Seven Days by Alex Lake
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The prologue starts with a calendar, a countdown to her little boy’s birthday when he will be torn away from her. Maggie, too, has been torn away from all that she knows. She’s a survivor. She’s surviving for her child. Maybe, this time, she can save him. Heart-rending and powerfully addictive, Seven Days hooked me from page one (how could that prologue not?). My first thoughts before opening the book were: can the author sustain it? A girl locked away in a room, only seven days to save her son? Alex Lake succeeded in keeping me absolutely rivetted. A psychological thriller with just the right amount of crime element, the story encapsulates, not just the emotions of a girl journeying into womanhood whilst completely isolated from humanity, but those of her family, who live with the guilt and the sometimes waning hope that they will find her. The devastating impact on the missing girl’s brother. The unexpected impact on Martin and Sandra, her parents, whose bond grows stronger. It explores the frustration of a detective inspector whose gut instinct is not enough to act on. It looks as just how dark it can be behind closed doors, how you can look into the eyes of someone and never see the ugliness that might lurk inside. In short, Seven Days ticked every single box for me. An absolute must-read for psych thriller lovers and one I would highly recommend.
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