Book: Only Girl Alive
Author: Holly S. Roberts
Pub Day: January 13th 2023
About the Book:
As day breaks over the Tanner family home, the house is deadly silent and the door is firmly closed. Upstairs, the whole family lie cold and lifeless in their beds. All with the same look of fear in their unblinking eyes…
Detective Eve Bennet takes a steadying breath as she enters the main bedroom of the Tanners’ modest home in the tight-knit town of Hilldale, Utah. Mrs Tanner’s high-collared nightgown and her long plaited blonde hair are soaked in blood. Next to her, Mr Tanner’s hands are clasped together in a final prayer.
Filled with dread, Eve forces herself towards the children’s rooms. But instead of two children, she only finds one. Where is the youngest daughter, Hannah? And why are there long scratches across the walls?
Eve tracks Hannah down to her uncle’s house nearby. But he won’t let her step foot in the house. Eve knows what it’s like to be held captive by a family member, and fears for Hannah’s safety. What is he terrified Hannah might reveal?
Back at the Tanner home, Eve makes a shocking discovery in the dust covered attic. Mr Tanner was hiding a dark secret from the rest of the community—the kind of secret someone would kill for.
Realizing another family could be in danger, Eve runs from the house and stumbles into the path of the one man she spent years trying to forget— and he won’t let her get away this time. Can Eve escape the evil that has haunted her whole life? And will she catch the killer before another innocent family is murdered?
Fans of Melinda Leigh, Kendra Elliot and Lisa Regan will be absolutely gripped by this explosive and totally unputdownable crime thriller from a USA Today bestselling author.
BLOG TOUR REVIEWÂ
Review for 'Only Girl Alive' by Holly S. Roberts.Â
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Holly S. Roberts, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymousÂ
Publication date 13th January 2023.Â
This is the first book I have read by this author.
I was originally drawn to this book by its stunning eye catching cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that 'Fans of Melinda Leigh, Kendra Elliot and Lisa Regan will be absolutely gripped by this explosive and totally unputdownable crime thriller from a USA Today bestselling author.' I am a huge fan of all three of these authors so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue and 34 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in Utah, USA 🇺🇸.Â
This book is written in third person perspective and the protagonist is Detective Eve Bennet. The benefits of third person perspective are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. To have the benefit of both first and third person perspective ensures you don't miss out on anything. Â
'Only Girl Alive' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Holly discusses/includes sexual assault.Â
AN ABSOLUTELY INTRIGUING, THOUGHT PROVOKING, UNPUTDOWNABLE HEART RACING AND EXPLOSIVE START TO WHAT PROMISES TO BE AN ADDICTIVE SERIES!!Â
Wow!!! This book is fantastically written and had me hook, line and sinker from beginning to end. The descriptions were so in depth and vivid that the hair on my arms was standing on the ends and my heart was pounding throughout. The synopsis, title and cover were perfect for the storyline.
I absolutely loved this unique page turning explosive page turner. I have never really given much thought to the Fundamentalist Mormons previously but while reading this book I was researching the Fundamentalist Church Of Jesus Christ in Utah and I was absolutely shocked, disturbed and disgusted at some of the things I came across which included the heartbreaking 'Babyland' which is mentioned in this book. I wanted to sat a MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS to Hannah on her extensive research (plus her experiences) which absolutely shone through the storyline. There's not much worse than when an author doesn't research their topic and it becomes littered with unnecessary mistakes as it can spoil the storyline. However, you not only chose an intriguing topic to write about but you've researched it well and definitely piqued my interest on it. I will most definitely be looking more into the polygamist community and the FLDS as soon as I have completed this review. I was absolutely absorbed throughout this page turner. It is filled with tension, suspense, lies, secrets, polygamy, murder and omg the twist!!! I DID NOT see that coming!!! Another MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS Holly!! It is getting harder and harder to shock me but by God you did that over and over and over!!! What an ending!!! One of the most gripping unputdownable nerve wracking psychological thrillers I have EVER read!!! You lady have one hell of a talent and I cannot wait to get hold of your previous and future books. I cannot remember the last time I was so hooked by a book but you managed that big time!!! The storyline is filled with crime, shocks, suspense, tension, deceit, history, research and murder. There was so much going on and it was very fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. It is also very thought provoking and intriguing!! The storyline is scarily realistic after looking into the subject myself and it is something I am not sure many people realise goes on.Â
Clear your schedule before you start as I read this in one sitting as I could not put it down!! Practically every chapter ended on a cliff hanger so no way could I put it down!! Absolutely hooked!! I would absolutely love to see this turned into a movie!!!!Â
I read approximately half of this book on kindle and listened to approximately half on audio book. I must also give a huge congratulations to the narrator Stacia Keogh who not only brought the storyline to life by really portraying the emotions through his voice but by doing absolutely fantastic impressions of males and females so a HUGE congratulations Stacia!! I cannot imagine that this was anywhere near an easy feat!!! I am looking forward to discovering more books read by yourself as you definitely have a perfect "book" voice!! I sometimes struggle to absorb the storyline through an audio book but if you are the same as me I can promise you will not have that problem with this amazing narrator!!
It is always worrying when starting a new series as you have no idea who the characters are. It is very important for me to bond with not only the lead protagonists but also any characters that may make repeat appearances during the series too.
I was completely invested in both the storyline and the characters. Each of the characters had their own unique personalities and I felt differently about each of them. I really liked Eve and felt so sorry on her throughout the book. She had a heartbreaking childhood and the more I discovered about her history the more my heart went out to her. However, the fact that after everything she went through she held her head up high and refused to allow the community to get away with what was going on the more I liked her. I found that she is such a strong female protagonist and was extremely likeable. I loved her relationship with her team and I am looking forward to meeting her and the rest of the members again in the next book. I thought Clyde was sweet and I am looking forward to seeing if the relationship continues to develop between him and Eve. I thought it was lovely how he looked out for her and that they were also such good friends while working well together. Colin, Ray and Bina were also great team members each with their own personalities and I loved watching the friendship and relationships between each of them grow and develop and learning about their pasts along with Eve and Clyde's. They make a fantastic team and I am looking forward to meeting each and every one of them again in the next book in what promises to be an explosive series!!! All in all a great mix of characters that worked well with this storyline.Â
Welcome to my favourite author Club Holly!! Bring on the next book in this gripping series!! I cannot wait!!! Here's to the next success 🥂Â
Overall an absolutely heart racing, nerve wracking, thought provoking, unputdownable addictive start to what promises to be an absolutely fantastic new series!!!Â
Genres covered in this book include Romance, Noir Fiction, Women's Psychological Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Police Procedural, Romance Novel, Women's Popular Fiction, Crime, Thriller & Mystery Adventures, Psychological Fiction, Crime Fiction and Psychological Thriller amongst others.Â
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of 'Gone Girl', Shari Lapena, Karin Slaughter, Melinda Leigh, Kendra Elliot, Lisa Regan, Paula Hawkins, Freida McFadden, Rachel Abbot and anyone who loves an explosive ending!!!Â
276 pages
This book is just 99 to purchase and £7.99 in paperback via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!Â
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.Â
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Author Bio
Holly Roberts began writing to alleviate stress in her day job, that of a homicide and sex crimes detective. Romance was her go to genre because she required a happy ending. She also touched on cozy mysteries and added six books to her forty book romance repertoire. Now that she’s retired and her mind at peace, she decided to delve into crime thrillers using her background and thirst for research to write the Eve Bennet series.
Holly has two movie/television options under her belt for her amazing life story. Part of the reason is Holly became a police officer at age 45 and led two high profile cases, one involving a serial killer. Now she enjoys the excitement of writing about crime while sitting at home with her two dogs, laptop, and a cup of hot tea close by.
Social Media
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hollysroberts
Website: http://wickedstorytelling.com
Bookouture Email Sign Up: https://www.bookouture.com/holly-s-roberts/
Buy Link(s):
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0BLVTNGYXsocial
Apple: http://ow.ly/Bsxu50MiVaS
Kobo: http://ow.ly/jpaZ50MiV7Q
Google: http://ow.ly/xVth50MiVeU
Audible:
Listen here: http://ow.ly/3u3K50M95LF
