I'll Find You by Liz Lawler

1.5 Stars

The blurb for this sounded so promising.  Emily Jacobs is in hospital for a routine procedure and she thinks she witnesses something, something that reminds her of her sister Zoe going missing one year ago.  She has never come to terms with Zoe's disappearance and now it looks like she has two mysteries to investigate.  I was really looking forward to this but, sadly, the tale really isn't up to the blurb.

The story itself lurches along in an increasingly bizarre set of circumstances that have more in common with a fantasy novel than a thriller.  There is a complete disconnect between real life and the story in this book, to say more would be to give away what is, I suppose, the big twist in the book - so I will bite my tongue and just say REALLY, as if anyone would think that is acceptable hygiene practice?

I think we are supposed to feel sorry for Emily, she is still hurting from her sister's disappearance but her sessions with Counsellor Eric are helping.  She still has regular contact with the Police as she hasn't given up looking even if they have had to move on.  Her parents are clearly alcoholic wastes of space.  Now she is being made to feel like she is losing her mind because of what she witnessed when coming round from her operation.  At first I did, but then misery upon misery is heaped on to the character and my attention slipped away - the scenarios are more American Daytime Soap Opera than pulse-pounding thriller.  It's hard to find any enjoyment in a book that tests your knowledge of the world so completely and relies, almost completely, on coincidence for the plot.

The bits I did enjoy were the medical information scattered throughout.  Although they do seem to be filler much of the time (get that word and page count up), I can see how showing Emily's competence as a nurse during the resuscitation of the hysterectomy patient helps to give lie to the perceived sense of her insanity.  Unfortunately, outside of that the plot is tissue thin and the characters are pretty much one-dimensional.

I did struggle to finish this book but I persevered to the bitter end and, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure it was worth it.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE