When thirteen-year-old Savannah Hopkins doesn’t come straight home from school as she always does, her mother Jane immediately raises the alarm. With her blonde ponytail and red school jumper, someone must have spotted Savannah.
Detective Natalie Ward is determined to help the distraught mother – her own daughter is the same age as Savannah. But before Natalie and her team can get started, their worst fears are confirmed when the teenager’s broken body is found in nearby shrubland.
Evidence points towards a local recluse, but just as Natalie closes the net around him, one of Savannah’s friends, Harriet, is reported missing. Harriet might look grown up and sophisticated but she is only fourteen…
As Natalie delves into the lives of both girls, she soon discovers a sinister video on both their phones, daring the girls to disappear from their families for 48 hours. She’s sure this is the key to the case, but before she can act, Harriet’s body is found discarded on a roadside.
Natalie’s superiors don’t have to put any extra pressure on Natalie. Devastated, she and her team work without sleep, watching that video over and over. But just as she thinks they’re getting close, the person Natalie loves more than anything goes missing.
Natalie is no stranger to loss. She is terrified and the clock is ticking. Can she push through her fear to catch this depraved killer, before her loved one becomes the next victim?
This gripping rollercoaster of a read will have you up in the small hours turning the pages. Fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Caine and Robert Dugoni will love The Dare.
Title: The Dare
Author: Carol Wyer (Book 3 Detective Natalie Ward crime thriller series)
Published By: Bookouture
Publication Date: 25th April 2019
Links; Amazon
Our Review
If you want to read something that makes your blood pump through your body at a hundred miles an hour then this is the book for you.
Flawed detective Natalie Ward embarks on another thrilling investigation where time runs out far too quickly for her to catch a serial killer who kidnaps and murders teenage girls. The subject matter is very upsetting as you would expect with a serial killer book. The premise of the Dare is so very sinister and something that could realistically be done in this age of online challenges that young people can be so tempted with these days.
The whodunnit elements are brilliant as there are so many suspects to choose from and the threads are very cleverly interwoven with no loose hands left hanging. The descriptions are so vivid that I felt like I was completely immersed in the investigation and helping to find the killer as the plot tore along at an incredible pace.
As with all of Carol’s crime books we are given an insight into the killer’s thought process and why they do what they do and dare I say I actually feel a bit sorry for them for what happened to them in the past, however that empathy does not stretch to the murderous version of them as they are usually particularly evil.
I really want to be a detective when I read Carol’s books.
I just have one problem with this book and that is that it was over too quickly.
I already can’t wait for the next one in the series.
Sincerely
Book Angel x
About the Author
Carol Wyer is an award-winning author and stand up comedian who writes feel-good comedies and gripping thrillers.
Her book, GRUMPY OLD MENOPAUSE won The People's Book Prize Award for non-fiction 2015.
Carol moved to the ‘dark side’ in 2017 with as series of thrillers. LITTLE GIRL LOST became the #2 best-selling book on Amazon, #9 best-selling audiobook on Audible and a Top 150 USA Today best-seller.
The DI Robyn Carter and DI Natalie Ward series have sold over half a million copies, earning her acclaim as a crime writer.
Carol has been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ''Irritable Male Syndrome' and 'Ageing Disgracefully' and on BBC Breakfast television. She has had articles published in national magazines 'Woman's Weekly' featured in 'Take A Break', 'Choice', 'Yours' and 'Woman's Own' magazines and the Huffington Post.
To learn more about Carol, go to www.carolwyer.co.uk or follow Carol on Twitter: @carolewyer.
Carol also blogs at www.carolwyer.com
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