Silent Child: Silent Child, Book 1

If you've hesitated on this one because of the subject matter, that it may be too dark, or graphic or too many uncomfortable details shared.....you don't have to worry. This is one of the 'cleanest' thrillers I've read. Clean in the sense that the author doesn't go into any detail about the abuse that Aiden suffered. All we know is that bad things happened and that's scary enough. I hesitated to read this for these reasons. I love a good thriller, but didn't really want to read anything graphic. Some authors go there, I just prefer not to. I was very pleasantly surprised with this story because it implied what happened and left it to our imaginations. The book is very well written, one of the best I've read in this genre. Complex characters and the story really looks at what happens after a child comes home. It's a difficult adjustment and in this book, the child is silent, so can't say what happened, he is so traumatized. Add in a pregnant mother who has since remarried and a cast of characters where everyone looks suspicious for different reasons. Lots of twists and turns and the identity of the kidnapper took me by surprise. What also sets this book apart, is a very satisfying ending. The book doesn't just stop once we know what happened. It continues on a bit with another fascinating dramatic scene--that I also didn't see coming--and some lovely moments where we see how the characters are doing once a little time has passed. I can see why this book is doing so well. This author has now gone onto my auto-buy list. Can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

I am more than disappointed in this book, for the following reasons: a) first of all I can't figure out why it has such a high percentage of good reviews, which is what influenced me to buy it; b) the writing is awkward, is in severe need of editing; c) the plot alternates between not making sense and being boringly predictable; d) the ending was preposterous. I just wish I knew of a way to avoid falling into a pitfall like this again when reviews appear to be so good for a book.

It actually became boring after half the book. My predominant feeling was that you felt the presence of the author trying to come up with strange and messy characters. Not recommendable.

The premise was intriguing but the writing was painful, it read like a first draft, desperately needed an editor. I don't know how it got published. Also, the outcome was simply not plausible, just no. Don't waste your time.

I would love to know how this book got so many good reviews because this book is awful! I'm pretty sure it was never edited or the editor didn't know what they were doing. The writing is very simple and repetitive. The story is absolutely ridiculous and you can guess who did it within the first few pages. The narrator is whiny and annoying and makes really terrible decisions that leave the reader shaking their head in disbelief. There were so many points in this story where I said that would never happen in real life! Minor spoiler - a prominent figure in the town is arrested and the detective working with the lead character fills her in on the case before the arrest has been made public. That would never happen! If you've read anything by Gillian Flynn, Stephen King, Kimberly Belle, or Mary Kubica you've experienced good writing and you will not enjoy this book.

Slow! Predictable! Boring! How can this book has so many good reviews? I had to skip pages & chapters to finish it.

Emma Price is a young, unwed mother who lives with her parents while still seeing the father of her child. When her child is 6 years old, a torrential rain hits and causes intense flooding. She gets a call from the school telling her that the roof is leaking and parents are to pick up their children immediately. Arriving at the school she finds that her son has wandered off and is not to be found. Later his jacket is retrieved from the river and he is presumed dead. Ten years on, her parents are dead and she is married and expecting a child. She gets a call from the police telling her to go to the hospital immediately. Her son has been found! What follows is a tense psychological thriller that kept me reading until late in the night. Usually I can pinpoint the villain within a chapter or two. An unexpected twist surprised the heck out of me. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I found it exciting, heart-breaking, and heart-warming. I also admired the protagonist, who was brave, loyal, and loving. Emma, a young un-wed mother, is devastated when her six-year-old son is drowned when a flood sweeps through her small Yorkshire village; and then ten years later she is almost as devastated when her son, now damaged by his experience, comes hobbling out of the forest. Who took him and kept him for ten years? What had happened to him? Where had he been? Aidan cannot say; what has happened to him has rendered him totally mute.Some reviewers have criticized this book on the grounds that the identities of the "Bad Guys" are obvious. I agree with these readers, but to me that does not matter. This novel seems less a Who-dunnit than it is a HOW-to-do-it. Given the damage Aidan has suffered, their circumstances, and the numbers of evil people who seem to surround them, HOW can Emma and Aidan find their way back to the loving relationship they once shared.My only real criticism of the book is that toward the end the plot became a bit soap opera-ish. The novel has stressed throughout how very tiny this village is, and yet suddenly at the end we are confronted with a child pornographer, a multiple murderer, the pedophile who took and abused Aidan for so long, and an accomplice. Perhaps it is naive on my part, but that seemed an awfully large group of twisted human beings for so small a population.Criticism aside, however, I really did enjoy and do recommend this book.

Silent Child is one of those novels that I wanted to love but sadly, I didn’t – it wasn’t all bad, there were some things I loved about this novel and thought worked really well, however, they were outweighed by the things that didn’t work quite so well.My favourite thing about this novel was Denzil’s writing style, I love the way she chose to tell this story from Emma’s perspective – this allowed you to feel her emotions along with her, her despair at losing Aiden, her frustration at him not speaking, her determination as a mother to save her child. There were some really powerful moments, for example, when Aiden went missing, Emma talks about what it really means to ‘lose control’, it demonstrated how powerful words can be in conveying a parent’s grief. It was paragraphs like these, moments were Emma’s pain was so raw, that really made me appreciate Denzil’s writing ability.There was also a creepy undertone present throughout this entire novel. Who knew a child that didn’t speak could be so unsettling, it really did give this novel its darker edge. And the suspense, oh my, the continuous building of suspense was brilliant, it had me desperate to know what happened to Aiden. Now, here’s where this novel fell short for me – the suspense far outweighed the ending, and left me feeling utterly underwhelmed. There was one line earlier on in the novel that hinted at who was involved in Aiden’s ordeal, and I didn’t mind knowing said individual was involved ahead of time because I think it was pretty predictable based on their actions throughout the novel, however, as Emma comes to know the truth, I thought the way it played out was exaggerated and unbelievable. Emma is heavily pregnant yet she appears to have this invincibility about her and I just didn’t buy it, and it led to me rolling my eyes several times. Even the parts of the ending I didn’t see coming, were so underwhelming, and again, the actions of some of the characters, at certain times, had me rolling my eyes.What started off as a powerful novel, full of suspense, concluded in a dramatic and unbelievable fashion, so much so, that it overrode all that I did like about this novel. Would I recommend this novel? Sadly, not. Would I read another Denzil novel? Absolutely, the writing ability is there, for me, the plot just lost its way towards the end.2.5 stars

It wasn't until I opened the book to start reading that I noticed the lack of a publisher's imprint and realised that it was self-published. I wasn't best pleased, having paid £10.99 for it. Now, before angry "indie" authors gang up on me in their droves: yes, I have heard the success stories of authors who started with self-publishing and proved their worth; and yes, of course some stuff from mainstream publishers is garbage (for example The Teacher by Katerina Diamond, published by HarperCollins). Still, for obvious reasons the dross-to-gold ratio is much higher for self-published books than you get with mainstream publishers, therefore I wasn't expecting much from this at all.I finished it in one sitting. It really is a page-turner, and I didn't guess correctly how it would turn out (but then I almost never do). The writing isn't going to knock Dickens off his perch; there are a lot of overdone metaphors of the "worms ate into my brain and a nuclear bomb went off in my heart" variety (not a direct quote!) and there are a few grammatical infelicities, but both are alas all too common in the psychological thrillers that flood the market these days. That said there was little, if anything, in the writing that spoiled the narrative for me.The ending is rather far-fetched: a pregnant woman runs through the woods while going into labour, after having a violent showdown with the baddie, but there was no way I was putting the book down until I'd finished. The only real plot hole that stood out for me was that the drawing Aiden did in the hospital ended up in the papers despite Emma having taken it home with her.If you want a gripping read, you can do worse than to get Silent Child, but bear in mind it doesn't stand up to harsh critical analysis. So will I be making a point of seeking out more self-published writers? Probably not, but I'll be more than happy to read other books by this author.

I read this over a few days whilst on holiday and whilst some of the plot was entirely guessable from the beginning, I did not see the final twist coming.Unfortunately, the style of writing is below average with the same words repeated multiple times in sentences, and the same sentences repeated almost word for word a few times in paragraphs. I'm not sure if this book was ever proof read - if it was, they did a terrible job. Alongside this, the main character is not particularly likeable and comes across weakly. Despite this, the desire to find out what happened to Aiden is enough to keep you reading.

Literally read this in three evenings! The picture is how far I got by the second night! I LOVED this book!I was going through a real crime/drama binge when I ordered this, not really thinking about the plot as it came up as a suggestion. When I read the blurb on the back I became a touch nervous; being a first time mum who suddenly became anxious when her cute little bundle of joy arrived, I wasn’t sure I’d actually make it through the first few chapters; reading about a young mother who looses her young child to a tragic flood only to finally get her life back on track and have it flipped over again and go through all those raw emotions. But I was hooked.The plot was fantastic and the mother’s turmoil was beautifully written. The plot twists were more like roller coaster corkscrew twists and I kept thinking “this is it! I know who it is!” And the carpet would be ya led out from under my feet, and my suspicions would have to start all over again when the evidence pointed elsewhere.Superbly written!

Emma has to face one of her worst nightmares, her child disappearing. Years later she has finally got her life together and even though she misses her son desperately, life is as good as it can be for her. That is until her son turns back up again.Having your child making a reappearance again after all those years, you could feel the mixture of emotions that Emma was experiencing. Whilst she is over joyed to be back, Aiden is far from the child who disappeared all of those years ago and she has to face what has happened to him whilst he was held captive.My heart literally broke for Aiden. I didn’t even want to try and imagine just what he had been through. Like Emma, I wanted answers and for whoever was behind Aiden’s disappearance to be suitably punished.The story is set at a steady pace with a dark feel to it and shrouded with mystery. The tension mounts as the police. as well as Emma and her ex, close in on the guilty party. As the police take in different people for questioning, I was really torn to who it could be. Whilst I had my doubts, the author kept throwing little red herrings, keeping me on my toes.Silent Child is a dark and at times, uncomfortable, yet compelling read. I loved the build up of tension and all the second guessing at who it was. The author managed to keep me totally hood winked and whilst I had guessed some things partly right, I was well off the mark on the rest. A must read for fans of a chilling psychological thriller.