Objects of Desire

by C.J. Emerson

A new life in Wales has not turned out to be the rural fantasy that social worker Jess imagined when she left London. Having put the memories of her previous harrowing cases behind her, she had hoped to embark on a simpler, more fulfilling future, but it seems there's no escape from evil, even in such a beautiful landscape. Just as Jess takes on a new case, she learns that the body of a young boy has been found in the woods close to her home. Her worst nightmare becomes reality as she realises he was a child she was supposed to protect. As her professional life gets harder to deal with, Jess is forced to come to terms with her own past when someone unexpectedly reappears. She finds herself crossing the line from investigator to victim, forced to question the very basis of her identity, and she can only wonder: who's there to protect the protector?

414 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[El · Rating 2 out of 5]

A strange mix of a book. An interesting plot and well-written but we are meant to believe that a trained Social Worker would receive an email saying (SPOILER ALERT) that the sender is her daughter (given up for adoption at birth) and the Social Worker believes this with not one iota of proof to back it up? And the Social Worker, having been warned by the police not to deal with X then goes alone and without informing anybody to a lonely and deserted place to meet X where she can be abducted by the Baddie. Though the book has great promise it is not fulfilled, particularly at the denouement where the author just seems to have run out of ideas and winds it all up neatly without any details. Disappointing.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mmmm...an okay read but a bit of an odd mix & I feel a bit cheated by the cover comment describing it as a "...stark, contemporary modern gothic with a plot like a nest of seething vipers" (Okay I'll admit that I'm not exactly sure what that means but I don't feel I got it!)

The blurb tells you all you need to know to get the gist of the story & it certainly has potential but it just didn't do it for me. I didn't find the characters credible. Was Jess naive, gullible or just downright stupid?

Somethings seemed to be skipped - left to the readers imagination? - or passed over in a way that it wasn't always obvious if something had...or hadn't...happened - although it could have been the fact that my concentration wasn't all it should have been! To be fair, there are one or two good twists along the way. At one point, a "twist" jumped out & slapped me in the face & yet for all I was right about it, things still took a further turn that I didn't expect. It's a decent enough plot but it could have been so much more. I felt I was constantly waiting for the point where I'd be hooked but it wasn't to be & ultimately I wasn't convinced by how it all supposedly came together.

Overall, not a bad read, certainly intriguing enough to make me want to get to the end but not good enough to say "I liked it".

[Mary Arkless · Rating 2 out of 5]

Borrowed from the library. Actually, I only read this book, because the library had a special Valentine's Day display. They had chosen a number of books and gift wrapped them. They added a brief note with a few lines from the book and a little feedback form you could fill in and place into a box when you returned the book. Well, I picked up the book in early February, but then had some requested books with short borrowing periods, so didn't get to this straight away, and then we have lockdown because of Covid-19. The libraries are all closed, and we are to keep the books until further notice. Originally all books were extended to 1 June, and now 1 July. There is no indication when they will reopen.

So, it wasn't really my cup of tea. I didn't really feel for the main character, I just found her difficult to relate to. I really didn't care for the violence in the last third of the book. There was quite a clever twist in the story, which I suppose was the main inspiration for the author. I don't regret reading the book, but I won't be looking out for books by the same author.

[arjuna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely structured, well-written, compelling, but ultimately unsatisfying - a bit too neatly resolved by Defect In Villain (indeed, by the villain himself); his actions at the last are somewhat less credible than those of other characters and the resolution seems more than a little rushed/shoehorned as a result. That aside, author shows a deal of both competence and promise - I look forward to reading more.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not too.. does start a little slow.. kind of made me lose focus a little, other than that - keeps you on your edge.