Author: Books Technica

Personal Update

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Returning after taking a hiatus is always hard, especially when you are coming back to something you truly enjoy. At first, you remember the good and forget the bad—the reason that made you step back in the first place. I never expected my break to last so long. I believed that after a few weeks, I would return stronger than ever. However, that was not the case for me.

As more time passed, doubts began to seep in. I started to question whether I had a place in the book-reviewing space. I am not young—though I am not old either—and I do not consider myself particularly savvy when it comes to social media. I tend to read the books I like and try to push myself outside my comfort zone, but I also know what I do and do not enjoy. Sometimes, popular books simply do not resonate with me. I began to interpret this as a sign that book reviewing was not for me, and I forgot about the many, many books and authors I had discovered through reviewing—some of whom have since become my go-to favourites.

In 2022, I stopped reviewing books. It was not because I had stopped loving them. If anything, it was because I had begun to enjoy reading less when every book came with the question: What will I say about this? The pressure got to me, and self-doubt took hold.

Will what I say upset someone? Discourage someone from pursuing what they love?

English is not my first language. Who would even listen to what I have to say when I am bound to make mistakes?

There are so many other reviewers who are better at this. Maybe I should just leave it to them.

The thing is, as time went by, I realised that what I was doing was special—special to me. I discovered so many new favourite authors through reviewing books. Amid the pressure of meeting deadlines and dealing with self-doubt, I had forgotten that Books Technica was so much more to me than just a review blog.

A book is not simply a bunch of pages glued together between two covers. Books are stories that enrich our lives, bring us joy, make us think, and help us navigate difficult moments. A book does not truly come alive until someone picks it up and reads the collection of letters arranged into words, sentences, and stories.

I have taken the time to give myself the space to understand that my perspective matters—and that the only person doubting me was me. I will continue to navigate this process, but I am also ready to start talking about books again because I miss sharing my thoughts about what I have read.

I am looking forward to share some reviews of books I am currently reading, and have read in the past few years. I hope, dear reader, you are looking forward to that too.

Mihai from Books Technica

Bitter Flowers by Gunnar Staalesen

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Thank you to Anne Cater for allowing me to take part in the blog tour. Thank you to Orenda Books for the advance readers copy. All view are my own.

There are books that are being written for the story. There are books that are being written for the characters. There are books that are being written to share a message, to prove a point. I could probably go on and on about the type of books that are being written but Bitter Flowers can’t so easily pushed in one of the before mentioned categories.

I have enjoyed Bitter Flowers over a period of a week, in which I was stressed at work and the only thing that I was looking for every night was to return to this book. And regardless how much I wanted to put the book down, every night I had a fight with myself as the more I read the more invested I was in the setting, the characters, the story, the words.

Not convinced? Then just answer me this. What would you do if a body would turn up in a swimming pool? And what connection has that body to an eight year old missing persons case?

Staalesen puts Bergen on the scandi noir map with a strong sense of place, an amazing cast of characters and a perfectly attentive narrative filled with tone and mood.

Ninth in the series, Bitter Flowers can be easily read as a stand alone. There is not much introduction needed for the main character as we are learning very quickly about his flaws. A staple of the noir novel we learn to love the main character through their flaws, and Varg Velum is no different. We begin with his release from rehab and as he tries to recover he takes a seamless innocent task of house sitting. However from the mood that Staalesen creates through carefully chosen words and topic, we understand that this won’t be a relaxing holiday.

Structurally, Bitter Flowers is built upon deceit but also fits in the category of what I like to refer to as a “fair-game”. Staalesen relays the events through the eyes of Varg that are infused with his character but we get a plethora of clues to be able to follow along and make our own minds up as to who the murderer is. But one mystery remains. What does the body in the swimming pool have to do with a missing persons case from over eight years ago to do with one another? Are they linked or are they two separate cases?

As a fan of the Harry Hole series, I relished the ninth instalment and I am really curious to do a deep dive in the series to see the character progression in the series. Laced with strong narrative and a impactful sense of place, Bitter Flowers is a must-read for Scandinavian noir fans. Bitter Flowers is now out in paperback from Orenda Books, which only highlights the powerhouse of books that the team there have lined up for us.

The Quiet People by Paul Cleave

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Thank you to Anne from Random Things Tours and Orenda Books for allowing me to take part in this amazing blog tour. All views are my own.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Paul Cleave is an author, which much more to my amazement have not heard before reading The Quite People, that has tackled a story many claim to have read before in the thriller genre. A child abduction leads to the parents being suspected of harming the child and trying to cover their tracks by reporting him missing. But that’s just the beauty of the thriller genre and why I return to it. Its multifaceted layers allow authors to explore endless possibilities in a premise. Pair that with a brilliant mind that asks all the right questions in the wrong places and you end up with a recipe for success. That is The Quiet People.

From the outside, this might look like your ordinary psychological thriller. But it isn’t even that. Nothing about The Quiet People was ordinary; from the writing to the characters and structure. A better description of The Quiet People is to think of it as three novels in one. Take Camerons POV and you end up with a brilliant psychological thriller that has at its centre a heartbreaking story of a father that loses everything. Take DI Kent and DI Thompson and you have a deliciously painful police procedural that can be a stand-alone story of its own. And then there is the prologue which although breaks every boundary set on a novel, can be expanded into a full-blown series on how devious antagonists can actually be.

Cleave has managed to find the cure to reading slumps all readers have been seeking for in this melange of convincing psychological thriller and heart racing police procedural.

While reading The Quiet People I did have moments in which I thought that there was no way the story would get any worse for its main protagonist, I was wrong. Cleave takes the ‘what-can-possibly-go-wrong-next’ to the next level with every chapter resulting in a compelling and unputdownable read. Many would see in The Quiet People a character-driven story but to me, it wasn’t exactly that. It was more a life story where equal opportunities were given to both the characters and the story to shine. And how brightly they do.

If I was asked to describe what Cleave has accomplished to do with this novel I would simply say find a remedy for reading slumps. Paced to brilliance, there is no dull moment to be found in The Quiet People. The story flows through the reader’s eyes, invoking emotions from cover to cover. It’s a rollercoaster of a read that will make you appreciate both the psychological aspects of our main narrator but also feel your heart thumping in your throat as those police procedural chapters appear seemingly out of nowhere. Don’t believe me? Go ahead. Read it and tell me I’m wrong.

Reading has started for me as a hobby but now, after reading The Quiet People I feel like I am more appreciative of the novels that are being written. Because they are so good and if they wouldn’t exist I would be so much less than who I am now. Cleave has accomplished what I thought was the impossible. Cleave got me excited to get writing again. And for that, Cleave will forever hold a very dear place in my heart.

The Quiet People is published by Orenda Books on 25/11/2021 and can be preordered here.

Psychopaths Anonymous by Will Carver

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Thank you to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for organising the blog tour and allowing me to be part of it. All views are my own.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

If you have read any of Carver’s books before, you know what he is capable of. At least I thought I knew. But the moment I started reading Psychopaths Anonymous I realised that this book, was nothing like any of the books that I read before.

What makes a reader read another book by an author? Is it the promise that the story they are about to embark on will be worth it? Or is it to find out how and more importantly how much their favourite author evolved?

These questions roamed around my head constantly as I read–no, devoured–Will Carver’s new book. I thought at first that I return to the Carververse because I know that no matter what the story will be about, it will be a bloody good one. This was confirmed to me by The Beresford–a Faustian story about unconventional deals in a house where it seems that there can’t be more than two tenants living at the same time. But I don’t think that is the only reason I return to read another Carver book. It’s more the thrill of not knowing what will come next. The thrill and fear to see what else has brewed in that twisted (in the best way possible) mind of his.

Psychopaths Anonymous is a genre defying masterpiece that will be remembered as the foundation of a new and exciting direction to the thriller and noir genre.

More often than not I’m intrigued by Carver’s mind. Psychopath Anonymous explores what would happen if a support group for psychopaths would exist. Seen from the perspective of Maeve, who is one of the best anti hero characters I’ve read in a very long time, we are taken on a journey of how such a group could be established. Sprinkle in some dark humour, let it simmer with murder and murderous intentions and then let it cook until complications and twists start to rise and you get yourself an enjoyable and original read.

With Psychopaths Anonymous, Carver took a risk. The thriller genre is pushed and blended into noir and then the noir genre is pushed and blended into psychological horror. In theory, this should be a recipe for disaster. But it isn’t. It works beautifully due to Carver’s ability to make his readers root of characters that are flawed in every single way. And with Psychopaths Anonymous, Carver’s writing reaches levels that I’m sure border on superhuman at this point.

Psychopaths Anonymous is by far the best instalment in the Carververse. It will not please everyone and I’m sure the intention wasn’t and isn’t to please everyone. Raw and unfiltered, Carver sets himself up as the author who is not afraid to make his readers scared of what will come next.

Line by Niall Bourke

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Thank you to Anne Carter and Tramp Press for allowing me to participate in this blog tour. All views my own.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Imagine that all you know is that you have to wait. You have to sit patiently in the Line until you reach your destination. You know as well that if you step out of the Line, you forfeit your place in it, and that there isn’t anything left out there just wild animals that are waiting, just like you, for their next meal. What would you do? Would you go against the instincts instilled in you ever since you were born that you have to remain in the Line? Or would you throw away all the sacrifices of the ones before you, and go into the unknown with the hope that it will be worth it.

To those who don’t know, dystopia holds a very deep place in my heart. There was one summer when all I read was dystopia and I craved more. It wasn’t some sick fascination with suffering but a need to see characters overcome the biggest challenges that a person could: their own limitations.

After reading Line, I’m happy to say that this is one of the best dystopia that I’ve read since The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. If you have read a dystopian novel before you know how important the story elements are in this genre. There needs to be enough promise, enough trouble and enough character development but most importantly there needs to be a worthy pay off and a satisfying ending to the story. And with Line, I can confirm that this checks all the boxes.

A horrifying tale bringing patience and overcoming the herd mentality to the forefront complemented by beautiful writing that will make a lasting impression on anyone who dares to open the cover, makes Line by Niall Bourke a stand-out.

The story develops from two points of view but we mainly follow Willard who has been born and raised in the Line. He knows what would happen if he would leave the Line. It even happened to his father. And to a certain degree Willard doesn’t mind this. He has his routine, collecting rations, caring for his mother but then something unexpected happens. The Line moves.

The story takes twists and turns and Bourke manages to captivate his readers by his unique writing style. Each sentence carries weight and if anything the tone to the story is set from the very beginning. Through out reading this book I felt more like someone telling me a story. A story that coincidentally I heard a couple of times from my parents from their experience during the communist period in Eastern Europe and how they used to be sent to wait in a line for hours for things that we now consider easily accessible.

Even after closing the cover to this book, I couldn’t find a fault to this story. There are many dystopian novels where at the end I would’ve like to change something. Especially the ending. But with Line, I feel that all the check boxes have been ticked and this book has the potential to be a classic in the dystopian genre without sacrificing its uniqueness or its authenticity. Definitely will be recommending this to everyone I know.

Thank you to Anne Carter who organised this tour and who introduced me to this marvelous book. Thank you to Tramp Press for bringing this book into the world and hopefully to many more to come. I would encourage anyone to go out and give this book a try because if anything this will be an eye opener and I would love to hear what you thought about Line.

The Killing Tide by Lin Anderson

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Thank you to Anne Carter and Pan Macmillan for giving me the opportunity to join this blog tour. All views are my own.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I was really excited and scared when I was presented with the opportunity to join the blog tour for Anderson‘s new novel The Killing Tide for two reasons. One, I wanted to read a Scottish novel from a Scottish author. And two, what better way to dive into Tartan Noir than with a well established series. However it was really scary to go into this book because I felt like a kid in school who hasn’t done his homework. After all, The Killing Tide is the 16th novel in the Dr Rona MacLeod series.

Cleverly written and plotted, The Killing Tide starts off with the last night of a storm. I loved this opening as it set the mood from the beginning. Having experienced storms in Scotland I almost felt that the wind was going to start knocking on my windows, that the tiles on my roof will fly away and I would be left to my own devices to face the storm.

But unlike the storms I am familiar with, the storm on Orkney Island, brings forward a drifting ship quickly identified as MV Orlova. For me as a crime fan and reader of crime fiction I thought that the ship had to be somehow linked to the overall ARC of the story however, I must applaud once again Anderson‘s brilliant plotting because I think I fallen exactly in the set-up net she has opened. Meanwhile in Glasgow, DS McNab with his partner attend what initially looks like a self-immolation but the scene tells a different story.

How are these two story lines linked? What has a ship in Orkney Islands have to do with a self-immolation in Glasgow?

Anderson is a master at twisting webs of stories with intricate details that stick under your skin and a fabulous cast of characters that all fight for the spotlight regardless of their role in the story.

The story moves at an incredible pace. I don’t know what was the last time I read a book in a sitting. Sentence after sentence and chapter after chapter I had to understand more. I needed to get to the end of the story to satisfy an itch, a curiosity. The Killing Tide is much more than a noir novel, or a crime novel. Having not read the rest of the story I was a bit reluctant because I thought that I’m not going to be able to enjoy these characters as much as the fans of the series. But to my surprise, I felt invested in these characters. In all of them, regardless of their role in the story.

Anderson doesn’t shy away in the novel to bring to the forefront difficult themes and addresses them in a great and original matter. From corruption to threats and murder every theme is explored in a tantalizing and vivid way. To a certain degree I did feel a bit bad for the characters. One of the greatest writing advice I have read when it comes to crime writing is always think ‘what’s the worst that can happen next to these characters?’. I think Anderson‘s writing really shows what this advice can do in a great setting and with a strong set of characters.

The Killing Tide is an engaging read that will keep you on the edge of your seat, filled with plot twists that some you will see coming and others not quite. I can’t really speak of it’s position in the series as I have not picked up any other books in the series yet, but I will definitely look into starting this series from the beginning.

The Killing Tide is published today by Pan Macmillan and I would encourage anyone who isn’t familiar with Lin Anderson’s books to go and grab it because it really is one of the most stellar crime-novels I read so far this year. Even if you aren’t a fan of crime novels and police procedural novels this book is a great start to get into the genre as this book is so much more than the hard-cut crime and police procedural novel.

The Basel Killings by Hansjoerg Schneider

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Thank you to Anne Carter for organising this blog tour and allowing me to be a part of it. All views are my own.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Police procedural have become a staple in the crime genre not only because they give an inside look to the everyday reader into the often romanticized police matters but because they are genuienly a joy to read. There are elements that make a police procedural great and most of these elements are being ticked off by in the debut of Schneider on the English market.

As the title gives away, the location at the centre of the story is set in Basel, Switzerland. One of the reasons why I chose to take part in this blog tour was due to the setting. I had yet to read a story set in Switzerland and when I heard it was also a police procedural I had to get my hands on it to see how the police works there.

I didn’t know in the beginning what to expect. Like all good crime novels, we are pushed straight into the story without much introduction to the characters. You are expected to carry through the story, to grow and learn to understand their feelings, and I can say it was a delightful ride. Inspector Hunkeler is the main character in the story, or better said the character through which we see the story develop. He is at the heart of an investigation and I often got the feeling that rather being inside the characters head, we are accompanying him, side by side.

With a great setting and an amazing set of characters, Schneiders sheds a light into the unglamorous life of Switzerland’s life of bars, bordellos and strip clubs.

The tone set by Schneider is I believe one of the strongest I have read in a translation fiction. Masterfully translated into English by Mike Mitchell, from the first sentence I understood that there is no way that the book I am about to read was like anything I read before. Sentences are often short, snappy and cold. Throughout the novel, the feeling for closure and coldness seeped out from the pages which in the end suited the story very very well.

With murders that seem to follow the same modus operandi the Inspector is quickly thrown into the unglamorous night life of bars and bordellos of Basel which Schneider doesn’t shy away to bring in front of the readers eyes. Some elements here reminded me a bit of the Noir elements also visited by Nesbo in his Harry Hole series, however Schneider manages to maintain a certain amount of originality. Often we don’t think about this when we think of Switzerland and I liked the juxtaposition Schneider managed to breathe inside my mind, making Switzerland feel more real.

Overall The Basel Killings is a strong debut novel which can be enjoyed by lovers of police procedurals due to the setting, by lovers of noir due to the tone and characters and lovers of thrillers due to the pacing especially towards the end of the novel. Schneider is definitely an author to keep your eyes on and I hope that Bitter Lemon Press will consider in the future continuing the translation of his future works.

Sleepless by Romy Hausmann

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Thank you to Joe Christie from Quercus for giving me the opportunity to join the blog tour and sending me an advance readers copy. All views are my own

Rating: 5 out of 5.

What if your friend would ask you for your help? Would you say yes even though you are in over your head? How far are you willing to go for your friendship? Would you help them cover up a murder?

Back in January I had come across a little book titled ‘Dear Child’. The cover was the first thing that drew me towards the novel, having never heard of its author, Romy Hausmann. January was a month where I wanted desperately to go back to my roots, to spending hours upon hours discovering the German literature in high school, reading the small printed Reklam Ausgaben that had the colorful covers that looked more like collectibles. I had instantly made a connection with Hausmann and after finishing Dear Child I had to write a review about it. Back then little did I know that Quercus probably had already started to work on Hausmann’s debut – Marta Schläft – and mentioned even in my review that I hoped this would be translated.

Of course I didn’t have any patience and had a friend of mine in Berlin go and buy the German edition of the book. ( I think that book got lost in transit since it never reached me in the UK -.-” ) But then I found out that Quercus was going to publish Marta Schläft (trans. Sleepless) and it was happening sooner than I thought. And I made myself a promise, that if a blog tour would be organised, I had to be part of it.

Thankfully and thanks to Joe Christie who was kind enough to make my dream come true, I was allowed to take part in the amazing blog tour for this novel and now the time has come for me to share my thoughts on Sleepless.

With a strong publishing debut, Hausmann solidifies her status as the Queen of German suspense; proving her skills and abilities as a writer.

Meine Gütte did I enjoy Sleepless. Usually when it comes to debuts, I spot from the very first few pages that this is the first book someone has written. However with Sleepless, I never had that feeling; Hausmann brilliantly executing a complex narrative told from three points of view and on three different timelines.

The story follows the events in the life of Nadja who has been raised in Poland but now lives in Berlin. Her childhood wasn’t the best but she is now ready (or at least to a certain degree) ready to leave the past in the past and focus on her future. She is living a some-what normal life. Nadja has a job, and an apartament, however living is not as easy as it is for others. Battling with mental health issues and anxiety, Nadja finds it at times difficult to go on the subway, doesn’t like large groups of people and in the eyes of others her living conditions aren’t the best.

But to a certain degree Nadja is on the path of getting better. That’s until her friend one day appears at her work and tells her she needs her help. Nadja doesn’t hesitate to help her and why should she? Her therapist had told her she needs to make connections, and build friendships. But with what her so called friend needs help with isn’t opening a jar or help clean out the house of unnecessary things that she gathered without noticing. It’s with hiding a body.

The story from here on unravels in rapid successions. Multiple POVs contribute to fill in the picture about Nadja’s past and how she got to be who she is today. I’m not going to spoil the ending but all I’m going to let you know is that it is worth every moment.

The way Hausmann structured the novel I think is genius. We start somwhere in the middle of the story, without any context. We don’t know what’s happening only that things are happening. I found the moment to open the story perfect because it gave plenty of time and opportunity to give sufficient information to the reader whilst allowing for the current timeline to flow naturally. It also helped the overall ARC of the story to avoid any soggy middles by turning up the dial on the tension in the present moment and making the readers ask themselves how someone cold end in such a terrible position.

Sleepless, if I hadn’t known it was Hausmann’s debut, I would have been certain that it was written by an experienced writer that has penned many novels before. Simply from the structure adopted, I can only imagine how a difficult of a task it has been for Hausmann to strike the perfect balance that she has achieved. Now, thinking back to it, I should’ve known that Hausmann is a master storyteller from reading the intricate and yet effortlessly executed Dear Child.

Sleepless is definitely a great read for anyone who wants to see what German thrillers are all about. And paired with Jamie Bulloch’s translation, it is a perfect read for new readers of translated fiction as well as hard core lovers of the genre. Sleepless is now out everywhere where good books are sold and you should definitely check it out.

Please make sure you check out the other amazing reviewers who are part of this blog tour as well as check out Duncan’s review from Fiction from Afar who is my go to person when it comes to translated fiction reviews.

The Secret War by Louise Burfitt-Dons

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Thank you to Anne Carter for giving me the opportunity to take part in this blog tour and to Louise Burfitt-Dons for sending me an advance readers copy of this novel. All views are my own.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Where is the line you draw between fiction and reality? What if the reality to you’ve been told to believe isn’t actually the reality at all? What if what others would quickly dismiss as a conspiracy theory is in fact what truly happened?

These are only a few of the questions that I found myself asking myself as I turned page after page in The Secret War by Louise Burfitt-Dons. I had my reservations about this book when I first saw the invitation from the lovely Anne to join this blog tour but I told myself that I needed to step outside of my comfort zone if I wanted to discover more books to love and adore. And spoiler alert… I don’t regret that decision.

With a very close to anyone’s heart premise, I dived deep into this action packed thriller following characters that were very well fleshed out and made me take an interest in the overall Karen Andersen series that Burfitt-Dons has penned.

With a chilling premise and twists and turns at every page, The Secret War is definitely the perfect read for lovers of Dan Brown and Blake Crouch thrillers.

Without spoiling the books content too much, the story centers around one particular premise that I have found gutsy. What if one of the biggest nations in the world would develop a bio-weapon to further their plans for the world? But going off of only this idea, and why I find this idea so intriguing and gutsy is that if this is not done right, the repercussions could be immense.

Having now read The Secret War I understand just how well these types of books can be written. There were many times where I had feared that the characterization might go wrong but the thrill of discovering the narrative as well as the plot only added to the excitement and thrill. With a strong list of characters, I found myself often swept into the story and my hyperactive imagination made come alive in my mind. And I’m not kidding, I really got some big Mr Robot vibes (but not to the extend where I found it too similar).

The Secret War is a unique story that flips the ‘What If?’ plot theory on its head and delivers a strong story told from multiple locations and points of view. I highly recommend this book to the lovers of action thriller genre but also to readers who have been enjoying Dan Brown’s thrillers and Blake Crouch.

I’m very thankful to Anne Carter and Louise Burfitt-Dons for allowing me to take part in this blog tour and if you haven’t already make sure you check out Varietats review form the 21st of June here. Also tomorrow is BooklyMatters turn over on instagram to share their thoughts on the book, so make sure you head over to her instagram account (@booklymatters) and give them a follow to check out their review.

The Secret War is now available to be order on Amazon and even is free to read on Kindle if you have a KindleUnlimited subscription. So there’s no reason why not to check this thrilling read.

The Girl on the Platform by Bryony Pearce

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Thank you to Avon Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All views are my own.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Today (23rd of May) it is my turn in the blog tour of The Girl on the Platform to let you guys know what I thought about this book. When I dived into it, I didn’t know if I knew what to expect.

From the outset we follow Bridget, who has had her daughter together with her husband Tom not long ago and who is battling what at first I thought to be postpartum depression.

On her way back from work, Bridget witnesses how a girl is snatched from one of the platforms. The train doesn’t stop on the platform and Bridget questions the other passengers to see if they saw the same thing as she did. Defeated, she realises that no one else saw the kidnapping of the little girl.

From there everything spirals out of control for Bridget. She can’t think of anything else but the girl that has been kidnapped. Although she reported the kidnapping, the police seem to not make any progress in finding out who has taken the girl. And she even doubts that they believe her claims.

Has Bridget really seen a kidnapping? Every one else tells her she had dreamt it, imagined it but she feels that there is more to it than a bad dream.

Uncomfortable and gut-clenching, The Girl on the Platform provides an important insight on mental health of mothers and the repercussions of not addressing these when they arise. 

Neglecting her marriage and neglecting her daughter, Bridget can only think of the girl who none except for her, it seems, will try to find her. She lies to Tom, she is exhausted being riddled with nightmares as a side effect of the drugs she is taking to battle her anxiety and depression and when things couldn’t get any worse, Social Services, appear at her house threatening to take her daughter.

In a culmination to the story we learn that Bridget’s own mother has made a case to Social Services to take her daughter for her own good. But why would she do that, and what would she have to gain from it? Well, I will not spoil the ending and would definitely recommend you to check out this book because the ending is something different from what you would expect from this sort of book.

If you pick up this book, be ready for an uncomfortable read that will make you feel sorry and confused at the same time (confused in a good way). The unreliable narrator in Bridget makes you the reader doubt everything you read to the degree of starting, even to doubt yourself of what you are reading. Pearce has done an outstanding job bringing the spotlight on mental issues and repercussions of them if we do not address them in a thrilling psychological novel that punches you in the gut with raw and uncomfortable scenes that feel a bit too real. 

The Girl on the Platform is out everywhere where excellent books are sold and I hope you will pick it up and share your thoughts with me.