Wow - this was an absolutely cracking read! I loved it.
Fourteen year old Sadie, on holiday with her family in Cyprus, spends her days crushing on an attractive lifeguard, resenting having to look after her little brother, and wishing something dramatic would happen. Then it does - she gets a message from an unknown girl asking for help. The girl has been abducted, she says, and the people she is with aren't really her parents.
Meanwhile, detective inspector Amanda is also holidaying there with her young son, Otis. When the police become involved - including abduction specialist Zak, with whom Amanda has a personal history - she soon finds herself also deeply involved in the case, as the police race to identify who the girl could be.
There's not a lot of great parenting on show - I felt badly for many of these girls. The ending was emotional, though, and I did have a tear in my eye.
There are some great women characters - Mariliza the lifeguard, military police officer Sona, and Amanda herself are all thoroughly badass characters. Sadie is a believable teenage girl - opinionated, judgy of adults, but basically very awesome and no doubt has a great future ahead of her.
The ending seems to leave space for further outings for Amanda and Zak, and I'd definitely be in favour of that.
Highly recommended. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review!
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