The Ones You Trust in Aussie Readers

Nov 10, 2018 PattyMacDotComma rated it really liked it

Shelves: australian-author, kindle, mystery-crime-thriller, fiction, arc-netgalley-done, aa

4★
“No knees after forty. No cleavage, ever, including toe cleavage (no open sandals.) Hair not too short but not too long either. One set of earrings only and none that dangled. No T-shirt slogans.”

Even worse, no sleeping in and having brekky with the family. Emma has to get up at 3 am to get to wardrobe and makeup in time for her star turn as co-host of ‘Cuppa’, the most popular breakfast show on Australian television. Well, it was, until Emma has been outshone by a rival network’s show, ‘Brew’ ...more

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Dec 14, 2018 Robin rated it liked it

This was a pacy psychological suspense, with well-portrayed characters. It drew me in and I had to keep reading, but the final twist at the end spoilt it - it was totally unbelievable, out of character for the person involved and I felt it was just added for shock value; hence the 3 star rating.

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Aug 01, 2018 Bree T rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: australian, suspense, arc, mystery, thriller

This book was…..wow!

I’d heard good things before I started – I knew a couple of people that had already read it and were really singing its praises and I’ve loved several of Caroline Overington’s previous books so my expectations were probably quite high going in, which can sometimes be a bit of a problem. However not in this case.

Emma Cardwell works as a morning TV host (like Sunrise or Today if you’re Australian, or maybe a Good Morning America sort of thing) and she is at the studio at the cr This book was…..wow!

I’d heard good things before I started – I knew a couple of people that had already read it and were really singing its praises and I’ve loved several of Caroline Overington’s previous books so my expectations were probably quite high going in, which can sometimes be a bit of a problem. However not in this case.

Emma Cardwell works as a morning TV host (like Sunrise or Today if you’re Australian, or maybe a Good Morning America sort of thing) and she is at the studio at the crack of dawn and often works late into the afternoon and then has events to attend, publicity to create. She has recently been ‘papped’ and had unflattering pictures of her taken on a beach which have been splashed across news pages, making for cruel remarks and jibes about her steadily creeping weight, making her quite vulnerable and fearful of her position in front of the entire country on camera every morning. She and her husband have three children, the youngest of which is only about eighteen months old and attends a day care. They employ a nanny for school drop offs, pick ups and various other tasks, including the day care run. One day Emma is home late and when she goes in to say goodnight to her youngest child, Fox-Piper, she isn’t in her cot. No one picked her up from daycare that day……

Emma is frantic and her position as a well known public face basically means that this story runs 24/7. There’s CCTV footage discovered from the mall that the daycare is in, of Fox-Piper with someone that no one in the family can identify. But as of yet there’s been no demand, no communication. The police know that those first 24 hours are absolutely critical. So far they have no real leads and the chaos of Emma’s position in the media is only complicating matters.

This is just a masterfully told story. It’s a biting insight into television and the role ‘ageing’ (and by that I mean 40s & onwards) women are dealt. It shows how everything is an opportunity for promotion and the micromanaging of television presenters and what goes on behind the scenes (I found the role of Maven absolutely fascinating and also slightly horrifying). There’s the pressure of ratings and constantly being in competition with a similar show on a rival network and always feeling that hanging over you, the constant need to always perform well, better than that other show. When Fox-Piper goes missing, it becomes the lead running story and there’s plenty of theories and judgemental commentary because Emma is a public figure and she’s the breadwinner of her household, working what would probably be termed very unsociable and definitely not friendly hours for having a family. On paper her and her husband Brandon, an American look to have the perfect marriage, raising their three beautiful children and living the dream in a fantastic home. But not everything is as it seems!

This book hauled me in from the first page and kept me hooked the whole way through. I found the mystery element really interesting (who had Fox-Piper, why, how on Earth did they get her out of her daycare without being one of the approved people etc) but I also just really liked the social commentary and exploration of human nature. The dynamics in Emma and Brandon’s relationship, Emma’s working relationship with her male cohost, the role of the producer and publicity and how the wheels of TV kept turning in a never ending war for ratings and success and the way in which audiences were often manipulated. Emma was presented as likeable and sort of ‘girl next door’ – not so beautiful or thin that she was intimidating, a career woman who worked hard but who was also an amazing wife and mother. The sort of woman you’d like to have as a good friend.

The writing, plotting and pace are impeccable. And I’m notorious for not guessing twists and endings but – wow. The twists in this I did not see coming at all and they blew me away. Just when you think you kind of have it figured out, there’s something else that happens and it just steps it up a whole other gear. It went in so many places that I didn’t expect going into it and the end! So, so good. Horrifying in a way, but still. So, so good.

Loved this. Caroline Overington has written a lot of good books in her time and I Came To Say Goodbye holds such a special place for me but I think this is her best yet.

***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of an honest review*** ...more

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Nov 03, 2018 Rina rated it liked it · review of another edition

A TV Celebrity’s daughter is missing, and it has now become a high profile, high stake investigation where police, media, and paparazzis are engaged in a race to solve the case. Quite interesting plot for the new psychological thriller from Caroline Overington.

Having read tons of thrillers, this book didn’t really surprise me anymore. It would be good for a beginner thriller reader, as the characters are distinct and the plot follows sequential streamline, thus easy to follow.

I like Emma, the ma ...more

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Sep 30, 2018 Nikki Sims-Chilton rated it really liked it

Original review on the Beauty and Lace page: http://bookgirl.beautyandlace.net/boo...

It’s a parent’s worst nightmare – your child going missing…. That sinking feeling when you can’t see them for a minute in a shopping centre, let alone them disappearing for hours on end from day-care – the one place you think is safe! This is what Emma Cardwell (star of breakfast show Cuppa) and her husband Brandon face one evening when their 17-month-old daughter is nowhere to be found.

This was a page turner ...more

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Jul 21, 2023 Karen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Emma Cardwell is host of a top rating breakfast TV show, Cuppa, and gets up every morning at 3.00 am, the Sydney streets are very quiet as she is driven to the studio by her driver Liam. Her Texan husband Brandon, is working from home and between him and the nanny they do drop off and pick up of the 3 children. She arrives home after a busy day to discover Brandon has forgotten to pick up their daughter Fox Piper from day care, but it 8.00 pm, and no one is there, where is Fox? The police are ca ...more

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