I was very excited to read that if you were a fan of Stieg Larsson, Renee Knight, Gillian Flynn or Paula Hawkins you were bound to enjoy ‘Eyes like mine’.
Out of the above four authors, I’ve read three (and seen the film of the other one!) and loved all of the thriller elements in them and the way they keep you guessing. Sheena Kamal’s novel is up there with them, that’s for sure.
Set in Vancouver, Nora Roberts receives a phone call about a missing girl. A runaway. The daughter she gave up 15 years ago for adoption. Someone no one cares about. So what does it have to do with her and why now? Troubled, deeply flawed yet somehow likeable, Nora is drawn into helping find the lost girl.
So, what’s different about this book than any other runaway teen story?
Well our ‘heroine’ isn’t the usual kick ass detective. She’s an ex addict, has lived on the streets and has lived through some dreadful atrocities which become clearer as the story progresses. Sometimes frustrating, sassy yet angry and with a chip on her shoulder, she’s suddenly forced to confront her past. Deep buried secrets, still raw, come to the surface and all she has tried to keep from people seems dangerously close to getting out.
What I liked about the book was the darkness of it. The beautiful and sometimes bleak Canada. People that Nora has hung out with in the past are called upon to help her. She has no close friends except her AA sponsor with whom she shares a love/hate relationship and a sister she hardly sees. Her best friend is a stray dog, Whisper, who has formed an unlikely kinship with Nora.
There are many themes explored in this book including violence and prejudice. This is a realistic book that isn’t always an easy read. Nora is aloof, ruthless and works alone. This isn’t a typical heroine that you’re rooting for but you want her to heal.
The story explores a billionaire business with dark secrets behind it that somehow link to the missing girl. Nora’s job is to piece all the clues together with little to go on. Her background in lying and stealing comes into play as she begins to investigate something far bigger than she ever imagined.
This is a great debut novel that throws everything at you. It’s brutal yet pacey and I kind of loved it even through the sense of gloom. To get through a whole book with little laughs and bleak moments without giving up means that it was a compelling read. I really enjoyed it and recommend it heartily.
Out of the above four authors, I’ve read three (and seen the film of the other one!) and loved all of the thriller elements in them and the way they keep you guessing. Sheena Kamal’s novel is up there with them, that’s for sure.
Set in Vancouver, Nora Roberts receives a phone call about a missing girl. A runaway. The daughter she gave up 15 years ago for adoption. Someone no one cares about. So what does it have to do with her and why now? Troubled, deeply flawed yet somehow likeable, Nora is drawn into helping find the lost girl.
So, what’s different about this book than any other runaway teen story?
Well our ‘heroine’ isn’t the usual kick ass detective. She’s an ex addict, has lived on the streets and has lived through some dreadful atrocities which become clearer as the story progresses. Sometimes frustrating, sassy yet angry and with a chip on her shoulder, she’s suddenly forced to confront her past. Deep buried secrets, still raw, come to the surface and all she has tried to keep from people seems dangerously close to getting out.
What I liked about the book was the darkness of it. The beautiful and sometimes bleak Canada. People that Nora has hung out with in the past are called upon to help her. She has no close friends except her AA sponsor with whom she shares a love/hate relationship and a sister she hardly sees. Her best friend is a stray dog, Whisper, who has formed an unlikely kinship with Nora.
There are many themes explored in this book including violence and prejudice. This is a realistic book that isn’t always an easy read. Nora is aloof, ruthless and works alone. This isn’t a typical heroine that you’re rooting for but you want her to heal.
The story explores a billionaire business with dark secrets behind it that somehow link to the missing girl. Nora’s job is to piece all the clues together with little to go on. Her background in lying and stealing comes into play as she begins to investigate something far bigger than she ever imagined.
This is a great debut novel that throws everything at you. It’s brutal yet pacey and I kind of loved it even through the sense of gloom. To get through a whole book with little laughs and bleak moments without giving up means that it was a compelling read. I really enjoyed it and recommend it heartily.