Avon Books The Secret

I read Diamond's debut, The Teacher, very recently and was a little surprised to see the follow up so quickly but eager to read it as I loved The Teacher, which I thought was very polished, pacy, tight with great characterisation But ultimately I was rather disappointed by The Secret. Perhaps I wouldn't have been so disappointed if I didn't already know what an accomplished writer Diamond is, as The Teacher proves, and I wonder if the publisher and her agent are perhaps a little to blame for rushing the second book out quickly trying to piggyback on the success of The Teacher.If that is the case it's a great shame as I think the author could have made this as good as the debut, if she'd had more time for another two edits. It's still a good read but not up the standard of The Teacher.1. It's really quite complicated to follow, you nearly need a flowchart to keep track of everything. There are 3 time lines going on and about 4 or 5 story arcs. The problem is that so many of the characters overlap in the different time lines that sometimes you simply lose you place and at some stage they start to meld and you have to pull yourself out of the story to remind yourself where you are.2. The writing, although good, is riddled with exposition and repetition, which again would have been an easy fix with another edit to tighten it all up. E.G. in this extract: "Imogen stumbled around the bathroom in the morning half-light. She thought about running herself a hot bath, but she didn’t want to lie in the water looking at the remnants of her stomach wound. Since leaving Plymouth, she’d found baths harder, preferring to shower so that she couldn’t see her body. Although the scar was pink and faded she liked to pretend it wasn’t there. The scar wasn’t the only thing: if she looked down, she could just see the bullet wound she’d sustained in the schoolteacher case too. It had healed in the last few weeks, forming a neat plum circle. Somehow, that one hurt less; it didn’t give her the same amount of trauma as the injury she’d sustained in Plymouth. She closed her eyes, the memory of what had happened rushing back. Leaving Plymouth. Transferring to Exeter. Sam. The scar. Imogen turned on the shower. She had to keep going. These days, she spent hours every morning smacking the s*** out of the punching bag she’d installed in her garden. Rain or shine, she was out there kicking and punching her way back to work. Still, she couldn’t look at herself until the towel was securely around her, hiding her embarrassment. Twice now she had almost been killed. Twice she had failed at her job. Twice she had needed rescuing. Never again. She picked up her baggy combat trousers and loose-fitting raglan t-shirt and got ready for work." Could have been succinctly delivered in about 3 lines. Not only that but having read through all that a few pages later we get: "When she got home, Imogen ran herself a steaming hot bath; she liked the water so hot that it hurt to move*!3. Characterisation - Diamond is particularly good at this and she, for the most part, succeeds again in this book giving us a great feel for the characters - it's just that there are SO MANY of them and so many secondary characters that at times it becomes a bit of a head scratching exercise.I think there's a particular problem with Irene (Imogen's mother) I lost count how many times we were told the irene would NEVER reveal Imogen's father's name: "To this day, Imogen didn’t know his name; her mother had always sworn she would take it to her grave", again with another edit I feel certain we would have lost so much of this repetition. There's also a big inconsistency with the character of Irene - she was painted, not only in The Secret but also The Teacher, as almost mentally incapable, someone Imogen has to visit daily even traveling from Exeter to Plymouth to do so. Yet when Irene does have a scene with Imogen's mysterious father Irene is remarkably competent and in charge and then almost immediately as that scene concludes we're told: "Irene was known as a bit of a nuisance in her neighbourhood, she was the very definition of the boy who cried wolf, always screaming and howling at something or someone, real or imagined"From about 45% I really started to struggle reading it. There was too much unbelievable coincidence - everyone ends up related or missing persons end up being long time newsagents friends, just too neat and not credible.And in the last 50% I felt I was spending a bit too much time inside people's heads and not getting on with the story,Different timelines and story lines are not a problem, but a reader should always know which is the dominant one, this did not happen here which led to confusion.There were also a few too many "omg, why didn't I see it before it as so obvious " moments.and the big AHA reveal moment with Dominic at the end, well really that was all given away in an earlier chapter.Some things are just plain stupid like when Bridget wonders how long she's been held captive for : " It could have been weeks, months, or even years." How ridiculous is that? Years??? I mean she'd bloody know if she'd been there years, even by the length of her hair!I felt as we approached the end of the book it was getting looser and looser and I really wondered what the author was thinking. I mean on what planet does a police detective invite a newly discharged prisoner to stay in her house? " ‘I’ve made the spare room up for you,’ she made a point of saying. She didn’t want him to think it was a done deal. He took her meaning and nodded." I mean he came out of prison and straight to her home, who are we kidding here?Look don't get me wrong I think this could have been such a good book, as good as The Teacher, but it wasn't. Authors know when a book is ready and I can't believe Diamond thought this was ready to be published especially given what she achieved with her debut and that's the biggest shame here. She has harmed her writing career by rushing this out and I won't be as eager to read book three as I was to read book two.

I have read a lot of this genre and so am familiar with the tropes.There are here but KD has been very clever and turned then on their head.The slobby detective with the messy family history is there, but he is actually quite normal. He is likeableThe female detective is a bit more screwed up.We find out why and she has really been put through itBut the implication is she is the agent of a lot of her own bad luck due to really bad choices. Refreshingly human!So these two have a great dynamic with a lack of sexual tension that is a relief.Lots of that elsewhere in the book...oh yes.And lots and lots of blood.So all in all a cracking read

I did enjoy this book but at times it is confusing. You need to binge read otherwise I think you would feel a bit lost. I read it over 3 days & still found myself looking back (in my paperback) to check who was who & what time it was happening. I enjoyed the way it answered issues from the previous book 'The Teacher' so would recommend reading it straight after that one. These books are different, thrilling & at times disturbing to read! For me the conclusion was very satisfying, I didn't feel cheated like another reviewer had said. I look forward to the next book, with any luck we won't have to wait too long!

To keep my focus to the end of a book, I need to be entertained and pushed to my emotional limits. I want a Luther experience, rather than Rosemary & Thyme (although they are cute in their own way!).Katerina delivers a gritty plot with many characters each with their own agenda. Imogen Grey, the main character, has her demons to face here in Book 2 and although I’ve not read Book 1, I followed the clues as they were laid before me and ultimately found out what she’d endured two years earlier.Graphic descriptions, brilliantly penned. The world of corruption within the system. Who CAN you trust?I shall definitely read more by this author

I bought this because I've enjoyed the recent spate of trashy women's thrillers by female writers. However, this is closer to a trashy Val McDermid than a trashy Gillian Flynn.The information about this story is misleading. The back cover synopsis reads: "When Bridget Reid wakes up in a locked room, terrifying memories come flooding back – of blood, pain, and desperate fear. Her captor knows things she's never told anyone. How can she escape someone who knows all of her secrets?"First of all, this book is the second instalment of a series about two Devon-based police officers, DS Imogen Grey and DS Adrian Miles. The ending suggests there will be a third instalment. Bridget Reid is a minor character in a sub-plot.Secondly, there is no 'secret' per se. The story focuses on police officers who are up against organised criminals. There isn't really a psychological element. I'm sure there are loads of people who'd enjoy this kind of story, but they're unlikely to find it because of the title and cover.The story is told through two timelines and has several narrators / points-of-view. The author clearly has skills, but the characters aren't especially likeable or well-drawn. Maybe all the character development happened in the first book. This is very much a story that describes a sequence of events in a haphazard way, and not much else. The author was brave to attempt the sex scenes, and also to depict the murders from the victims' points of view, but I still didn't find much of it interesting. There were several portions (particularly the violent bits) that just seemed to fall flat. I might've enjoyed it more if I'd been told it was part of a series.