Jonetta's Reviews > The Trap

the setup…
Nicola (Nicki) O’Sullivan disappeared a year ago after leaving her friends at a Dublin pub late at night. Her sister Lucy becomes frustrated with the Garda’s lack of progress, even after a task force was created once they connected Nicki’s disappearance with that of two other women. Lucy goes out at night, trying to set a trap for the man who is perhaps responsible for her sister’s abduction. Angela Fitzgerald is a volunteer in the Missing Persons Unit who believes she has a theory about these disappearances that she wants to explore but doesn’t have the authority to do so. Meanwhile, we get the abductor’s perspective, giving us the details of how he captures his victims…apparently telling the story to his latest in his back seat!

the heart of the story…
Holy schmoly!!!! This thing had me clutching at my chest from the first paragraph. It was like waiting for the train wreck you know is coming but you can’t look away. And, you’re hoping some rescuer will come and save the day. I’ve never felt so off balance emotionally in a story as I did here, struggling with my fear and need to know. Nothing about it is predictable and not one of my theories worked out (they were pitifully weak at best). When Angela gets paired with Garda Detective Denise Pope, things got interesting but still it all felt precarious.

the narration…
I am so glad I got to listen to this story as the two narrators were wonderful. There were multiple points of view at various times but primarily those of Lucy and the nameless abductor. By the way, Keating voiced him so well I couldn’t stand him! Both are highly skilled storytellers.

the bottom line…
Oh, the twists! I couldn’t patch together decent theories so you know the surprises were equally head snapping. The ending? Brilliant. It’s a great story in any format but if you have a choice, opt for the audio version. And please listen to/read the author’s notes at the end. It helps with the final digestion. 4.5 stars

(Thanks to Libro.fm and Blackstone Publishing for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)