Book Review: Silent Scream by Angela Marsons

Title: Silent Scream - A D.I. Kim Stone Novel (Book 1) 

Author: Angela Marsons

Publisher: Bookouture

Availability/RRP : eBook/Kindle - £1.99 (You can pre-order now for £0.99) Paperback - £7.99 

Publishing Date: 20th February 2015 

A Page of Love Rating: 






BOOK DESCRIPTION: 

When a headmistress is found brutally strangled, the death marks the beginning of a spate of gruesome murders that shock the Black Country. 

But as human remains are discovered at a former children’s home, disturbing secrets are also unearthed. D.I. Kim Stone fast realises she’s on the hunt for a twisted individual whose killing spree spans decades. 

As the body count rises, Kim needs to stop the murderer before they strike again. But to catch the killer, can Kim confront the demons of her own past – before it’s too late? 

DAWN'S THOUGHTS: 

OMG!! I warn you now, this review may not be as calm and composed as my others because I am just too excited about this book, so it may be a long excited rant from me.

Firstly, this book is of a genre that I have NEVER read before, and therefore I have never thought about reviewing or showcasing here on  A Page of Love. But I am so glad that I gave it a chance. I read it within a week, I could have read it much quicker but as a University student I was time limited. Anyway, when I first saw Bookouture debut the cover on Facebook, my first reaction was and after reading it still is; 

This looks (and is) perfect for any fans of Broadchurch, or Suspects. 

I'd now go as far to say that if you love watching programs such as; Rosemary & Thyme, Midsummer Murders, Lewis, perhaps a bit of CSI, then you will love this book. 

I won't go into what you will read in this book for two reasons; firstly I really don't want to spoil it for you and if I began talking about the plot, then I know i'd ramble on and spoil it, and secondly, I have a small excerpt for you at the end of this review. What I will say is that I loved it from start to finish. 

This book is set in the Black Country, an area I know and also an area my father worked in as a Police Officer. I can attest that this book is very very accurate in its location descriptions (names too!) and as I was reading it I found myself actually mind transporting myself to the location. The actual crime site is a place I know and when Angie spoke of looking across to the crematorium, I could easily imagine it as it was in that very crematorium that we held the service when my Father passed away in 2004 (which coincidentally was attended by hundreds of retired Police Officers/Inspectors etc) so it all felt incredibly real to me, if not a little raw. I know my Father would have been intrigued and very much eager to read this novel, and to be honest, I would have been listening to him begging me to speak to Angie about it all and then he would have rambled on about his 33 years of service in the force and told her all about the murders her attended... Throughout reading, it was almost as though I could hear him in my mind telling me all this. 

Back to the book (I warned you i'd ramble a bit with excitement), The characters and the rapport between them is brilliant, the dialogue is believable, and the whole entire story kept me on the edge of my seat as I tried to crack the case with Kim Stone.

Kim, is a strong character, she is intuitive, she is gutsy, she is determined and she is passionate. She is everything that you'd want in a D.I. and I think Angie has created one of the top crime characters in our time. I really do. I think if she were to be transported to Broadchurch, she'd whip them all into shape! 

At times the book was gruesome beyond belief (for me - a crime fiction virgin), especially when you read the 'thoughts' of the murderer and I felt my stomach churn, my eyes stung with the revolt of such crimes, but as much as that could have put me off, I had to take a reality check, that in fact we are sadly, living in times when crimes like this does happen, and the police force has to face this every day, and for that, I think Angie has written a very accurate account in fiction form. This made it believable, and when we read fiction, we want to be sucked in, and we want to believe in the characters, Angie has made that happen in Silent Scream. 

I was guessing right up until the end about who had committed such acts, and whilst I shed tears towards the end, and I completely got the criminal wrong (clearly I don't have my Father's Nose for solving crime)... I had a damn good time reading it and I'm ready for the next case...the next book. 

Please don't let us have to wait long Angie... You have converted me to actually wanting to read crime fiction. 

I'll leave you to read the excerpt now, and encourage you to buy it, read it and PLEASE let me know your thoughts on this book. 



"Five figures formed a pentagram around a freshly dug mound. Only they knew it was a grave. Digging the frozen earth beneath the layers of ice and snow had been like trying to carve stone but they’d taken turns. All of them. An adult-sized hole would have taken longer.

The shovel had passed from grip to grip. Some were hesitant, tentative. Others more assured. No one resisted and no one spoke. The innocence of the life taken was known to them all but the pact had been made. Their secrets would be buried. 

Five heads bowed towards the dirt, visualising the body beneath soil that already glistened with fresh ice. As the first flakes dusted the top of the grave, a shudder threaded through the group. The five figures dispersed, their footprints treading the trail of a star into the fresh, crisp snow. It was done."


ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Angela Marsons was born and raised in the Black Country and still lives there, along with her long-term partner, as well as a bouncy Labrador and a potty-mouthed African Grey parrot. Although she has been writing since her early teens, Silent Scream is her first novel.
Angela discovered a love of writing at Primary School when a short piece on the rocks and the sea gained her the only merit point she ever got.
Angela wrote the stories that burned inside and then stored them safely in a desk drawer.
After much urging from her partner she began to enter short story competitions in Writer's News resulting in a win and three short listed entries.
She used the Amazon KDP program to publish two of her earlier works before concentrating on her true passion - Crime.

After many, many submissions Angela was signed in a 4 book deal to http://bookouture.comas their first crime author.

Her first book SILENT SCREAM will be published in February 2015.