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Angie has everything, a husband, a home, three beautiful children, what more could she ask for? Until one day it all comes crashing down around her, her son Liam gets mixed up with the wrong people and her husband is brutally murdered. The glue keeping their family together was now gone, how would she cope without her adorned husband? And as if things couldn’t get worse, Liam goes missing, one by one everything that Angie loved becomes somewhat of a nightmare. Whilst Angie tries to keep a roof over her and her children’s heads and the debt increasing every day, her daughter is desperate to help her family, whatever it takes and Angie begins living a life she never dreamed she would ever have to do. With all of the bad things going on around Angie, is there light at the end of the tunnel? Is there any way she can climb out of the dark whole that is currently her life?

This was a book that I read as part of Beth’s Book Club last month – check out the link to her website to register to become a member, it’s totally worth it!

I believe that Susan Lewis portrays the life of a broke, single mum quite well if I am honest. Coming from a not so well off family myself, particularly when I was a child, there are definitely parts throughout that resonate with me on a much more personal level. My mum always done what she could to keep a roof over our heads, and whilst we struggled from moving from friends houses, and in and out of hostels it really makes me appreciate the privileged life I now have! So in ways it did really hit home, and as I said I felt like it portrayed this well!

With not knowing much about country drug lines I can’t exactly say whether this is done well, but I will make a point of saying that I don’t feel as though it was explored as much as it could have been! I felt as though the author has tried to talk about so many issues in one novel that each subject almost fell flat, other than Angie and her family’s money problems.

The book also explores child trafficking, but again falls flat with not being explored enough. I feel as though perhaps the author should have focussed on maybe just one issue, or even two at a push. It just felt all very crammed into 400 pages – and because of this, the whole book just didn’t come across as well as I’d have hoped.

I’ll also say that from the blurb of the book, and the description on Amazon, I was expecting a gripping thriller, when really it was more of a contemporary/domestic fiction. So because of this I already went in not particularly enjoying it with thinking it was something that it actually wasn’t. I do feel as though perhaps the blurb/Amazon description should perhaps be amended to suit the genre more. But again, that is just my personal overall opinion!

Have you read this? What did you think?