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Search tags: Michael-Robotham
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review 2020-05-10 15:06
Fast paced thriller
When she was good - Michael Robotham

Evie Cormac is a damaged child living in a secure children's home, but now on the run. No one knows her true identity, no one wants to find her more than forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven himself traumatised by the brutal death of his own family. Evie's life is in danger as witness to a murder she is targeted by those who wish her dead, and the secrets that she knows, and those she can expose will die with her. A fast paced and very enjoyable thriller told in the first person alternating between the characters of Cyrus and Evie. This is a form of story telling that the author uses to great effect keeping the tension taut and the readers attention from first to last page. Many thanks to the good people at netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review, and that is what I have written.

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review 2018-09-02 22:53
Secrets She Keeps
The Secrets She Keeps - Michael Robotham,Lucy Price-Lewis

Meghan is a popular mommy blogger married to Jack, a sportscaster.  They have two beautiful children, six-year-old Lucy and four-year-old Lachlan, and Meghan is pregnant with their third child.  Agatha, who works part-time stocking shelves at the London grocery, is an avid fan of the blog and watches Meghan from afar until a chance encounter in the store leads to a friendship.  Agatha tells Meghan that she is also expecting a baby, right around Meghan's due date.  

 

The novel switches back and forth between Meghan's and Agatha's first-person, present-tense narration.  Agatha has struggled to get in touch with Hayden, deployed overseas with the Royal Navy, to tell him that their brief liaison has led to a pregnancy.  Eventually, her communication with a navy liaison forces the issue and compels him to get in touch by Skype.

 

Although the title refers to the secrets "she" keeps, there are multiple characters keeping secrets, and not all of them are female.  The novel is not really a "whodunit," because the "it" unfolds so that the reader knows the doer, and the suspense comes from how the events unfold and how law enforcement figure out what has happened.  I won't get into more detail than that (to avoid spoilers), but I found this book utterly addictive.  

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review 2018-03-09 18:48
The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham
The Secrets She Keeps - Michael Robotham
I thought this book was going to be another five star read but alas it failed me near the end but I can’t tell you why because that would spoil everything and I’m not that much of a jerk. I’ll only say that I was wishing for a meaner end to it all and I’ll leave it at that. Maybe I’m just in a bad mood because I listened to this through a haze of back pain and a bout of the plague. Or maybe it’s because I read it directly after the fabulously evil “Behind Her Eyes” by Sarah Pinborough. Either way it’s getting four stars from me because of the end and how bloodless it felt to me.

Agatha is pregnant. Her baby’s daddy is “over-seas” and is not returning her calls but she doesn’t let that worry her. “He was like an everlasting packet of chocolate biscuits” and she knew he’d be back so she could have another taste. She works at a supermarket and spends all of her free time spying on another pregnant woman named Meg. Agatha believes Meg has the perfect life and she tries to emulate her by getting the same haircut while daydreaming about them being besties. And then one day it happens! Meg’s life isn’t quite so perfect and she’s made some mistakes but the biggest one is letting Agatha into her life. . .

This is a book about secrets just as the title promises. Even though I’ve seen it compared to those “twisty” books, there is really no big surprising twist in this one. There isn’t even a little twist, just a much anticipated reveal and that’s fine by me. You know what’s going on as you are right there in the characters heads the entire time and it’s pretty easy to see what the “reveal” is because although these people lie to everyone else they don’t lie to themselves, at least not for very long. Some of them do horrifying and shocking things but the author managed to make me feel sympathetic towards them despite everything. That rarely happens. These people felt real. Messed up and desperate? Sure but always real. Their secrets were all eventually laid bare to the reader as the story comes to its tense and action packed conclusion. I think most people will probably enjoy the end so don’t pay any attention to me. Also, if you have a little voice in your head that you call ‘creature’ you probably shouldn’t listen to it.

The narrator is pretty awesome with the dual narration so go with audio if you like them. 
 
 

 

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review 2018-01-06 22:08
Ich fühle mich beobachtet
Erlöse mich: Psychothriller - Michael Robotham

Es ist kein Geheimnis: ich habe einen Hang zu Psychothrillern. Ob das eine gute oder eher fragwürdige Neigung ist, sei mal dahingestellt. 

"Erlöse mich" ist anscheinend der 9. Band einer Reihe. Ich muss sagen: ist mir nicht unbedingt aufgefallen. Offensichtlich ist der Psychologe Joe O'Loughlin immer der Hauptcharakter in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Polizisten Vincent Ruiz. Wahrscheinlich haben sie schon viel erlebt und eine bedeutungsschwangere Beziehung. Ist mir aber egal, bzw. habe ich jetzt nicht vermisst und ich hatte auch nicht das Bedürfnis zuerst die vorangegangenen 8 Bände zu lesen. Es ist in sich schlüssig. In meinen Augen könnte es in den ersten 2/3 schon etwas mehr Psycho sein und nicht "nur ein Erörtern, ob der Ehemann der Darstellerin nun abgehauen oder verschwunden ist". Doch zum Ende hin wird es tatsächlich ziemlich beängstigend - es geht eigentlich um einen Mann, der die Darstellerin seit Jahren beobachtet hat und sie "gerächt" hat (die Wahrnehmung des leicht durchgedrehten Mannes...). Durch andere verstörende Erlebnisse hat die Darstellerin eine zweite, männliche Persönlichkeit entwickelt, die sie am Ende rettet. Mit dezent schockierendem Ausmaß. 

Es gibt dennoch etwas viel Abstruses, so zum Beispiel, dass der "Rächer" eigentlich der Vater der Darstellerin ist. Das finde ich ja mal vollkommen unnötig. Manchmal ist es auch zu viel...

Nichtsdestotrotz kein schlechter Psychothriller.

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review 2017-07-24 00:00
The Secrets She Keeps
The Secrets She Keeps - Michael Robotham From the moment I picked up The Secrets She Keeps I was sold. This story grips you from the start and I found it impossible to put down until as this was a psychological thriller that exceeded my expectations and I think 2017 has really put good psychological thrillers back on the shelf.

A riveting suspense novel about the unlikely friendship between two pregnant women that asks: how far would you go to create the perfect family

This was my first novel by Michael Robotham and I was really impressed by his writing as the characters were real and complex and the plot suspenseful and devious. I read this over a very busy few days and I found myself itching to escape from company on many occasions over the weekend to delve deeper into the lives of Agatha and Meghan and uncover their secrets.

This is a character driven, skilfully plotted page turner that I thoroughly and I can't wait to read more by Robotham.
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