Customer Reviews
No, It's Not Magic! - By: Mrs. C. Calisgil, 27 Nov 2008 
'Gone without a trace' says the blurb on the front cover, but believe me, this novel is by no means magic! Didn't read any reviews before buying or reading, so started with an open mind. Good start & enjoyed it until around half way, then I started to pick holesin it. A 14-year-old (Cynthia)has a run-in with her parents one evening & goes to bed - drunk; she wakes next morningin an empty house. It transpires that her parents & brother have disappeared & 25 years later the mystery remains unsolved. Cynthia is now married to Terry & they have a young daughter, but the effects of the events all those years ago live on. Then strange things start happening & even Terry starts to have doubts about what really happened that night. I was thinking what a very good tale this was, but as the story unfolds it starts to lose its feasibility & there's a lot of unneccessary 'simple' narrative that made me impatient. I quite liked the way the author interspersed the chapters with dialogue from a source outside the family, by way of introducing the reader to the villains. Having worked out the possible plot before these dialogues started, I was still left with the question: 'Why was Cynthia left behind?', so that gave me the impetus to continue reading, plus the hope that perhaps I was entirely wrong! So to sum up: no surprises - just an OK novel.
Poor plot and not very well written - By: John M, 26 Nov 2008 
This book had the feel of a B-film throughout. The writing created very little tension & the plot, when all was revealed, was disappointing bordering on the ridiculous. There was considerable reliance on coincidence (such as the meetingin the shopping mall, two characters of almost identical appearancein a photo, boxes of momentoes which acted as clues, the school girl who just happened to be linked to the gangster ex-boyfriend, & the head who happened to be a family friend for 25 years etc, etc...), & characters actingin a rather contrived & unlikely manner, eg the homicidal headteacher & the ex-boyfriend turned gangster. All together a rather contrived plot requiring some rather unbelievable behaviour to make it all fit together. The writing style spun it all out into something of a shaggy dog story. It took some time to engage me, but I did manage to finish it just to see what the mystery was all about. As you can see the journey wasn't worth it!
Just Ghastly... - By: D. Purcell, 21 Nov 2008 I'm surprised this was ever published, it's just that bad. The characters are paper thin, this could be forgiven if the story was compelling or the writing was good. Lets face it from the synopsis you would be led to thinking it has some potential. Do not be fooled.
I really struggled to pick it up & read, & gave up half way through. I could no longer tollerate the way it was written. The author frequently repeats himself, for instance "Coming back into the harbour I saw a short black womanin a pair of jeans & a leather jacket standing at the end of the dock as we came back into the harbour" ... come on, would you even have passed GCSE english writing like that?
Before you part with your cash ask yourself if you could put up with something so poor.
Better start than finish - By: Mrs. Gail Radka, 14 Nov 2008 Really got into this book quickly, good starting suspense. Found the last third of the book a little lacking.
Lazy writing - By: pjl102, 09 Nov 2008 The book starts with a decent premise but the conclusion is steepedin cliche & the whole plot becomes lazy - you want there to be a really clever, suitable ending but the actual end leaves you feeling disappointed & cheated. Seen it all beforein bad novels & TV movies. Read Harlem Coben instead - clever writing & innovative twists & turns.
