Having not read any of the preceding books in this series, I am a little on the back foot with this one; the extract provides key information to follow the story but I would still prefer to start from the beginning.
However, unlike with the other sequel extracts I've read, this hasn't left me heading off to download the previous books. I get occasional cravings for a good detective story, but I don't think this will be one I choose to satisfy those cravings. There are too many twists and turns, the villain Brett is too successfully Machiavellian and the main characters are too poised, confident and self-contained to be believable as teenagers. The extract did leave me wanting to know what happens to the characters- particularly the kidnapped boy Damien whose perspective opens the novel- but not quite enough to get past my sense of disbelief at a bunch of teenage amateur sleuths chasing a multiple kidnapper-murderer.
However, unlike with the other sequel extracts I've read, this hasn't left me heading off to download the previous books. I get occasional cravings for a good detective story, but I don't think this will be one I choose to satisfy those cravings. There are too many twists and turns, the villain Brett is too successfully Machiavellian and the main characters are too poised, confident and self-contained to be believable as teenagers. The extract did leave me wanting to know what happens to the characters- particularly the kidnapped boy Damien whose perspective opens the novel- but not quite enough to get past my sense of disbelief at a bunch of teenage amateur sleuths chasing a multiple kidnapper-murderer.