I finished Lost Girls last night and this series gets better and better.  Usually, I binge read a series when I find a good one but this time I'm going to mix it up.  I actually was going to read another book instead of this one but I didn't have it loaded on either of tablet or Chromebook.  I think I made a great choice resuming the series.

Lost Girls finds us with D.I. Kim Stone being assigned to a case instead of demanding to be put on a case after she was asked to do an initial interview after a parent of a kidnapped girl asked for her by name.  The biggest thing about the kidnapping is that it wasn't one girl but two girls.  Best of friends with families that always did things together.  Marsons takes us on a very journey through this case through Kim's eyes and the result is an easy to read detective story about a D.I. that is like a bulldog and won't let go of anything and while she refuses to get personal, touchy-feely she still takes and makes everything personal. To me, it is really a good series so far and worth reading.

A very good 4 star read!

Lost Girls by Angela Marsons

Book 3 in the D.I. Kim Stone Series

Kim went to the gym and said she was on police business. There were rows of machines and she found her target. All Kim cared about was one women’s involvement in the death of nineteen year old Dewain . Kim straddled the machine and the shock on Tracy Frost’s face almost pierced her rage. Than Kim asked how Tracy could break that story. Because of Tracy Dewain was dead now. Dewain had been a teen from the Hollytree estate and been in a gang called the Hollytree Hoods for about three years but had wanted to get out. The gang got wind of it and stabbed him and left him for dead . But a passerby performed CPR . That was when Kim called to investigate attempted murder. Her first instruction was only his family was to know Dewain was still alive . It would get back to the gang and they would find a way to finish him off. Kim had spent the night by his bed he would breath on hi sown. She had wanted to know the brave young man who had decided gang life wasn’t for him. Kim had begged Tracy not to break the story but Tracy did anyways. Kim said she would find a way to make her pay for what she did. Tracy said she would have Kim’s job for that. Kim was a loner, and a survivor after a bad childhood , totally devoted to her job but also had a big heart that she managed to keep hidden. Kim got a call from her boss to come into the station on what was suppose to be her day off. There was Superintendent Baldwin in the office also and Kim had only ever seen him on TV. Kim was told to sit down. Then she was told there was an abduction this morning of two young girls- she asked if it was like the last  time. She hadn’t been part of the investigation but she had been interested. One of the girls hadn’t come back last time and her body was never found. Her boss said they weren’t sure but initially it appeared so. The two girls had been best friends and last seen at the Old Hill Leisure centre. Both mothers had received a text to confirm the girls had been kidnapped. Woody was there and said they ordered a media blackout. Than Kim was told she was requested to head the case by one of the parents and the parents wouldn’t speak to anyone else. The girls were Charlie Timmons and Amy Hanson and were nine years old. The mother requesting Kim was Karen and said she was a friend of Kim’s. Kim knew no Karen timmons and she definitely wasn’t a friend as kim had no friends. But then Kim was given her maiden name of Holt. Kim said this woman was no friend of hers. When Kim got to Karen’s home an officer opened the door and let her know the other mother was there also. Elizabeth was the other mother. Kim wanted to be lead officer and did get the job on request her boss was putting both their butts on the line. Bryant and Kim went back to the centre and set the alarm off to get someone there to open it up. Brad came through. Looking at the film from the camera security system and after talking to Brad they got a description of the kidnapper and was told he was a cop. So someone was impersonating a cop . Then they went back to the film and saw a woman watching the changing room and when the girls came out she hid her face. The girls knew this woman. The kidnappers second message pitted the once close friends against each other to get their daughter back. The couple who offers the highest ransom will get their daughter back. The kidnappers targeted wealthy families that are best friends. Kim seems to be outwitted at every turn and uncovers a trail of dead bodies. Kim realizes these are the most deadliest killers she has ever been against.

I totally loved this book. It had a great plot and pace. I advise you to read the other books in this series for a smoother read, This has a lot of suspense and intrigue.  9i was on the edge of my seat a lot while reading this book and I didn’t want to put it down. This had my attention form the first page until the last. This had great writing. I couldn’t find anything to criticize in this book happily. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I highly recommend it.

This review contains some light spoilers (maybe?).

I saw this book being recommended on instagram. I'm on vacation but at the end of the semester, so I've really fallen out of reading for pleasure (it's difficult to want to read anything after reading 200 pages for class). This seemed like a quick read, so I picked it up.

I'm torn on how to rate this book. The writing is very good and kept me reading. It reminded me a lot of Celeste Ng's books. I finished in about two days. But the story itself ended up being rather unsatisfying in the end.

The book alternates between the past and the present, but the two timelines felt so disjointed that I wonder why the author didn't just concentrate on one or the other. The girls in the past and the girls in the present (with a few exceptions) felt like entirely different characters. Poor Andee seemed to have no character and isn't even the hero of her own section her younger sister is (though because she is so boring up until then, I found the start of her section incredibly confusing and had to keep reminding myself which kid had been at camp...).

The girls in the past also don't read like kids. I wish they had been aged up a bit. I think their characters and actions would have made more sense for 12/13 year olds than for 9-11 year olds.

In all, I think this book is best enjoyed the way I read it: quickly and with no idea what you're getting yourself into.

Inhaltsangabe

Als die Freundinnen Charlie und Amy nicht nach Hause kommen, beginnt für ihre Familien ein wahrer Albtraum. Eine SMS lässt wahr werden, was alle befürchteten: Die zwei neunjährigen Mädchen wurden entführt. Nur das Paar, das den höchsten Betrag zahlt, wird seine Tochter wiedersehen. Das andere nicht. Längst tickt die Uhr für Detective Inspector Kim Stone und ihr Team, doch die Täter sind ihr immer einen Schritt voraus. Von Stunde zu Stunde verringert sich die Chance, die beiden unversehrt zu ihren Familien zurückzubringen. Stone gibt ihr Äußerstes, um den Fall zu lösen. Sonst muss eines der Kinder den höchsten Preis für ihr Versagen zahlen – sein Leben.

Meine Meinung 

Das Positivste zuerst. Dieses Jahr habe ich mit dieser Reihe begonnen und nun Band 3 gelesen. Nach den ersten beiden Bänden war mir schnell klar, dass ich an Kim Stone nicht vorbeikomme. Umso mehr hat es mich gefreut, dass zum Jahresende noch ein dritter Teil in Deutschland erschienen ist.

Pluspunkte der ersten beiden Bände. Eine unheimlich starke und interessante Protagonistin, welche nicht davor zurückschreckt ihre Frau zu stehen und spannende Fälle, die den Leser an das Buch fesseln.

Diesen Standard gilt es also zu halten und eventuell noch zu toppen.

Kim Stone kann sich gleich auf den ersten Seiten wieder behaupten und schon da wusste ich, dass ich mit diesem Buch in der Hand wieder sehr richtig liege. Kim nagelt die Reporterin Tracy im Fitnessstudio an die Wand, weil Kim ihrer Schlagzeilengeilheit die Schuld am Tod eines Gangaussteigers gibt.

Der Prolog des Buches wies den Leser aber gleich in die Richtung, in die der hier beschriebene Fall gehen wird. Kindesentführung. Ein interessantes Thema, welches aber nicht zum ersten Mal in einem Buch besprochen wird.

Aber ich würde nicht so viel von der Autorin halten, wenn ich nicht gewusst hätte, dass Angela Marsons aus diesem Thema etwas Besonderes macht.

Als die beiden neunjährigen Mädchen Charlie und Amy entführt werden, ist es Kim, die diese Ermittlungen leiten soll, denn Charlies Mutter ist ein Schatten aus Kims prägender Vergangenheit und weiß, dass nur Kim Stone ihre Tochter unversehrt zurückbringen wird.

Zwei entführte Mädchen, zwei befreundete Familien, zwei Täter und diese eine SMS, in der die Entführer den Eltern mitteilen, dass nur diejenigen ihr Kind wiederbekommen, welche die höchste Summe für ihr Kind bieten.

Diese Idee, welche die Autorin meiner Meinung nach super in die Geschichte eingebaut und umgesetzt hat, war unheimlich interessant zu verfolgen. Denn hier kommen nicht nur die Emotionen und Reaktionen der beiden Elternpaare durch. Nein, auch das eigene Gewissen wird angeregt.

Wie würde man selbst in so einer Lage reagieren?

Kann eine Freundschaft zwischen den Elternpaaren so eine Situation überhaupt überleben?

Und das i-Tüpfelchen ist, dass es vor einem Jahr bereits einen sehr ähnlichen Entführungsfall gab und nur eines der Mädchen zu ihrer Familie zurückgekehrt ist.

Für Kim und ihr Team läuft ein erschreckender Countdown ab.

Wer einen Spannungsbogen erwartet, der bekommt ihn hier in mehrfacher Hinsicht. Durch den häufigen Perspektivwechsel zwischen Kim, den Tätern und den Opfern schafft Marsons eine fesselnde Atmosphäre. Ihr Schreibstil tut das Übrige.

Absoluter Pageturner!

Mein Fazit

Angela Marsons schafft es wieder mich total zu begeistern. Für mich ist dieser Fall mit seinem expliziten Thema sogar der bisher beste Band der Reihe.

Man konnte miträtseln, mitfiebern und vor allem mithoffen.

Meiner Meinung nach hätte nichts besser gemacht werden können.

Ich mag die besonderen Fälle und ich mag Kim Stone wie zur ersten Stunde!

Absolute Leseempfehlung des Buches bzw. der Reihe.

Wer das mehr zu Kim und ihrer Vergangenheit erfahren möchte, sollte meiner Meinung mit dem ersten Band der Reihe beginnen. Ruck zuck seid ihr dann bei Band 3.