Review ~ Silent Scream by Angela Marsons

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Author: Angela Marsons
Formats Available: eBook, Paperback, Audio
Publisher: Bookouture 
Publication Date: 02-20-15              Pages: 390
Purchase ~ Amazon                            Add to Goodreads

Even the darkest secrets can’t stay buried forever…

Five figures gather round a shallow grave. They had all taken turns to dig. An adult sized hole would have taken longer. An innocent life had been taken but the pact had been made. Their secrets would be buried, bound in blood … 

Years later, a headmistress is found brutally strangled, the first in a spate of gruesome murders which shock the Black Country. 

But when human remains are discovered at a former children’s home, disturbing secrets are also unearthed. D.I. Kim Stone fast realises she’s on the hunt for a twisted individual whose killing spree spans decades. 

As the body count rises, Kim needs to stop the murderer before they strike again. But to catch the killer, can Kim confront the demons of her own past before it’s too late?

My So-Called Review:

I am typically more of a psychological thriller fan and sometimes find that with crime thrillers I'll get a little bored, there can be too much police procedural stuff overloading an otherwise really great mystery. I was pleased to discover this wasn't the case with Silent Scream. This is the first book in the new Detective Kim Stone Crime Thriller Series which follows the cases of Detective Inspector Kim Stone and the three detectives under her charge. What a fantastic debut from author Angela Marsons, I must say that this is probably the best crime thriller I’ve read in a very long time!

DI Stone is one seriously ballsy chick who never takes no for an answer. I love a heroine that can take the bull by the horns to do what she knows is right, regardless of the consequences! I’ve noticed lately an influx of these types of leading ladies and have been pleased, yet it’s something that can go wrong quickly if the heroine comes across more bitchy than assertive. Marsons writes Kim Stone brilliantly and in my opinion, she never crosses that line. Stone is a fascinating, complex character and I cannot gush enough over how much I love her! As hard nose as DI Stone can be there’s also a vulnerability to her that only the reader really understands. Her colleague Bryant, who's also her closest friend, senses it but knows better than to call her out on it. I really enjoyed these two with all their bantering while also maintaining a clearly platonic friendship. It's refreshing to read about two adults who can be close and playful without it turning into something romantic!

When I started reading this book it was the night before leaving for a long vacation weekend, I needed something to help me sleep and I’d been wanting to read this book for a while so I thought I’d read a few chapters, ya right LOL The opening chapter was so creepy and fascinating that I just couldn’t stop, nor could I stop reading the next morning while my hubby droves us to the airport, nor during our long wait to board, nor during our flight; are you getting a clear picture yet? I finished this book in less than 24 hours, it was that good!

DI Stone’s team is investigating the murder of Teresa Wyatt, the 47 year old principal of a private boys’ school. Years before Teresa also worked at Crestwood, a home for troubled and abandoned girls. As they begin investigating the case another person is murdered. The victim's name is Tom Curtis and the team quickly discovers that he was also a former employee of Crestwood. What made these murders so interesting to me was that the chapters were told from the victim's POV, you're literally inside their head before and during their final moments. From the victims memories you're able to pick up some potential clues, not that it helped me figure out who the killer was in any way though :) I found this to be a clever and unique way of giving the readers a different perspective and advancing the story.

The recent murders, along with the knowledge that the site of Crestwood will soon be dug up lead the team into checking the grounds themselves. It doesn't take long for them to discover the buried bodies of several young girls. Questions quickly started swirling around in my head. Who murdered these young girls and for what purpose? Why is someone now killing off the former staff members of Crestwood? Are they looking for one killer or two? How is it all connected? These are the things Kim and her team set out to discover and each time they seem to figure out a piece to the puzzle, something else comes along to scramble it up again.

Silent Scream is an intensely intelligent thriller with a tightly woven plot. It's perfect on all levels and I highly, highly recommend it for anyone who loves dark thrillers of both the psychological and crime genre. I was a tad skeptical at first when I saw such a high rating for this book on Amazon, I thought "No book gets THAT many 5 star reviews", boy was I wrong! Angela Marsons is now among my favorite authors of 2015 and she sits pretty high on that list. As soon as I read the last page I immediately dove into Book 2, Evil Games which was just as good, maybe better if that’s even possible. Now I’m just desperate for Book 3, hopefully Marsons doesn’t torture us too long in waiting for its release!!

Thank you to the publishers, Bookouture and their truly awesome Publicity Manager, Kim Nash for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!