often not aware of the uses for. And unlike a lot of novels that try to use technology as part of the story, this is actually a realistic use of technology for the older teens portrayed.
This instalment was quite graphic in it’s descriptions of the girls being held, and sometimes that was uncomfortable, but never too much. I thought the tie-in to organ harvesting was really well thought out, and was written really well.
The author grappled with the asylum seeker issue, and did it surprisingly well. The overcrowding and corruption within private companies that are allowed to hold asylum seekers in appalling conditions, was an excellent backdrop for this novel and added a rich layer for the readers.
I really enjoy the way the author puts almost all the characters out there from about a quarter of the way through, so you really are with the detectives as they go through the process of eliminating each suspect, and I didn’t really have a clue who the killer was until the author wanted me to.
I’ll definitely be reading the next instalment when it is released later this year.
Ally Jane 