The Doll's House by M.J. Arlidge

Reviewed by Desere


It starts with a young girl Ruby, she wakes up in a cold, dark cellar, with no recollection how she got there, and so her hellish nightmare begins. Beatings, being starved, shackled to the bed, the list goes on and on.

All the while her captor is always one step ahead of DI Helen Grace, who along with her team is slowly gluing all the puzzle pieces together in order to try and bring to justice the monster who has done this kidnapping - killing game not once or even twice before, but three girls have all faced and lost the battle from hell at the hands of a crazed madman.

Then as DI Grace and her team start closing in, time runs out for Ruby because her captor has just found his next victim and it's time to throw out the old and bring in the new, it's a deadly race against time for all involved.

This was my first time reading this author, but I will be coming back for more. The Doll's house is one of those thrillers that have you looking behind you every few minutes of so and double checking out the people you think you know very well, just to make sure that there is not something hiding behind their smiles.

This read has an extremely thrilling fast pace of events, not once does it slow down to a drizzle, nope this author really kept my attention all the way through to the end. And the guessing game in this read was absolutely phenomenal! So many suspects that fit the bill , and then suddenly all is lost and another suspect comes along looking perfect but no the author is not quite content on letting it come together that easily or that quickly, I loved it!

Suspense, drama and a whole lot of psycho! Yes this as I said is a read filled with thoughts of really bad things running through your mind, I felt the fear and could taste the bitter disappointment of the police and I for darn sure got the creeps from a truly out of his ever loving mind killer, you know those chills that literally run down your spine and you don't know how to stop them except to stop reading but you can't because the book is that darn good!

I highly recommend this read for all fans that love a fast paced, well thought out thriller. Intense and truly good old fashioned on the edge of your seat!

Available now at Penguin Random House South Africa 

Made to Die by Kamy Chetty

Reviewed by Desere

A young woman comes home to find closure and say goodbye to the sister she was made to save, but that is not all she finds, she discovers a program for organ trafficking to a mass body dump. What exactly has Cedar Falls become while she was gone and what has her mother and her sister's husband, Troy, have to do with it all.

It's a riddle she never expected but one that she for darn sure cannot ignore, because she will have to fight for her life if she does not she will simply be another young woman who steps into the shadows of death.

Kamy Chetty has crafted a very fast paced action thriller, that kept me up all hours of the night and had me on the edge of my seat.

And with quite the interesting ending, that I only half way saw coming, so yes it definitely shook me off my little thriller chair.

I recommend this read for fans that love gripping, on the edge of your seat , unexpected glances at the world of organ trafficking reads.

4 Star Review
"Created to die, destined to live" 


Get it FREE on Amazon for your Kindles!

The Butcher by Jennifer Hillier

Reviewed by Desere

This was by far one of the best thrillers I've ever read. It was so bone-chilling I could actually feel the killer slicing into his victims, and you can bet I looked around more than once thinking I heard something!

The book's focus is mainly on the killings but also of the people directly related to the killer, of course they have no idea they are related to him, but this of course just added to the thrill of it all.

I will say that I felt slightly disappointed that the author revealed the killers identity to me within the very first chapter, but truly only momentary disappointment, because this little twist, made it so much more on edge. 

Here I was as reader in full control of the knowledge yet I could not do anything about it.

I had to sit back and watch it all unfold, okay so I lie I did not sit and relax at all I was jumping out of my seat every-time the killer zero's in on a victim or gets within slicing distance. 

You can bet me yelling out loud " Oh heck she's a goner" and " Oh bloody heck get out man, get out now!" made those around me sit up, take notice and then they ran !

The author's descriptions of scenes were so intense it totally blew me away, and I am talking about more than once. I could actually vividly picture the blood, the gore, the guns blazing and I felt the victims fear and anger. 

The characters were all extremely realistic, none of that glossy fake perfect killer and victim types, nope the characters were so real  they might as well have been based on true people. They are flawed just like you and I, they get confused, angered and scared out of their wits just like us real folks and this made the read even more astounding!. 

Word to the wise, if gruesome, graphic and truly deep, dark and very, very disturbing is not you idea of a good read, this book is not for you. If however you also get stuck on those reality killer shows, where you cannot stop yourself from watching to find out the what and who and how, this read is right up your alley. 

You won't turn into a killer but you will most definitely be transported into the mind of a truly phenomenal psychologically screwed killer that acts and looks just as normal as you and me. 

The language is crass at most times, but you need to remember that you are inside the mind of a killer and since when has a killer ever worried about watching his language!

This was the first time I read anything by this author but you can bet it won't be the last. The author has a brilliant way of writing , it but me front and center for all the action and one helluva pure adrenalin rush of a ride. 

A truly bone chilling, fascinating ,slice and dice, keep reading you know you want to exceptional read! 

5/5 star review 

" To catch the butcher you need to think like him, or is that be him?"