Stolen by KA Woodford [Book review]

This was a great debut novel, a gripping and tense crime thriller which kept me hooked until the explosive end. I would like to say a huge thank you to the author for reaching out to me and offering me a copy of her book in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Blurb

Jenna Brandt can't stay out of trouble for five minutes. When she sees one of her friends about to be abducted, she launches into action not thinking of the consequences. Detective Sergeant David Sawran doesn't know what to think; troublemaker or daredevil. The vehicle she stole has evidence from a cold case fifteen years and fifteen hundred miles away causing Sawran and the original detective to team up hoping they can catch a killer before he finds Jenna.

My thoughts

The story begins full throttle and instantly creates the scene with tension. Jennas actions trying to save her friend leads her down a dangerous path, and gains her the attentions of a sadistic psychopath. The act itself links murder cases 15 years apart and reopens a cold case in another state. The story included both timelines to give a sense of the history of the case which was a clever plot line.

The characters were believable, Detective Sawran was instantly likeable although I did take a little longer to warm to Jenna, she had a few too many walls up but as the story progressed I began to like her more. Detective Walker and Cortez were a good addition also, they had the history and personal nature of the cold case fuelling them and their knowledge worked hand in hand with Sawran to try and get to the bottom of the incident at hand.

KA Woodford has clearly done a lot of research for this novel, there was a plethora of police investigative jargon and detail that is necessary for these types of crime thrillers. I was impressed with the knowledge that was included. For a debut novel this was very impressive and shows a lot of promise for future work!

This novel was fast paced, gripping and tense. It started with a bang and ended with in an explosive way. So many great twists and turns led up to the final climatic scene between our protagonists and the psychopath, I loved the detail given about the him and his past, not excusing his actions but shedding some light on the root cause of his nature. I loved the epilogue too, a great way to sum up the story and resolve the past and present crimes.

This was a great debut novel and I look forward to seeing what comes next from this author!