STOLEN by LESLEY PEARSE

STOLEN

BY LESLEY PEARSE

THE BLURB:-

A beautiful young woman is discovered half-drowned on a Sussex beach...

Where has she come from?

Why can't she remember who she is- or what happened?

She's wearing an old-fashioned dress and her hair has been hacked off. She's obviously been bound by the wrists and ankles. But without knowing her own name or who did this to her, she can't begin to piece together who she is and what led her to this unfamiliar place.

The police are baffled, but when the doctors examine her they make a shocking discovery: she has recently given birth.

Who on earth is she? And where is her baby?

THE REALITY:-

Meh. This was a kind of meh book. It came across as a typical airport purchase/ summer holiday read and there's nothing wrong with that. It had tension and a swift climb towards a climax but, sadly, left me mostly unmoved. My race towards the end was more about hurrying up trying to finish this novel than wanting to find out the conclusion.

It started off with ingredients that aroused my interest- it was set near Brighton, a city I love, and began on a cruise ship, with young and funky main characters. It wasn't all bad and celebrity David Mitchell featured after he bid, at a charity auction, for the right to be turned into a character. It's a nice idea; but I wish the author hadn't written this fact as a prior dedication, as I couldn't get the thought of real-life, geeky Mr Mitchell out of my head, and he's not someone who comes across as a romantic lead – quite the opposite, in fact! It made his sections of the story a bit surreal and maybe even silly. I enjoyed reading the descriptions of Fern's and Howard's early lives and these added depth to the despicable characters that they were. I also hated Lotte's parents with a passion unrivalled for the way they treated their daughter (Jesus Christ, I had issues with my parents but- thankfully- nothing like the cruelty this vicious bitch and her chicken-shit-do-anything-for-a-quiet-life husband dished out to their poor girl.)

The story of Lotte's (and later Lotte's and Dale's) captivity made for a good read, although these sections seemed elongated. The violence that Lotte was capable of made me smile and say, 'Go, girl!' So yes, this story did awaken some emotion in me... just not enough. Too many of the characters were flat and just didn't touch me.  Quite frankly, they were also a bit daft in the head to think that Lotte could go on to have a 'normal' life after all the abuse she'd been subjected to.

This was the first novel I've read by this author and I'd give another of her many novels a go. I just won't be rushing to do so.