BOOK REVIEW: Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge

The girl emerged from the woods, barely alive. Her story was beyond belief. But it was true. Every dreadful word of it.
Days later, another desperate escapee is found- and a pattern is emerging. Pairs of victims are being abducted, imprisoned then faced with a terrible choice: kill or be killed.
Would you rather lose your life or lose your mind?
Detective Inspector Helen Grace has faced down her own demons on her rise to the top. As she leads the investigation to hunt down this unseen monster, she learns that it may be the survivors- living calling cards- who hold the key to this case.
And unless she succeeds more innocents will die...

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 437

I had seen this book pop up on a few people's blogs and TBR piles and I liked the idea of it; in the main I wasn't disappointed. M.J. Arlidge has worked in television for the past 15 years (I read that it was actually the pseudonym of the TV magician Paul Daniels but sadly this is not true!) producing prime time crime serials. Eeny Meeny is his debut novel but his TV experience shines through and there were several points where I could easily imagine the book being adapted for television.
M.J. Arlidge immediately takes you into the action, with the first two victims, Sam and Amy. Would you kill or be killed? That is the question the author repeatedly presents. It is almost a look at human nature and our natural instinct for survival. Helen Grace is the Detective Inspector called in to head up the case, at first she cannot comprehend what has happened to Sam and Amy but when more victims emerge, Helen knows that she has a serial killer on her hands.
As you can imagine there were a lot of twists and turns in this book; my only problem was that I felt it was a little long. There were several large and unexpected events at the end of the book but their impact was lessened for me as I had lost a little bit of interest in the story at that point.
Overall the book has good pace, the chapters are short and snappy but in my opinion there were just too many of them. I thought that the idea behind the book was fantastic and that did keep me reading. I like the character of Helen Walsh and there is plenty of room to develop that so I shall look out for more books by this author in the future.

Book Review: The Shining Girls By Lauren Beukes

The Girl Who Wouldn't Die. Kirby is lucky she survived the attack. She is sure there are other victims less fortunate, but the evidence she finds is...impossible. Hunting a serial killer who shouldn't exist.
Harper stalks his shining girls through the years- and cuts the spark out of them. But what if the one that got away came back for him?

I completely loved this book even though it terrified me! Kirby survives a horrific attack as a teenager; she is lucky to be alive but she cannot settle until she has found the man who intended to end her life in a viscous and carefully planned manner.
Harper is a serial killer, he's not particularly smart but his sole focus is to kill the shining girls as he calls them. He takes something from each victim and leaves it with another of his prey.
Kirby begins to investigate but the evidence is baffling. It appears that Harper has been killing women for more than 60 years, but how would be do
that? How would an older man be inflicting such physical violence acts on people much younger than him?
The Shining Girls kept me away at night; Harper is one of the scariest characters that I have ever come across. He is just relentless, there are no discerning features to him, he is pure evil.
This book has split opinion and I think that it mainly due to some of its fantastical elements. These made the book for me. Lauren Beukes delivers a completely original type of psychological thriller of which I am sure there will be many poor imitations.
The Shining Girls is gripping, terrifying and thought-provoking. It is definitely not one to read late at night but it is also not be to missed.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 5/5

Publisher: Harper

Pages: 416