About the book: SNAP DECISIONS CAN BE DANGEROUS . . .
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’d 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, 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. . .
My Review: This is not just a crime novel, this is a really emotional and thought provoking story about grief, survival, loss, abandonment and responsibilities. Jack was 11 years old when he was left in charge of his 2 younger sisters in their car on the motorway whilst his heavily pregnant mother went in search of a telephone to call for help. She never returned.
Three years later Jack is now in charge of his young family and turns to crime to feed, clothe and provide for his little sisters. He has become infamous as a serial burglar nicknamed “Goldilocks”. DCI Marvel is new to the area and is determined to catch the culprit and solve this case which has been hanging over the police force for over a year.
Without going into too much detail and spoiling the story, Jack is a character you can’t help but feel strongly about. His sense of duty and responsibilities over caring for his little sisters, his re-occurring nightmares about his mother’s murder, his sense of right and wrong (only stealing healthy food from his victims houses) and his determination to catch his mother’s killer is breathtaking and heartbreaking in equal measures. I absolutely loved this book and thoroughly recommend it.
About the Author: Belinda Bauer grew up in England and South Africa and now lives in Wales. She worked as a journalist and a screenwriter before finally writing a book to appease her nagging mother. With her debut, Blacklands, Belinda was awarded the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year. She went on to win the CWA Dagger in the Library for her body of work in 2013. Her fourth novel Rubbernecker was voted 2014 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Her books have been translated into 21 languages.
