This is a great debut from a new author. 

A serial killer terrorises Lancaster over a number of generations and leaves the police mystified as to who is causing the deaths and whether this is being passed on through the family. Then we have the disappearance of young Zoe Summerton. Can she be rescued before she is killed?

There is plenty of tension and suspense in this story, which continues through the book. Throughout the book there are some good twists which keeps the reader on their toes. This is unusual in that we get the perspectives of four different people, including the serial killer!

 This book is quite dark and keeps you on the edge of your seat and builds to a really good ending. I am happy to be able to recommend this enjoyable book which I read as an audiobook and have to say the narrators did a great job. I gave this book 4 1/2 stars and look forward to reading more by this author.
I would like to say thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing a copy of this book to me for an open and honest review.

Edge of your seat novel in places which draws the listener in. Great narration.  Good storyline with plenty of twists.

An infamous serial killer had been haunting a town for years, but thankfully creepy stories on true crime forums are the only thing that’s left of the notorious McVitie. That is, until more girls start to go missing with a very similar MO to McVitie's last victims…

Teenager Zoe and her mum Helen live a quiet life together, albeit Helen wishes she wouldn’t hang around with her troublemaking friend Abby quite so much, and isn’t too keen on her boyfriend Dane either! But overall, Zoe’s a good daughter, except when she doesn’t show up at her dad’s one evening after a night out. Typical teenage rebellion or is there something more sinister at hand? Thomas, the kid next door is a mischievous little thing, although well behaved and good natured – but will his curiously explorative antics get him into trouble?. Alexander lives with his mum, his inspiration, the only one that truly gets him – but is it time for him to break away and form his own path?

The story is told from all 4 main character perspectives, which breaks up the narrative nicely and allows you a well rounded view of the intricate, interweaving narrative that Rosie Walker has crafted. The initial character development was done really well – so you’re automatically invested into the original characters, although the ones introduced further down felt a little more rushed with less attention making you less bothered about their arc. I loved the pace of this book, at the end of every chapter there was enough intrigue to keep you hanging on and wanting to know what was going to happen next. At times, the story was a little bit coincidental and predictable – it would have been great had there been a few more curveballs or shocking twists thrown in, without everything happening as seamlessly as it did. However, overall, the story was intriguing enough to let the predictable moments slide!

There were two narrators for this audio book – Fiona Boylan and Nicholas Camm, who I really enjoyed listening to. Both of their voices were clear and fit the narrative well, although I would have liked them to have attempted a little more to differentiate between each of their characters – as both of the voices were exactly the same for each of their two characters.

If you like thrillers and mysteries – this is definitely worth having a listen to, This is Rosie Walker’s debut novel – so I’ll happily look out for again in the future!

Thanks to NetGalley, One More Chapter and Harper Collins Audio UK for my advanced audio copy! 💕

I enjoyed the premise of this novel however the serial killer/psychiatric facility link didn't sit comfortably with them. I enjoyed the book but didn't think it was particularly realistic and it just didn't have the creepy factor for me.

Audio version of this book 📚- I found this audiobook quite hard going as I felt that the male narrator just didn’t let the story flow. The female narrator was excellent and really brought the characters to life but I found myself dreading the chapters when the male narrator was due to read 😬. The storyline in itself was ok but I was extremely frustrated by the father of the victim, who was an ex policeman, as when his daughter was due home from a night out at 10.30pm he didn’t tell his wife until late the following morning!! And left her to do the investigating!!

This multiple character viewpoint novel was very well narrated and well written. The story is told through the eyes of a serial killer and their protégée, a tween, a young woman who is subsequently captured and fears for her life, and her mother. All of these parts work well together and create a lot of tension. However, there were aspects which disappointed  such as the bit about the iPhone during the search for the missing young woman (I can't say more without a plot spoiler). These disappointments were few and far between so I am still giving 4 stars. 

I am enjoying these audiobooks from Netgalley and hope they continue to be made available as an alternative to the kindle versions.

This fast-paced, multi-perspective, thriller will keep you guessing. The idea of a serial killer having an apprentice to pass their knowledge on to was original and interesting. The chapters following different characters allowed the book to cover many different aspects of this story and build tension. Overall an excellent thriller! 

The audiobook was well done,  easy to listen to and great performances. 

Thanks to One More Chapter and NetGalley for the review copy.

This one was not what I was expecting. The narrator for this one did a great job, but I had such a hard time getting in to this one. The story was a bit predictable and just didn’t grab me like I was hoping it would. I felt a bit let down by the storyline as a whole so this one only gets 2.5 stars.

This story recounts a series of events over three days in Lancaster. The format is alternating chapters narrated by four different sets of characters. There is "Him" "Zoe" "Helen" and "Thomas". Helen, Zoe’s mother, is working on renovating the old Lune Asylum into domestic apartments after the mental hospital has lain unused for years. Walking around it, she can't help wondering what stories it could tell. She is divorced from Zoe’s father, Tony, who has a new family although things are still amicable between them. Zoe is your typical teenager, constantly pushing boundaries and thinking she is streetwise. She has no idea of the horrors that lurk out in the world. Thomas is a young boy who lives next door to Helen and Zoe. His mother works hard to support them and he often plays out with his friend Maggie. They love to go exploring the woods and having adventures. Him’s identity will be revealed much later in the book, suffice to say he is the “baddie” in all this and it is fascinating to hear his thoughts as he pursues his horrific twisted agenda. The story begins with Zoe, best friend and complete bad influence Abbey and their two boyfriends having a night out in the pub. Abbey’s boyfriend Max has been obsessed recently with a true crime forum on the dark web which recounts tales of a serial killer who lived and died in the old asylum, and whose crimes seem to have been continuing for decades right up to the present day. Impossible and it has led to speculation that someone is carrying on his work. When Zoe fails to return home, the nightmare begins for Helen and Tony. Despite knowing that other similar young girls have been reported missing lately, local police seem reluctant to get involved and it falls to the parents to try to bring her home. I thoroughly enjoyed this book which I listened to as the audio version. Both narrators did an excellent job of bringing all the great characters to life, and I particularly liked the two gutsy young children. As the story unfolded and the reader gets to hear what each character is going through, the tension built and I found it impossible to put down until it reached its shocking conclusion. Very well written with an interesting slant to the plot, it was hard to believe this was the author’s debut novel There could easily be a sequel to this, since the ending definitely left room for the story to be continued.

So I have read through some of the other reviews and I cant help but wonder if I read/ listened to the same book. Personally I found this book to be amazing. True crime novels have always made up the majority of my TBR pile. But this year I have shifted gears and read more thrillers. I think I love this book so much because it is a perfect marriage of thriller and "true crime". While this book is purely fiction, it is still based around one of my favorite non-fiction topics, a serial killer.

This was a unique and electrifying read. Walker gives us so much in this book, a lunatic with a legacy, a killer, a creepy dark website and old asylum! Literally things that are bound to keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish! This was one book that I was eager to keep reading, I wasn't content till it was over. And even the ending had me saying " OH MY GOD!"

So I didn't actually read this book but I did LISTEN to it. At first I wasn't fond of the male narrator but the more that I listened the more and more he grew on me. Both narrators SLAYED this book! 
If you want a thriller that isn't your run of the mill cheating spouse, creepy neighbor, stalker blah blah blah and/ or if you love true crime/ serial killers I strongly urge you to pick this one up!  



I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to Hachette Audio UK for granting me access to this audiobook via Netgalley.

I was really excited to read this book/listen to the audiobook, because I was intrigued by the title, cover, and blurb. However, a few chapters in, the author really let things get too wild. I was still listening with the expectation that, as with a number of great thrillers I've read, the pieces will fit together at the end. This wasn't the case here, as there were a lot of plot holes and some abandoned plot lines. I felt lost a lot of the time.

It was also jarring listening to the voice of a grown man was used to narrate the parts of an 11 year old boy. The narrators did good jobs, but some things were off.

There were some redeeming parts of the story, but the ending was also kind of predictable. I enjoyed this, but it could have been a lot better.

An intriguing tale centred around an abandoned lunatic asylum.  All is not as it seems and there are some gruesome revelations, altogether a disquieting read.   The excellent narration made the story come to life.

I love the setting of an old lunatic asylum and Lune Asylum in Lancaster is the perfect setting for a serial killer thriller!  A serial killer has been stalking the streets for generations.  How could this be the work of just one man?  There is much speculation on the true crime forums.

The story is told from multiple POV - two young friends, Zoe the kidnap victim and her mother Helen and also the killer.  This worked well, and I especially enjoyed the narrative of the two children, Maggie and Thomas.  The setting is dark and full of menace.  The plot moves along at a good pace, and there was a twist near the end that I definitely didn't see coming!  The ending itself did seem a bit rushed and I would have liked just a little more.  The door is definitely left open for a sequel.

I enjoyed the narration by the two narrators, Fiona Boylan and Nicholas Camm.

A decent thriller and mystery, set in the UK and centred around a current missing girl and historical crimes.

It was a good solid read and I enjoyed listening to it on audio. However, the plot was filled with convenient coincidences and was ultimately forgettable.

Firstly I would like to thank Netgalley for giving me an ARC of this audiobook, in exchange for an Honest Review. 

The synopsis of this book had me really intrigued, I am a lover of crime shows and thriller novels so I thought this would be perfect for me however this was not the case. 

This book started off strong and had the Erie atmosphere going, abandoned building creepy security guard, but it all started to get a bit too complicated. There were multiple POV’s yet the narrators sounded the same so I struggled to differentiate who we were following. Also there were about 4 major plots going on but each were underdeveloped which made the story predictable in places. 

Also if your dad was ex police why in gods name was he putting off reporting his child missing? Surely he would have been using all his resources and old team to find his child? 

For me there was just too much going on and this made the story lack in places, less is often more and I think this runs true. Also I don’t like the title of this novel, it has multiple POV’s and it follows the others mire than the serial killer. This book was alright but I don’t think I will be raving about it.

So this has got to be one of the best Audiobooks I have listened to in a long time- the plot, the characters, the narrators- all fantastic. Although there are multiple “voices” in this book all were very clear, it was very obvious who’s part of the story was being told- something that’s a must for me in a multi-layered novel. I was so happy to hear Northern narrators too- a somewhat rarity in other books I have listened to even though they are set “up ‘ere” . 
 I could picture the caravan and the asylum with ease, the dirt, decay and abandonment all adding to the scary setting, and yes for the first time in ages I was actually scared. I think I possibly held my breath for the last 3 or 4 chapters (*hello Guinness book of world records*) 
I was hooked from the beginning right through to the amazing ending- this is a book that just when you think you’ve got it all worked out - suddenly you are completely wrong! It is far from predictable. An amazing debut that I’m sure will be massively successful. Just remind me how scared I was if there is ever a TV adaptation please!

A nice thriller with an interesting focus in the criminal mind. A serial killer has been terrifying the Lancaster area for decades. Everything changes when Zowie misteriously dissapears... 
Entertaining. A bit predictable in the end, like most, but had a very nice time hearing/reading it.

A serial killer is there in the town for decades. It also believed that the serial is dead if that is true who else is committing the crimes in a similar way or the serial killer is passing his legacy?
One of the thing which I liked most about the book is its setting at Lune Mental Hospital in Lancaster, which is not functional and felt more like a haunted house. Caught in between 
Helen Summerton divorced with a teen daughter, Zoe. Things take a turn when Zoe goes missing. Helen is doing whatever she can to bring her daughter back home safely. The book also discusses details about the dark web which was quite interesting.
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The book has many characters and the story is told from multiple perspectives and while listening audiobook this was a bit of a distraction for me and I had to go back and forth to get a hand on it.
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Overall it is a good story with a lot to offer to people who have an interest in serial killers and dark web as the author has strong command on these areas.

⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for providing me with an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

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Zoe is a typical teenager – loves her mum, obvs, but wants the freedom to dress how she wants and go out with her mates, schoolwork can wait.  Helen and Tony are divorced with Zoe living with Helen and going to her dad's some weekends.  It's Tony's turn to have Zoe but she's quick to eat her evening meal, fiddle with her phone and run off out saying she'll be back at 10.30pm – only she doesn't come back.  Zoe has met up with her boyfriend and gone to a pub to meet her friend Abbie and Abbie's boyfriend, but Abbie is being her usual controlling self and gets Zoe talking to a guy at the bar who plies them with drink.

Helen is shocked, stunned that her daughter is missing and that little seems to be happening with the police to get her back.  She doesn't yet realise that she holds a vital clue, but something is niggling her mind, like picking a scab, that someone knows something of Zoe's kidnapping.

The chapters when Zoe tells her story are harrowing yet exciting.  We all love the gory bits, and this book is quite graphic and gory in places.  (There's no nasty sex or rape scenes if that bothers you).  Zoe is a likeable character and I felt sympathy and compassion when reading about her.

There is also an aside story of two young cousins, daring each other into doing scary things and visiting the nearby lunatic asylum which closed several years ago.  Both stories run parallel and then intertwine to give a semi-conclusive ending.

Secrets of A Serial Killer is cleverly plotted and very well written.  It flows well and we get a good back story to each character so we know their personality and understand their thoughts.  I would definitely recommend this book and I look forward to more from Rosie Walker.

Audio –  I listened to the audio version of this book and, as I often find, you have to get used to the narrator.  There are two for this story, a female (Fiona Boylan) taking the female roles and a male (Nicholas Camm) for the male and children roles.  The female narration fitted well with Zoe and Abbie but took a while to settle into Helen, Zoe's mother. The male narrator I was less keen on, hesitated in strange places and characters all had the same forced anger in their voice.  I would have liked the McVitie voice to be more sinister and menacing.  There was no problem in knowing which character was speaking in the chapters.

I was really excited for this book, the tile is in my bag, it has a map that includes a cemetery. This is probably the only book where I'm likely to have the e-arc and an arc of the audiobook as well because in the future I'll always request the audiobook because of my current reading habits. If you follow my reviews, you know the number of arcs I've had but ended up listening to the audiobook for. I was excited to see the audiobook because I had not managed to read this book before it came out, but I really liked the opening. Sadly, after the first chapter, it just goes downhill quickly. 

Maybe it was because I was in pain when they were introduced, but I'm not here for to any of the characters, especially the 24-year-old man dating a seventeen-year-old girl, but nor her parents who are not concerned about their child being groomed. Zoe has no danger awareness. She the first victim and not the final girl. People mess up all the time, but Zoe just walked herself right into that danger. She must have issues that were never explored in this book. Or you know plot said this happens, so it has to happen. 

The characters are so weak. We're introduced to lots of characters, several who could be written out and not be missed. I think there's just too many tangents that might be interesting but are weaker together. It would be a completely different novel, because I would get rid of Helen, Zoe's mother as the main character. She just doesn't make much sense as the main character. Other characters could be cut as well. We have this website about local serial killers that's brought in by Zoe's friend and then there's a journalist next door writing about missing girls that the police are ignoring. One or the other should have been cut, one is a lot less significant than the other one.

This has two voice actors. They do an okay job, but the adult man doing the 11-year-old boy is kinda odd and I don't love those parts. I did get used to it after a while. The only thing you're missing out is that there's a map at the start of the book.

This book is told in the third person, a with letters and articles with the comments switched on. This is still pretty clear when done by audiobook. 

This takes the path that serial killers are insane. Obviously, they do have mental issues, but I don't believe they would accept a plea of insanity for multiple murders, especially in 1959. If you planned your murders, then it was not a moment of insanity and therefore you can stand trial. Also can't be that "great" of a serial killer if he was caught in the 50s. Most serial killers weren't caught then. The 80s is impressive not to be caught. I get it, an old Asylum makes a cool setting, but the story is really forced into fitting that setting. It usual thing, no secrets. Very basic. 

The plot isn't great. You know an ending is bad when it makes you angry. It's clearly meant to be a twist but it's just asinine. Could it happen? sure. Does anyone care if happens to the characters? Well, I certainly don't. 

Frankly. this plot would work better if was written by YA writer, I think the timeline would be stronger that way, the characters would be more concise. I'm just suggesting major re-writes now which is not helpful to already published novel. What I mean is that the kids are the main part of the book and their voice is so weak. They do feel written for adults, not written as people. 

Overall, I gave this book 2 stars for Ballet Slippers. I had thought about giving it 3 stars, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised how little I enjoyed this book. You might like this book better if you don't read Young Adult books. This is Walker's debut, so I might pick a future book by her if the concept was good. 
This book did include a trigger warning at the start which is good. I still listed more complete ones below.