Good Evening!

Here we are, the 3rd day of 2019 and I’m posting my first review of the year. Boy oh boy it’s a goody. Thank you Avon books for this ARC of In Safe Hands by J.P. Carter. This was one of those books that I was excited to write about not long after I had started reading it. I’m probably not going to write too long a review for this one as I really really don’t want to give away any spoilers. I want anyone that decides to read this after reading my review to experience it just as I did.

Nine toddlers are snatched from a nursery in South London and not many people hold hope that they will be seen again. Nine sets of parents are devastated, distressed and panicked regarding the safety of their children and are pleading with police to do everything that they can to bring them back home safely. DCI Anna Tate is leading the investigation and knows that all criminals make mistakes, there has to be something out there to give them the lead they so desperately need. As the kidnappers start demanding ransom money before turning the children loose, time is rapidly running out and it is already clear that at least one child will be fighting for his life.

Wow. Just wow. I enjoyed every chapter, page, paragraph, word of this book. I was on edge the entire time and quite literally felt like I was living it as I was reading it. J.P. Carter has written pure magic here in that the book reads like you’re following the investigation in real time. I felt like I was watching a breaking news story on TV, following every update as it unfolded.

DCI Anna Tate is my new favourite fictional detective. I love the way she was written in way in which I thought of her as a bad ass and a vulnerable woman all at the same time.

The characters of the parents struck a chord with me big time. They all had completely natural, expected and understandable reactions to this unthinkable crime that had been inflicted upon them, yet they were all different. I empathised with the shock, the anger, the despair and with some of their moments of feeling nothing but numb.

What a book to kick off the year! I had already text my best friend less than half way through saying “YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK!” August 2019 cannot come quick enough, I can’t wait to be reunited with DCI Anna Tate. I can only hope that this 5 star banger is a sign of many more good reads to follow in 2019!

😍😍😍😍😍