A special three-in-one edition of Tania Carver’s powerful and unflinching The Surrogate , The Creeper , and Cage of Bones
In The Surrogate , a shocking double-murder scene greets Detective Inspector Philip Brennan when he is called to a flat in Colchester. Two women are viciously cut open and lying spread eagled, one tied to the bed, one on the floor. The woman on the bed has had her stomach cut into and her unborn child is missing. But this is the third time Phil and his team have seen such an atrocity. Two other pregnant women have been killed in this way and their babies taken from them. When psychologist Marina Esposito is brought in, Phil has to put aside his feelings about their shared past and get on with the job. But can they find the killer before another woman is targeted? In The Creeper , Suzanne Perry is having a vivid nightmare. Someone is in her bedroom, touching her, and she can’t move a muscle. She wakes, relieved to put the nightmare behind her, but when she opens the curtains, she sees a Polaroid stuck to the window. A photo of her, sleeping, taken during the night. And underneath, the “I’m watching over you.” Her nightmare isn’t over. In fact, it’s just beginning. Detective Inspector Phil Brennan of the Major Incident Squad is on the case, and quickly realizes that it isn’t just a serial killer he’s hunting. It’s something—or someone—infinitely more calculating and horrific. And much closer to home than he realized . . .
And in Cage of Bones , as a building awaits demolition, a horrifying discovery is made inside the a cage made of human bones—with a terrified, feral child lurking within. Unbeknownst to Detective Inspector Phil Brennan and psychologist Marina Esposito, they have disturbed a killer who has been operating undetected for thirty years. A killer who wants that boy back. But the cage of bones is also a box of secrets—secrets linking Brennan to the madman in their midst. With the death toll rising and the city reeling in terror, Brennan and Marina race to expose a predator more soullessly evil than any they’ve ever faced—and one who is hiding in plain sight.
I was in a reading slump and decided to try these since they are free at Kindle Unlimited. Definite page turners so I breezed right through them. They are pretty graphic so I would not recommend to anyone who is the least faint hearted. The authors have created characters who are easy to relate to and that was what I probably enjoyed the most about these books. My favorite out of the three is Cage of Bones. If you're into thrillers, you may want to check these out!
There were many parts of the book that were difficult to read due to the dark theme of the book: a psycho killer murdering pregnant women and taking their babies. Still, the book was well written and kept me wondering how it would all be resolved.
Before you read my review, I just need to say that I DID enjoy reading these books and my thoughts are purely an assessment of what I would like to see in Ms. Carver's future novels. The books capture your attention from the first sentence, but seem to peter off from there. The main characters are peculiar and relationships stilted. The storylines and villains have such great potential, but definitely could do with more "meat", i.e: what is going on in the killer's head and more description on the actual crime - most of it is left to the reader's imagination. The dialogue does not flow in certain places, especially where the character is upset or distressed.
The books were okay. The stories were interesting. However, I find it hard to believe that so many people, different scenarios within the books, could be that dim witted. Let's just hide info from the police/good guys/each other for the sake of the plot. And Marina, ugh, Marina, I just glossed over her pages. Wah wah wah. By the third book, she was less annoying, but I had to suffer through two books of her already.