An intriguing and enjoyable 3.75⭐️

The premise of this book was really interesting, imagine finding tapes from your mother who disappeared many years before saying that she might have been murdered because she had discovered the identity of a serial killer.

How might that knowledge affect you, how might you start to doubt and suspect those around you?

I enjoyed reading this, the twists and turns were good and the payoff at the end was surprising. I wouldn’t say it was a particularly complex or tense thriller, but it did keep me guessing and I felt it was well-paced and executed.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book.

The Tapes follows Eve as she cleans out her father's house after his recent passing. While cleaning, she finds a box of tapes that her mother (who has been missing for 13 years) recorded years ago. One tape in particular has Eve's name on it. When she plays the tape, she hears her mother claim to know the identity of a local serial killer who has never been caught. She goes on to say that if she goes missing, she's not really missing but has been killed. As much as Eve wants to believe her mother, her mother was a self proclaimed kleptomaniac and compulsive liar. Eve then goes on a journey to discover just how much of what her mother said could be true.

The main thing I liked about this book was Eve's reconnecting with her mother via the tapes. I think there's a point that every person reaches where you realize that your parents are people too. They have flaws, they're not perfect, and they also have a whole life apart from just being "mom" or "dad." When I was born, my dad kept a journal that he wrote in every month until I turned 18, and then he gifted me the journal. It was such a precious gift being able to know my dad on a deeper level as well as being able to view my own life from his perspective. I will treasure that gift always, and I know Eve treasured those tapes from her mother.

The thriller aspect of this book was competently done- I've never read anything by this author before, but he's a good writer, and he knows what he's doing. However, there was nothing super shocking about the big reveal, and the ending felt a little rushed/tied up too neatly. I also didn't love the formatting where the main story was interspersed with excerpts from a fictional book about the serial killer. It did provide some additional information about the killer and their victims, but it slowed the rest of the plot down for me. Overall, this was a good book, but I don't think it will stick with me for a long time or keep me up at night.

I greatly enjoyed this book. It had me enthralled and in suspense throughout. I really liked Wilkinson’s writing style which I thought was chatty and deceptively simple but clear with no word wasted. Although I’m pretty sick of seeing and hearing stories about violence against women, fictional or otherwise, I felt that this was written in a way that was non sensational nor was it voyeuristic.

Eve’s dad has died and in the process of clearing his house she comes across a box of old fashioned tapes which her mother, Angela, has recorded. Her mother disappeared some thirteen years previously when Eve was nine. She has used the tapes as a daily diary and Eve hears herself as a two year old with her mum learning to count. I found that very touching. Then Eve finds a tape with her name written in her mother’s handwriting. “If they say I’m missing, I’m not. I’ve been killed - and I need you to know I love you.” Devastating. But Angela was or is a complicated woman. She admits she is a kleptomaniac and a liar, with poor impulse control who steals things.
She also says on the tape she knows who the killer is but where is the name of this killer? She says she has a jewellery box with the single earrings, which she stole from the killer. So should Eve believe what she hears?

The town in which she lives has been stalked for years by “The Earring Killer”, a mass murderer who takes an earring from his victims. It’s possible Angela is telling the truth and so Eve embarks on a difficult, emotional and dangerous journey to find out the truth about her mother’s disappearance. Her persistence and bravery may well put her own daughter in danger but on she goes.

The only problem I had with this book was I didn’t quite believe the psychology of the killer but that in no way detracted from my enjoyment.

This is a good read for lovers of well developed characters, of suspenseful crime stories…with a twist…of course.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for giving me a copy to review. This is my honest opinion after a full and complete reading.

I really enjoyed this book. The twist and turns. And I didn't see the twist at the end coming. I feel like we could have dived a little deeper into Eve and her past, and the ending just fell kinda flat for me.

This is a clever idea for a thriller. An old cassette tape found in her dead Dad's belongings. Her mum saying if you hear this Eve I'll be dead. What ensues is a chase to find the "Earring killer" who had haunted the community for decades. There's plenty happening. Lots of red herrings thrown in. Could it be her boss Mark, Dad, Weird brother Peter or a retired cop? Being honest I figured out what was happening pretty quickly. It was quite formulaic near the end. Enjoyable but a little predictable. Thank you to the author and publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in return for an honest review. Denise x

I really was hooked by the idea of the cassette tapes and the mother’s own voice saying she was murdered. It felt like it could be a great, twisty mystery.

But once I got into it, the pacing seemed to slow just didn’t work for me. The beginning felt like it kicked off with that mystery but the.n midway I had a hard time staying interested and it didn’t really pull me back in the way I hoped.

Some readers might enjoy the slow unraveling and the nostalgic angle of the mom’s voice, but it wasn’t a standout for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The Tapes is a twisty, gripping and obsessive novel that follows Eve in her quest to find out what happened to her mother, Angela, more than a decade ago when she suddenly disappeared. At a time when a prolific serial killer was running rampant through her town of Sedingham, Angela's disappearance wasn't connected, but is Eve about to find out that this was anything but true?

With the task of clearing out her father's home after his death, Eve finds cassette tapes her mother had used to record her every thought. But when of those tapes is addressed to her, she listens, coming "face to face" with the sound of her mother's voice for the first time in 13 years. What she hears sends her on a crash course to find out the truth.

Kerry Wilkinson takes readers on a true roller coaster ride of emotions. Eve, in my opinion, is a terrible narrator to the story. As an alcoholic, is she truly reliable in her retelling of events, or with her sober status, is she able to portray to us the truth as she sees it? Will Eve find the Earring Killer more than a decade after his or her last killing, or is this going to remain a mystery throughout? You won't be able to put this novel down in order to get to the hard truth of the matter, and with many shady characters along the way, you won't see it coming.

This story truly had me in a chokehold, from the very first word until the very last. I wanted to know what happened to Angela, who the Earring Killer was, just as badly, if not more so than Eve herself. I had my own thoughts on who the culprit might be including if it could even more our MFC herself, considering her shady past and run-ins with the law when she was in active alcohol addiction. I love a good thriller/mystery, and The Tapes was a perfect addition to my books read for the year 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kerry Wilkinson and Bookouture for an ARC of The Tapes. The opinions mentioned are that of my own.

Kerry Wilkinson books are firmly among my favourites now as this was my 3rd book in about a year. I found this book really engaging and fast paced and I really enjoy his writing. The premise was really intriguing with the messages from Eve's mum recorded on cassette tapes. I didn't trust anyone in the story and really enjoyed the ending. The dual perspective between Eve and the author of the Earrings Killer book was great and the short chapters kept me up late to just read one more!

Eve discovers tapes that leads her to believe her mother didn’t willingly disappear but instead was murdered by a local serial killer. Eve begins to hunt down the truth of what happened to her mother but has conflicted thoughts due to her mother not being an honest person and admitting to being a kleptomaniac on the tapes.

The concept of the Eve finding the tapes and what they revealed was so interesting. The author was very respectful of the character victims by having friends / family of the victims share what the victims were like and their final moments before disappearing in the form of Vivian’s book. It was easy to guess who was responsible for the murders but the person that was helping them took me by complete surprise. It was repetitive at times.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to netgalley, the author and bookouture for approving my request to read this book.

Whilst clearing out her late father's house Eve comes across a mysterious cassette tape with her name on it. Upon listening to it she discovers a recording from her mother who has been missing for years claiming that if Eve is listening to it she has been killed.

I really liked how this story unravelled and loved the nostalgic feel. This book is well written and definitely left me wanting to read more and I enjoyed the big reveal very much.

Looking forward to reading more from this author.

The Tapes by Kerry Wilkinson is a psychological thriller dealing with family, grief, and long-buried secrets. The novel opens very strongly but unfortunately failed to hold my attention throughout and felt repetitive and drawn out. Still a decent read but not one of Kerry Wilkinson’s better novels.

When Eve begins sorting through her late father’s home, she expects a few dusty memories and forgotten belongings but finds a message from beyond the grave. Among a stack of old cassette tapes, she finds one labelled with her name, recorded by her mother, Angela, who disappeared over a decade ago. The opening lines seem tender, almost nostalgic. But then comes the shocking revelation:

“If they say I’m missing, I’m not. If you’re listening to this, I’ve been murdered.”

Eve is determined to investigate her mothers disappearance with the fear that whoever was responsible might still be close by. The tapes reveal a side of her mother she didn’t know, filled with paranoia, warnings, and cryptic messages. Didn’t quite make sense to me that Eve had all these tapes left by her mother yet listens to them with no real urgency which obviously draws out the novel. Feel sure if I found a box of old tapes I would sit and go through them as soon as possible.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Bookouture for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This was so addicting! I kept staying up and grabbing snippets of time to keep reading this one. I liked the crime, the mother daughter relationship, and the plot. I did guess part of the ending, but not all!
thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Final rating = 4.5/5 stars, would recommend to my thriller besties ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Thank you to NetGalley for yet another amazing summer ARC! With this one I thought I had it figured out, I really did. I had everythinggg sorted and thought I had it on the money - until a twist I *truly* didn’t see coming - and that’s probably the highest praise you can give a thriller.

I really appreciated Kerry’s dedication to using the fake victim’s names throughout and driving home the narrative that victims aren’t numbers. It’s so easy when we’re reading thrillers, watching Criminal Minds, etc. to lose that perspective, and I think Kerry was able to weave that into the storytelling quite effortlessly throughout.

The mixed media storytelling between book excerpts, cassette recordings and first person narration, in combo with the short chapters, made for a compelling read that didn’t get stale and kept up a strong pace as well.

Lastly, and probably most crucially - it was evident Kerry clearly interviewed or tested his language choices and female POV from the main character Eve, through a panel of women or women in his life because our FMC didn’t feel like she was written by a man *trying* to write a woman. It really felt like he did the work to see the female perspective as I was reading and that was not only appreciated but kept me from getting agitated or distracted when reading. I am a mostly female-author engaged reader and reviewer and am skeptical of fictional stories written by men from the female perspective for the reason that in the past that lack of understanding or perspective has been felt - but I didn’t feel that way with Kerry, and really appreciated the clear effort to dimensionalize his female characters.

Gripping and entertaining from start to finish, when it comes out be sure to add The Tapes to your TBR. 📼

This book was OK. I did not see the second plot twist coming. I liked that the author made you think that the bad guy could’ve been so many different people. Overall, it was an average book. I enjoyed it and it was a quick read.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.

This was a fun time but it was a bit all over the place. The characters were a bit flat and the dialogue felt stilted but I wonder if that's because this is a UK author and they speak differently then I do. It was still a good time and the twists were decent but many were predictable but there were a few surprises. The pacing is slower and I expected more of a thriller but this was more suspenseful. I enjoyed this and I recommend this book.

I was hooked by the title, The Tapes. Then the blurb, a long lost voice on the cassette, saying “If they say I’m missing, I’m not. I was murdered”. Eve is dealing with the death of her father, planning his funeral, and clearing his house. Among all the nonsense her dad held onto she finds a shoebox full of cassettes, all recorded by her mom. But her mom disappeared 13 years ago. Coincidentally, the killings in town stopped about 13 years ago. Could her mom’s disappearance be tied to a serial killer? I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. So many twists and turns. And I didn’t see the end coming. 4 ⭐️

errrrrrm. errrrrrrm. jaw drop. mic drop. leave the room whilst im reading this and dont talk to me please. haha Kerry is back and like even before i read the blurb and just knowing the authors work i was excited. reading the blurb i was giddy. reading the book and i was jittery! what a read.
Eve is clearing out her dads things after he died. she doesn't have her mum to help, she left without warning or trace years ago. so many years ago now. then Eve comes across some tapes all labelled in the writing she knows to be her mothers. and then Eve see's her name written. Eve cant believe it thinking if this is her mother how lovely, right? except her mother is telling her something shocking, basically she tells her if she disappears it means shes been murdered and that she needs her to know she loves her... what the!!!!
this sends Eve into an investigation that she needs to know. there is more to her mother than she thought. there is more to find out. and more than that she needs to know what happened to her. Eve needs the answers. but as she peels back layers and things she didn't know will this end up putting her finally at peace or infact end up putting her at risk?
the unease and tension in this book was felt right into us as readers. its so brilliant how you are questioning everything but with that undercurrent of something bad might be coming.
another brilliant book by an author that must have thriller novel running through his veins.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book.

Based on the synopsis and the tagline I was expecting something really thrilling but this book fell a little flat for me. I appreciate that it starts off fast but by mid book it kind of felt like the story stalled. I was happy with the ending, there was a nice little twist that was unexpected, but if you’re looking for something fast paced this is not it.

I would say readers who like more mystery than thrill would enjoy this one. 3 stars!

What an intense story this was. Heartbreaking and so sad, and creepy. Full of hope and loss, sadness and promise. I have already bought a couple more by this author and enjoyed them all.

3.5, a quick, twisty popcorn thriller. Eve is cleaning out her late father’s garage when she comes across a box of cassette tapes. She plays one labeled with her name and hears the voice of her mother, missing for over a decade, saying that if she’s gone missing it’s because she was murdered. The tape goes on to reveal other secrets and Eve must decide if she believes her mother and what to do with the information. This was a quick read with good characters, realistic dialogue, and lots of red herrings. Eve was fully developed and sympathetic and I was right there with her, suspecting everyone and slowly unraveling the mystery. Although this book follows a series of murders, there’s nothing gratuitous or over the top at all.

I was excited to see this author has an extensive backlist!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy and a chance to read this early. All opinions are my own.