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Today I have a review for Snap, which will be published in the US next week by Atlantic Monthly Press/Grove Atlantic! What sets this apart from other thrillers is the emotion. More on that in my review!

My Thoughts:

Snap by Belinda Bauer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 sensitive and atmospheric stars to Snap! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Snap is my first read from Belinda Bauer, and now I know why she is well-loved!

A car breaks down on the side of the road with a mother and three young children inside. The mom names Jack, the eleven-year-old and eldest child, in charge and leaves to get help. Jack and his sisters try to pass the time, waiting for their mom to come back. The minutes pass unbearably slowly, and she never returns. Eventually her body is found, and the effect of her loss on the family is devastating and unbearable, especially for Jack’s father. The sensitivity in how this loss was described added to the authenticity and sets it apart from other thrillers.

Flash forward a few years, and Jack is still in charge, living with his sisters alone in the house. At the same time, a woman named Catherine While finds a knife beside her bed with a threatening note. Somehow this connects to finding the person who killed Jack’s mother. There is a great tie-in here that I enjoyed immensely.

Snap has fantastic empathic characterization, including the brave and savvy, Jack, who I was rooting for throughout. He wants so badly to keep his family together. I admired his grit. Another unforgettable character is Louis Bridge, an uncouth thief, but also a savior to Jack. I also enjoyed the interplay between the two detectives, Reynolds and Marvel.

All Jack wants is justice for his mother’s death. Will he get it? Snap is quite the journey on the road to justice after tremendous grief and loss. There is an empathy to the storytelling that I admired. It takes some time for the atmosphereic, haunting, and dark story to come together, but when it does, it’s masterful.

Thank you to Atlantic Monthly Press for the ARC. Snap will be published on July 3, 2018!
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Synopsis:

‘The best crime novel I’ve read in a very long time.’ VAL MCDERMID

‘Snap is the best kind of crime novel – it gives you chills, it makes you think, and it touches your heart. I loved it!’ SARAH PINBOROUGH, No.1 bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes

SNAP DECISIONS CAN BE FATAL . . .

On a stifling summer’s day, eleven-year-old Jack and his two sisters sit in their broken-down car, waiting for their mother to come back and rescue them. Jack’s in charge, she said. I won’t be long.

But she doesn’t come back. She never comes back. And life as the children know it is changed for ever.

Three years later, mum-to-be Catherine wakes to find a knife beside her bed, and a note that says: I could have killed you.

Meanwhile Jack is still in charge – of his sisters, of supporting them all, of making sure nobody knows they’re alone in the house, and – quite suddenly – of finding out the truth about what happened to his mother.

But the truth can be a dangerous thing . . .

‘Original, pacy and thoroughly entertaining . . . a cracking read.’ CLARE MACKINTOSH, bestselling author of I Let You Go and I See You

Emotional reads are among my favorites. Have you read any psychological thrillers where the emotion stood out? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR