An unexpected visitor.
Dr Cat Lupo aches for another child, despite the psychosis which marked her first pregnancy. So when Ruby Winter, a small girl in need of help, arrives in the middle of the night, it seems like fate.
A devastating secret.
But as the events behind Ruby’s arrival emerge – her mother’s death, her connection to Cat – Cat questions whether her decision to help Ruby has put her own daughter at risk.
Do we get the children we deserve?
Cat’s research tells her there’s no such thing as evil. Her history tells her she’s paranoid. But her instincts tell her different. And as the police fight to control a sudden spate of riots raging across the capital, Cat faces a race against time of her own…
Compulsive, dark and devastating, Give Me the Child is a uniquely skillful thriller with an unforgettable twist.
My Review: This is the first book I’ve read by Mel McGrath – but definitely won’t be the last. Give Me The Child is a standalone psychological thriller that starts with an OOMPH and continues until the very last page. I don’t want to give anything away in my review except to say that if you enjoy twisted, twisty tales with creepy and violent kids, cheating husbands and a dysfunctional family that makes MINE look like The Waltons then you should absolutely read this book.
The story is narrated through Cat Lupo, a neuro-psychiatrist, working with troubled children who has a husband, Tom and an 11 year old daughter Freya. When the doorbell rings in the middle of the night and an unknown child is brought into their lives her world is turned upside down. Coupled with her history of mental illness, she begins to question everything and everyone around her.
This is a fast-paced, page turner which kept me guessing throughout. It was incredibly atmospheric, set during violent riots in Brixton and a flurry of teenage stabbings I could literally taste the fear and panic in London. A fab book – read it soon!
About the Author: Mel McGrath is an Essex girl, the author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling family memoir Silvertown. She won the John Llewellyn-Rhys/Mail on Sunday award for Best Writer Under 35 for her first book, Motel Nirvana. She has published three Arctic mysteries featuring the Inuit detective Edie Kiglatuk under the name MJ McGrath, the first of which, The Boy in the Snow, was shortlisted for a CWA Gold Dagger.
In the last year she has been one of the founders and moving lights of the website Killer Women, which has rapidly established itself as one of the key forums for crime writing in the UK. This new standalone marks a change in direction
