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Missing Pieces
THE GRIPPING SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER FROM TIM WEAVER IN HIS FIRST STANDALONE, perfect for fans of the bestselling DAVID RAKER series
Rebekah Murphy knows too much . . .
She knows she's alone on an abandoned island with a killer on her trail.
She knows that to get home, she must live to understand why this is happening.
She knows someone tried to kill her for a secret.
What she doesn't know is what that secret is . . .
Detective Frank Travis doesn't know enough . . .
He doesn't know where to find Louise Mason.
He doesn't know how and why she vanished into thin air three months ago.
He doesn't know the identity of the man last seen talking to her.
What he does know is that he retires in one week - and if he doesn't find out where Louise went, no one will . . .
What neither Rebekah nor Detective Travis realize is that each holds a missing piece from the same puzzle - and it will cost them everything to finally solve it . . .
Rebekah Murphy knows too much . . .
She knows she's alone on an abandoned island with a killer on her trail.
She knows that to get home, she must live to understand why this is happening.
She knows someone tried to kill her for a secret.
What she doesn't know is what that secret is . . .
Detective Frank Travis doesn't know enough . . .
He doesn't know where to find Louise Mason.
He doesn't know how and why she vanished into thin air three months ago.
He doesn't know the identity of the man last seen talking to her.
What he does know is that he retires in one week - and if he doesn't find out where Louise went, no one will . . .
What neither Rebekah nor Detective Travis realize is that each holds a missing piece from the same puzzle - and it will cost them everything to finally solve it . . .
512 pages, Hardcover
First published April 15, 2021
About the author
Tim Weaver
32 books1,414 followersTim Weaver is the Sunday Times Top 3 bestselling author of the David Raker missing persons series, the standalone thriller, Missing Pieces, and the novella collection, The Shadow at the Door. His novels have been selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club three times, and his work has been nominated for a National Book Award and the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. He is currently developing an original TV drama with the team behind Line of Duty. A former journalist and magazine editor, he lives near Bath with his wife and daughter. Find out more about Tim and his writing at www.timweaverbooks.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 378 reviews
March 10, 2021
Tim Weaver is author of the David Raker series and now, this standalone, although Raker does make a cameo appearance. I may only have read No-one Home from the Raker series and this, but I have become a fan of his, his writing and plotting is absolutely riveting, atmospheric, complex and multilayered. Rebekah Murphy's British mother, Fiona, left her American father, Henry and her two brothers, Johnny and Mike when she was so young that she can barely remember her, a mother who has virtually no contact with them throughout their lives. Henry moves the family back to his home in New York where he works as a cop, and Beks joins them after finishing her A Levels in Britain. Rebekah is now a doctor, Mike and her father are dead, she is separated from her husband, Gareth, and mother to 2 young daughters, Kyra and Chloe.
Feeling she has not spent enough time with her aspiring writer brother, Johnny, Beks makes the fateful decision to join him on a trip to the remote and uninhabited Crow Island, only to find themselves targeted by killers. She has no idea why anyone would want to kill them, although she has more than enough time to ruminate over this mystery, as it looks as if Johnny has been murdered and she is left behind, injured and assumed to have died. Desperately missing her daughters, she is tested to her limits, trapped on this forested island during the freezing winter, alone with no hope of rescue for 6 months. In New York, the tenacious Detective Frank Travis is close to retirement, working on the case of the missing artist, Louise Mason, but has got nowhere. However, he has never let go of anyone, and he is to acquire 2 further strange missing person cases. What connects Louise with Beks?
Weaver slowly and expertly drops in tantalising missing pieces to this compelling and complicated puzzle of a mystery that goes back and forth in time. There are red herrings as well as actual clues in this dark and disturbing nightmare story of survival in which I was completely immersed, desperate for answers, and totally rooting for a Rebekah experiencing a recurring nightmare of being in an apartment numbered 127. If you are a fan of Weaver and the Raker series already, you are likely to love this, and if you are a crime and mystery reader who has never read him, this is a terrific place to start. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.
Feeling she has not spent enough time with her aspiring writer brother, Johnny, Beks makes the fateful decision to join him on a trip to the remote and uninhabited Crow Island, only to find themselves targeted by killers. She has no idea why anyone would want to kill them, although she has more than enough time to ruminate over this mystery, as it looks as if Johnny has been murdered and she is left behind, injured and assumed to have died. Desperately missing her daughters, she is tested to her limits, trapped on this forested island during the freezing winter, alone with no hope of rescue for 6 months. In New York, the tenacious Detective Frank Travis is close to retirement, working on the case of the missing artist, Louise Mason, but has got nowhere. However, he has never let go of anyone, and he is to acquire 2 further strange missing person cases. What connects Louise with Beks?
Weaver slowly and expertly drops in tantalising missing pieces to this compelling and complicated puzzle of a mystery that goes back and forth in time. There are red herrings as well as actual clues in this dark and disturbing nightmare story of survival in which I was completely immersed, desperate for answers, and totally rooting for a Rebekah experiencing a recurring nightmare of being in an apartment numbered 127. If you are a fan of Weaver and the Raker series already, you are likely to love this, and if you are a crime and mystery reader who has never read him, this is a terrific place to start. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.
February 1, 2021
3.5 rounded up
Rebekah is trapped on Crow Island and is 101 miles from the US mainland. Much of the island was destroyed by Hurricane Gloria in 1987 and has few facilities. How and why is she trapped? Meanwhile, soon to be retired Detective Frank Travis is searching for missing artist Louise Mason. How do these seemingly disparate stories connect? The story is told in different timelines principally by Rebekah and Travis.
The start of the novel is exciting though puzzling which does pull you into the storyline. The mystery of how Rebekah is stuck on the island, her feelings, her sense of panic, growing despair, the claustrophobia of being trapped and abandoned is conveyed well. The island setting creates a good atmosphere reinforced by the winter conditions. There are moments of terror and tension as she struggles to survive and becomes increasingly paranoid by repeatedly going over her memories and recollections which generates suspicion of all those close to her. The plot is very twisty, the format releases ‘missing pieces’, little nuggets a bit at a time and some of those are jaw dropping, pulse pounding shocks and there are a number of intervals of tense excitement. The plot threads connect cleverly as the novel reaches the conclusion.
However, I feel the sections on the island become overlong, there’s too much detail so it becomes repetitious and thus the attention wanders and it loses impetus. The format, though it does have many positives, is extremely confusing to start with and there’s a lot of backtracking. Some characters feel stereotypical especially those on the wrong side of the law. The conclusion feels s bit of a stretch, it’s somewhat surreal and the emotion that is conveyed on the island has gone making it hard to buy into it.
Overall though, despite the negatives, this is a good, solid thriller which is well written and well worth reading.
With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for the arc for an honest review.
Rebekah is trapped on Crow Island and is 101 miles from the US mainland. Much of the island was destroyed by Hurricane Gloria in 1987 and has few facilities. How and why is she trapped? Meanwhile, soon to be retired Detective Frank Travis is searching for missing artist Louise Mason. How do these seemingly disparate stories connect? The story is told in different timelines principally by Rebekah and Travis.
The start of the novel is exciting though puzzling which does pull you into the storyline. The mystery of how Rebekah is stuck on the island, her feelings, her sense of panic, growing despair, the claustrophobia of being trapped and abandoned is conveyed well. The island setting creates a good atmosphere reinforced by the winter conditions. There are moments of terror and tension as she struggles to survive and becomes increasingly paranoid by repeatedly going over her memories and recollections which generates suspicion of all those close to her. The plot is very twisty, the format releases ‘missing pieces’, little nuggets a bit at a time and some of those are jaw dropping, pulse pounding shocks and there are a number of intervals of tense excitement. The plot threads connect cleverly as the novel reaches the conclusion.
However, I feel the sections on the island become overlong, there’s too much detail so it becomes repetitious and thus the attention wanders and it loses impetus. The format, though it does have many positives, is extremely confusing to start with and there’s a lot of backtracking. Some characters feel stereotypical especially those on the wrong side of the law. The conclusion feels s bit of a stretch, it’s somewhat surreal and the emotion that is conveyed on the island has gone making it hard to buy into it.
Overall though, despite the negatives, this is a good, solid thriller which is well written and well worth reading.
With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for the arc for an honest review.
January 11, 2023
In brief - Kept me entertained and on edge - classic Weaver! 4.5/5
In full
So many of Weaver's books have a darkness in them and this one is no exception. Something bad has happened to Rebekah - she appears to be alone on an abandoned island after being attacked. However she came with her brother so where is he now? She knows that someone is trying to kill her but she has no idea why. Detective Frank Travis, a week from retirement, is frustrated by the case of a missing woman (not Rebekah) who seems to have vanished completely. It is the way of such things that a connection might eventually emerge!! There are "Missing Pieces" in these puzzles.
Rebekah, isolated on the island, is doing everything she can to survive and return to her children. She presumes she will be missed but needs to stay fit mentally and physically. She also wants to work out just why she is in this position - is there something in her past that might provide a clue?
Frank, a good cop who wants to solve this one case before he retires, has a nagging feeling that he is missing some information about his case. He gets an anonymous phone call suggesting that he reviews a subject he had dismissed. He isn't sure that the call is not an attempt to put him off the scent. That simply makes him want to get to the bottom of the case even more.
These characters are - as is usual with Tim Weaver - well rounded and have a good depth to them. The more I read the more determined I was to know why the events had occurred. The setting - much of it on the island with Rebekah - almost created another "character". I was steadily drawn in.
For me this is classic Weaver. Rather dark and bleak, with very good pace and tension, coupled with vivid characters. I've been a fan of the Raker series of books almost from their start and have read them all. I was unsure what to expect from a non Raker story but I needn't have worried. Any fan's of Tim Weaver's books will be completely at home with this. As this is a standalone story no knowledge of the Raker series needed however anyone trying this will probably want to read more. Tim Weaver's writing is of a very high standard and that has been maintained for some time now. I do hope that continues for many years to come - I will certainly continue reading what he writes!
Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review
In full
So many of Weaver's books have a darkness in them and this one is no exception. Something bad has happened to Rebekah - she appears to be alone on an abandoned island after being attacked. However she came with her brother so where is he now? She knows that someone is trying to kill her but she has no idea why. Detective Frank Travis, a week from retirement, is frustrated by the case of a missing woman (not Rebekah) who seems to have vanished completely. It is the way of such things that a connection might eventually emerge!! There are "Missing Pieces" in these puzzles.
Rebekah, isolated on the island, is doing everything she can to survive and return to her children. She presumes she will be missed but needs to stay fit mentally and physically. She also wants to work out just why she is in this position - is there something in her past that might provide a clue?
Frank, a good cop who wants to solve this one case before he retires, has a nagging feeling that he is missing some information about his case. He gets an anonymous phone call suggesting that he reviews a subject he had dismissed. He isn't sure that the call is not an attempt to put him off the scent. That simply makes him want to get to the bottom of the case even more.
These characters are - as is usual with Tim Weaver - well rounded and have a good depth to them. The more I read the more determined I was to know why the events had occurred. The setting - much of it on the island with Rebekah - almost created another "character". I was steadily drawn in.
For me this is classic Weaver. Rather dark and bleak, with very good pace and tension, coupled with vivid characters. I've been a fan of the Raker series of books almost from their start and have read them all. I was unsure what to expect from a non Raker story but I needn't have worried. Any fan's of Tim Weaver's books will be completely at home with this. As this is a standalone story no knowledge of the Raker series needed however anyone trying this will probably want to read more. Tim Weaver's writing is of a very high standard and that has been maintained for some time now. I do hope that continues for many years to come - I will certainly continue reading what he writes!
Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review
April 12, 2021
Rebekah Murphy has been missing for five months. She knows too much. She knows she's alone on an abandoned island with a killer on her trail. She knows that to get home, she must live to understand why this is happening. She knows someone tried to kill her for a secret. Detective Frank Travis doesn't know enough. He doesn't know where to find Louise Mason. He doesn't know how or why she vanished into thin air three months ago. What neither Rebekah or Detective Travis realise is that each hold a missing piece of the same puzzle.
Rebekah is trapped on an island that is closed for the winter. She is being hunted by teo killers but Rebekah does not know why they are after her. This is a cleverly crafted plotline that's both atmospheric and mysterious. Detective Frank Travis has a few days left before he retires and he's desperate to close the case of missing Louise Mason. I liked the authors style in writing this book. There's plenty of twists, it's compelling and has well developed characters. The story is told from Rebekah and Frank's points of view. I loved this standalone.
I would like to thank #NetGalley, PenguinMichaelJosephK and the author #TimWeaver for my ARC of #MissingPieces in exchange for an honest review.
Rebekah is trapped on an island that is closed for the winter. She is being hunted by teo killers but Rebekah does not know why they are after her. This is a cleverly crafted plotline that's both atmospheric and mysterious. Detective Frank Travis has a few days left before he retires and he's desperate to close the case of missing Louise Mason. I liked the authors style in writing this book. There's plenty of twists, it's compelling and has well developed characters. The story is told from Rebekah and Frank's points of view. I loved this standalone.
I would like to thank #NetGalley, PenguinMichaelJosephK and the author #TimWeaver for my ARC of #MissingPieces in exchange for an honest review.
December 26, 2020
Author Tim Weaver is one of my favourite authors and I love the ‘David Raker’ series so have been looking forward to this one for some time. This book is a standalone novel that took me a while to get to grips with but certainly improved all the way to the very end. Well written and some excellent characters together with a gripping thought out plot.
Someone is trying to kill Rebekah Murphy because she knows a secret but doesn’t know what it is. She is trapped on an abandoned island cut off from her family and friends with someone trying to hunt her down and kill her. She is desperately trying to work out what she knows, who is actually trying to kill her and why is no one looking for her.
Meanwhile Detective Frank Travis is looking for missing Louise Mason who disappeared three months ago without trace. Frank is due to retire next week and knows that he is Louise’s only hope of being found. Are these two cases connected and will Frank be able to solve them before it is too late.
I enjoyed this book but hope to read more in the David Raker series next year.
I would like to thank both Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Someone is trying to kill Rebekah Murphy because she knows a secret but doesn’t know what it is. She is trapped on an abandoned island cut off from her family and friends with someone trying to hunt her down and kill her. She is desperately trying to work out what she knows, who is actually trying to kill her and why is no one looking for her.
Meanwhile Detective Frank Travis is looking for missing Louise Mason who disappeared three months ago without trace. Frank is due to retire next week and knows that he is Louise’s only hope of being found. Are these two cases connected and will Frank be able to solve them before it is too late.
I enjoyed this book but hope to read more in the David Raker series next year.
I would like to thank both Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
July 19, 2021
I began Tim Weaver's 'Missing Pieces' with high expectations - a girl stranded on an uninhabited island with someone trying to kill her. The beginning got me in, but then Weaver succumbed to that irritating template so many writers seem to employ now: the dual narrative. We are caught up in Rebekah's dilemma when suddenly we go back in time. And then forward. Back to the past, then the present again, ad infinitum. For me the momentum was lost.
This is what further annoyed me.
1. In the beginning I enjoyed reading about Rebekah and how strong and resiliant she was, but she then turned into someone from a Marvel comic. [Sorry for this, but honestly: she runs like a madman after a vehicle pulling a trailer on which is another car. She catches up to the racing car (!) and jumps on the trailer. She hops into the car. She starts the car, backs it off the trailer, onto the road and drives away!!!!!]
2. The chapters on the island were overlong and drawn out. A few pages are spent entirely on an imaginery conversation she has with an imaginary character. It seemed like a lot of padding to me.
3. The author manipulated the reader with red herrings. What on earth had the historian to do with it all? The annoying brother, too.
4. I thought it was very amateurish and such a cliche to have the 'perpetrator' confess to all the killings and explain their motives to the 'victim' at gunpoint. In movies perhaps - but in real life???? And the confession went on for pages - neatly summing up the entire plot.
5. The ending was disappointing with a totally pointless explanation for all the events in this 500-page book. A real letdown.
This is what further annoyed me.
1. In the beginning I enjoyed reading about Rebekah and how strong and resiliant she was, but she then turned into someone from a Marvel comic. [Sorry for this, but honestly: she runs like a madman after a vehicle pulling a trailer on which is another car. She catches up to the racing car (!) and jumps on the trailer. She hops into the car. She starts the car, backs it off the trailer, onto the road and drives away!!!!!]
2. The chapters on the island were overlong and drawn out. A few pages are spent entirely on an imaginery conversation she has with an imaginary character. It seemed like a lot of padding to me.
3. The author manipulated the reader with red herrings. What on earth had the historian to do with it all? The annoying brother, too.
4. I thought it was very amateurish and such a cliche to have the 'perpetrator' confess to all the killings and explain their motives to the 'victim' at gunpoint. In movies perhaps - but in real life???? And the confession went on for pages - neatly summing up the entire plot.
5. The ending was disappointing with a totally pointless explanation for all the events in this 500-page book. A real letdown.
July 25, 2021
This was my first Weaver book, and I'm unsure I'll read another, unless the blurb really grabs me. I had heard great things and was looking forward to seeing what kind of writer he was.
This was very slow and I found myself skimming large parts at times, but then in the actual parts of action and suspense, I realised I had no clue whatsoever what was happening. I understand this was probably intentional, hence the title, but then in my opinion it should drip feed the clues so the reader is able to follow the story continually through the book. This didn't happen for me, and too much referring back to the beginning frustrates me and hampers my enjoyment.
This was very slow and I found myself skimming large parts at times, but then in the actual parts of action and suspense, I realised I had no clue whatsoever what was happening. I understand this was probably intentional, hence the title, but then in my opinion it should drip feed the clues so the reader is able to follow the story continually through the book. This didn't happen for me, and too much referring back to the beginning frustrates me and hampers my enjoyment.
April 13, 2021
I throughly enjoyed this twisty book. It kept me guessing and all the way through I was really interested as to how the main character was going to escape . This would make a very good film. This book was very atmospheric and the descriptions were so vivid that I could see everything in my mind’s eye. A brilliant read. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.
August 12, 2021
Although this is the first novel without usual protagonist David Raker, it still feels very much like a typical Tim Weaver novel with its combination of missing persons and deadly secrets.
The missing person here is doctor Rebekah Murphy who finds herself stranded on the remote Crow Island, 101 miles south-east of the nearest point of mainland, Montauk, Long Island, New York. Winter is approaching. the island is abandoned and no ferries are running. These sort of desolate locations are very much a hallmark of Tim Weaver’s work. All his novels seem to feature some sinister milieu far off the beaten track.
Even if Rebekah can manage to survive the winter, in the spring, when the ferries resume, two men will arrive to kill her, although she has no idea why.
At the same time, veteran NYPD detective Frank Travis, during his last days before retirement, is trying to discover what happened to artist Louise Mason, who disappeared three months previously. Unbeknownst to both, Detective Travis and Rebekah each hold a missing piece of the same puzzle.
What follows is an intricate mix of police procedural and psychological thriller with plenty of juicy red herrings thrown along the way. Each problem solved seems to engender two new ones. It is impossible not to get caught up in the various dilemmas surrounding the two very likeable protagonists.
David Raker does make a very brief cameo appearance towards the end, but, in all, this is a standalone which succeeds perfectly on its own terms.
The missing person here is doctor Rebekah Murphy who finds herself stranded on the remote Crow Island, 101 miles south-east of the nearest point of mainland, Montauk, Long Island, New York. Winter is approaching. the island is abandoned and no ferries are running. These sort of desolate locations are very much a hallmark of Tim Weaver’s work. All his novels seem to feature some sinister milieu far off the beaten track.
Even if Rebekah can manage to survive the winter, in the spring, when the ferries resume, two men will arrive to kill her, although she has no idea why.
At the same time, veteran NYPD detective Frank Travis, during his last days before retirement, is trying to discover what happened to artist Louise Mason, who disappeared three months previously. Unbeknownst to both, Detective Travis and Rebekah each hold a missing piece of the same puzzle.
What follows is an intricate mix of police procedural and psychological thriller with plenty of juicy red herrings thrown along the way. Each problem solved seems to engender two new ones. It is impossible not to get caught up in the various dilemmas surrounding the two very likeable protagonists.
David Raker does make a very brief cameo appearance towards the end, but, in all, this is a standalone which succeeds perfectly on its own terms.
March 11, 2021
Missing Pieces by Tim weaver is another great book from the author. I have read the David Raker series, and this doesn’t disappoint. This is a standalone novel.
Doctor Rebekah Murphy has travelled with her brother Johnny a writer to Crow island. An island 101 miles from the mainland. They become separated when they have been travelling though dense forest and come across a body of the man they are supposed to meet. When the killer starts chancing them because they have seen to much. The problem is that the island is closed for the winter and has no way to contact the mainland so she does what she can to survive over 5 months. Rebekah is a tough cookie and the thought of coming home to her two girls keep her going until the island opens again and she can escape it. She doesn’t know why someone is trying to kill her and wonders if her brother Johnny is still alive.
The story is set in two timelines. The time before and what led her up to her present predicament. And Detective Frank Travis who is dealing with cold cases which involves searching for Rebekah and her brother Johnny.
This is another gripping, well written read from Tim weaver of one woman’s determination to survive on a deserted island. Why is she being hunted by a killer and where is her brother Johnny? I was just slightly disappointed at the explanation at the end of what happened it was a bit long winded. 4 stars from me
Doctor Rebekah Murphy has travelled with her brother Johnny a writer to Crow island. An island 101 miles from the mainland. They become separated when they have been travelling though dense forest and come across a body of the man they are supposed to meet. When the killer starts chancing them because they have seen to much. The problem is that the island is closed for the winter and has no way to contact the mainland so she does what she can to survive over 5 months. Rebekah is a tough cookie and the thought of coming home to her two girls keep her going until the island opens again and she can escape it. She doesn’t know why someone is trying to kill her and wonders if her brother Johnny is still alive.
The story is set in two timelines. The time before and what led her up to her present predicament. And Detective Frank Travis who is dealing with cold cases which involves searching for Rebekah and her brother Johnny.
This is another gripping, well written read from Tim weaver of one woman’s determination to survive on a deserted island. Why is she being hunted by a killer and where is her brother Johnny? I was just slightly disappointed at the explanation at the end of what happened it was a bit long winded. 4 stars from me
July 13, 2021
If this book was half as long it would still have been far too long.
The good:
- the book has a good start, a woman on an island trying to remember how and why she got there and trying to figure out a way to get back on mainland to her family
The bad :
- The book is extremely long and for 80% the time nothing happens.
- the past timelines are more than one. There are a few stories about the past and it gets a bit tedious keeping track of those stories.
- The ending is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous
- this is not a pacy or grippy story, it's very long and dragged, hence not a thriller, just a mystery
If you want to read this book i can honestly say you can read the first 3 and the last 3 chapters and that's it. The ending is explaining it all (and the explanation it's a complete surprise even to those who read the entire book because none of the things revealed in the end have been mentioned or given the slightest inkling until that moment).
The good:
- the book has a good start, a woman on an island trying to remember how and why she got there and trying to figure out a way to get back on mainland to her family
The bad :
- The book is extremely long and for 80% the time nothing happens.
- the past timelines are more than one. There are a few stories about the past and it gets a bit tedious keeping track of those stories.
- The ending is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous
- this is not a pacy or grippy story, it's very long and dragged, hence not a thriller, just a mystery
If you want to read this book i can honestly say you can read the first 3 and the last 3 chapters and that's it. The ending is explaining it all (and the explanation it's a complete surprise even to those who read the entire book because none of the things revealed in the end have been mentioned or given the slightest inkling until that moment).
January 21, 2022
Unusual and great!! Defo recommend. Can't wait to read more of Tim's books.
January 31, 2021
You know I thought I'd miss Raker, this being a standalone, but actually I didn't give him a second thought..
Missing Pieces may be a standalone from Tim Weaver but it includes his writing super power - that of bringing emotional resonance to the fictional vanished - however in this novel we are seeing the point of view of a missing person- the intrepid, resourceful and utterly lost Rebekah, a character you will take to your heart within the first few pages.
Stranded, no hope of escape, wondering what has brought her to this moment, Rebekah struggles for survival on a remote island. Tim Weaver brings the sense of isolation, the terror, the bleak landscape to vivid, stark life with his brilliant writing and the entire read is edge of the seat fantastic.
Meanwhile back in the world, a detective on the brink of retirement searches for another missing woman, he has 5 days and an instinctual determination to bring her home before he leaves- but as connections are made, the mystery deepens and time is running out...
Gosh I devoured this. Utterly addictive, moving between before and now, it is completely unpredictable throughout, you never know quite what will happen next. As all the missing pieces of the title start coming together to form a cohesive reality, the plotting is genius and the truth is stunning in its complexity.
Rebekah is the glue that holds the reader together, a layered, nuanced and completely realistic protagonist - the sheer joy of reading a woman in trouble who has no cliched issues and only realistically falters within her untenable position was the thing that puts missing pieces firmly in the running to be my book of the year. Yes even though its only January. Anyone who thinks men can't write women should read Tim Weaver.
For anyone new this is a good shoe in to going back and reading the Raker series. For fans it pitch perfect Weaver.
Absolutely highly recommended.
Missing Pieces may be a standalone from Tim Weaver but it includes his writing super power - that of bringing emotional resonance to the fictional vanished - however in this novel we are seeing the point of view of a missing person- the intrepid, resourceful and utterly lost Rebekah, a character you will take to your heart within the first few pages.
Stranded, no hope of escape, wondering what has brought her to this moment, Rebekah struggles for survival on a remote island. Tim Weaver brings the sense of isolation, the terror, the bleak landscape to vivid, stark life with his brilliant writing and the entire read is edge of the seat fantastic.
Meanwhile back in the world, a detective on the brink of retirement searches for another missing woman, he has 5 days and an instinctual determination to bring her home before he leaves- but as connections are made, the mystery deepens and time is running out...
Gosh I devoured this. Utterly addictive, moving between before and now, it is completely unpredictable throughout, you never know quite what will happen next. As all the missing pieces of the title start coming together to form a cohesive reality, the plotting is genius and the truth is stunning in its complexity.
Rebekah is the glue that holds the reader together, a layered, nuanced and completely realistic protagonist - the sheer joy of reading a woman in trouble who has no cliched issues and only realistically falters within her untenable position was the thing that puts missing pieces firmly in the running to be my book of the year. Yes even though its only January. Anyone who thinks men can't write women should read Tim Weaver.
For anyone new this is a good shoe in to going back and reading the Raker series. For fans it pitch perfect Weaver.
Absolutely highly recommended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2021
I know some love this book but it wasn't for me. It seemed slow paced and lacked chemistry.
April 9, 2021
I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for an advance copy of Missing Pieces, a stand-alone thriller set, mostly on Crow Island off the coast of New York.
Dr Rebekah Murphy went to Crow Island with her brother Johnny as he wanted to meet a researcher. She is now stranded there, having missed the last ferry before it stopped for winter, and Johnny has disappeared. As she fights to survive her big question is why.
I enjoyed Missing Pieces which is a tense, atmospheric thriller with no hints about the outcome. This meant that I had no theories, normally a galvanising part of my reading, but followed blindly what the author had to tell me and was still gripped.
The format of the novel takes some getting used to. It opens with Bek alone on the island, then slips back and forward from then to past events. It also switches between her and NYPD detective Frank Travis as he spends his final week on the job searching for missing artist, Louise Mason and then there is an unnamed woman who makes a few brief appearances. It is a heady, intriguing mix that offers so many questions and, initially, no answers. I must admit that I felt very thick reading this novel as I couldn’t put the pieces together or work out the links, even as the reveals start to come. If anything though, it fired up my curiosity and enthusiasm to get some answers. The solution is convoluted and slightly incredible but it was a tense, atmospheric and exciting journey, full of twists and turns, to get there, not to mention the number of times I fell for the author’s misdirection.
I like the protagonists in this novel, Bek and Travis. She is consumed by the need to get back to her children and he is consumed by the need to find Louise Mason. They are normal people with everyday problems and stresses and, somehow, it makes Bek’s predicament worse as she tries to work out who wants to kill her.
Missing Pieces is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.
Dr Rebekah Murphy went to Crow Island with her brother Johnny as he wanted to meet a researcher. She is now stranded there, having missed the last ferry before it stopped for winter, and Johnny has disappeared. As she fights to survive her big question is why.
I enjoyed Missing Pieces which is a tense, atmospheric thriller with no hints about the outcome. This meant that I had no theories, normally a galvanising part of my reading, but followed blindly what the author had to tell me and was still gripped.
The format of the novel takes some getting used to. It opens with Bek alone on the island, then slips back and forward from then to past events. It also switches between her and NYPD detective Frank Travis as he spends his final week on the job searching for missing artist, Louise Mason and then there is an unnamed woman who makes a few brief appearances. It is a heady, intriguing mix that offers so many questions and, initially, no answers. I must admit that I felt very thick reading this novel as I couldn’t put the pieces together or work out the links, even as the reveals start to come. If anything though, it fired up my curiosity and enthusiasm to get some answers. The solution is convoluted and slightly incredible but it was a tense, atmospheric and exciting journey, full of twists and turns, to get there, not to mention the number of times I fell for the author’s misdirection.
I like the protagonists in this novel, Bek and Travis. She is consumed by the need to get back to her children and he is consumed by the need to find Louise Mason. They are normal people with everyday problems and stresses and, somehow, it makes Bek’s predicament worse as she tries to work out who wants to kill her.
Missing Pieces is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.
April 12, 2021
Rebekah and her brother Johnny are running for their lives, someone is after them and they don't know why. Rebekah is a doctor with two young daughters and a failed marriage, her brother Johnny is a writer and that is why they've ended up on Crow Island, Johnny had a meeting arranged to discuss a book he was planning to write, in their attempt to escape they are split up and she ends up abandoned on the island, because it closes for the winter, she knows she must do everything she can to survive and get back to her family. Detective Frank Travis is due to retire in a week's time, but the disappearance of Louise Mason is weighing heavily on him, can he find her in the time he has left and how is her disappearance linked to that of Rebekah and Johnny?
Missing Pieces is told across two timelines; the present day and Before, at times they drifted into one and for that reason I nearly gave up as it was quite confusing which time the author was referring to, but I decided to give it a chance and I'm glad I did, because once I'd got my head round it, it was actually an enjoyable read. The book was fast paced with lots of action and twists along the way, a good plot with great characters, I really warmed to Rebekah, with her grit and determination to make it back home to her girls and I loved Frank's dedication to solving the case. If you like an action packed thriller, then this is for you.
I'd like to thank Penguin Michael Joseph UK and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.
Missing Pieces is told across two timelines; the present day and Before, at times they drifted into one and for that reason I nearly gave up as it was quite confusing which time the author was referring to, but I decided to give it a chance and I'm glad I did, because once I'd got my head round it, it was actually an enjoyable read. The book was fast paced with lots of action and twists along the way, a good plot with great characters, I really warmed to Rebekah, with her grit and determination to make it back home to her girls and I loved Frank's dedication to solving the case. If you like an action packed thriller, then this is for you.
I'd like to thank Penguin Michael Joseph UK and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.
Want to read
November 25, 2021DNF
September 16, 2021
I’m a big Tim Weaver fan and have been eager to dive into his first standalone novel for a while. Now that I’ve read it, I can say it was certainly worth the wait. I would not label this my favourite Tim Weaver read, but it is certainly well worth grabbing.
Missing Pieces was a little on the slow side to start – however, once things started to move, I could not get enough. There were many moving pieces with this one, lots of elements that kept me curious, and I happily devoured it to see how everything came together. There were a few elements I worked out in advance, but there were plenty of details that kept me guessing until the reveal happened. All in all, the pieces more than kept me stuck to the pages.
Without a doubt, this is a must-read for fans of the author. It’s also great as an introduction to the author’s work. Plus, the little David Raker moment at the end has me hoping for a story that will connect the two.
Missing Pieces was a little on the slow side to start – however, once things started to move, I could not get enough. There were many moving pieces with this one, lots of elements that kept me curious, and I happily devoured it to see how everything came together. There were a few elements I worked out in advance, but there were plenty of details that kept me guessing until the reveal happened. All in all, the pieces more than kept me stuck to the pages.
Without a doubt, this is a must-read for fans of the author. It’s also great as an introduction to the author’s work. Plus, the little David Raker moment at the end has me hoping for a story that will connect the two.
April 4, 2021
Rebekah is stranded on Crow Island, miles from US mainland in a place ravaged by a hurricane with few facilities. The island is typically only operating and functional for a set season of the year, but otherwise remains barren and desolate. Over the course of the novel and through some heated and fast paced chapters we soon uncover why she's stranded there, and why someone tried to kill her- something which she herself is not yet aware of.
We flit between present day Rebekah and her struggles, to past happenings in her life that gives us context to her current circumstances. We also see chapters from the perspective of Detective Travis searching for a missing artist. With two seemingly disparate protagonists, Missing Pieces had me intrigued from the offset, and I wanted to read on to find out how the pairs lives would converge and why.
The premise intrigued me especially as Rebekah's panic, puzzlement and confinement feels isolating, confusing and almost claustrophobic and eerie. The island and the adverse weather conditions lends itself well to her struggles to create an environment that is difficult to survive in. Wrought with tension, intrigue and clues, the missing pieces of the plot are uncovered and leave us with even more unanswered questions. This atmospheric and riveting story had me tearing through chapters trying to find out what happened next, and whilst some descriptions of the island and its landscape felt repetitive at times, the often jaw-dropping reveal of information and panic-charged situations made up for these lesser moments.
With the reveal of information being almost tantalising, Weaver does an excellent job at forming an immersive and compelling narrative. The almost dystopian setting and lack of food and resources Rebekah has, plus an imminent threat of being hunted that you learn about in later chapters, means there is a fast-paced mission to survive element. This was one of my first of Weaver's books but if like me, you're a fan of a supercharged, almost dark and gritty crime thriller this one won't disappoint.
There are moments of bleakness as Rebekah struggles with communicating with those off the island including her two young daughters, and also the abandoned landscape offers little respite or hope for her. I was equally intrigued by Detective Travis' chapters as he uncovers more about the missing woman he is investigating in the last few weeks before his retirement. However for me, the ending did feel a little rushed and there is a certain level of disbelief to some motives that are uncovered which bordered on being too unrealistic after some rather gratifying and intriguing twists earlier on.
We flit between present day Rebekah and her struggles, to past happenings in her life that gives us context to her current circumstances. We also see chapters from the perspective of Detective Travis searching for a missing artist. With two seemingly disparate protagonists, Missing Pieces had me intrigued from the offset, and I wanted to read on to find out how the pairs lives would converge and why.
The premise intrigued me especially as Rebekah's panic, puzzlement and confinement feels isolating, confusing and almost claustrophobic and eerie. The island and the adverse weather conditions lends itself well to her struggles to create an environment that is difficult to survive in. Wrought with tension, intrigue and clues, the missing pieces of the plot are uncovered and leave us with even more unanswered questions. This atmospheric and riveting story had me tearing through chapters trying to find out what happened next, and whilst some descriptions of the island and its landscape felt repetitive at times, the often jaw-dropping reveal of information and panic-charged situations made up for these lesser moments.
With the reveal of information being almost tantalising, Weaver does an excellent job at forming an immersive and compelling narrative. The almost dystopian setting and lack of food and resources Rebekah has, plus an imminent threat of being hunted that you learn about in later chapters, means there is a fast-paced mission to survive element. This was one of my first of Weaver's books but if like me, you're a fan of a supercharged, almost dark and gritty crime thriller this one won't disappoint.
There are moments of bleakness as Rebekah struggles with communicating with those off the island including her two young daughters, and also the abandoned landscape offers little respite or hope for her. I was equally intrigued by Detective Travis' chapters as he uncovers more about the missing woman he is investigating in the last few weeks before his retirement. However for me, the ending did feel a little rushed and there is a certain level of disbelief to some motives that are uncovered which bordered on being too unrealistic after some rather gratifying and intriguing twists earlier on.
January 7, 2021
My Thanks to Netgalley and publishers Michael Joseph at Penguin for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. I requested it, having read all of Tim Weavers previous novels and have been an admirer of his writing with slight reservations for the last two novels. I was intrigued to see what this first stand-alone story would offer, which besides being the first novel not to feature his missing person locator David Raker, is set in America. England is left behind. Britain doesn’t feature in this work at all. The setting is totally American. Cynics might suggest that he is going for the American market. But whatever, his research, as always, fantastic. He has got the background exactly right, at least from a Brit’s point of view. An American might differ.
The author is again writing about his favourite topic, missing people. But this time the search is not for someone. We, the readers are with that missing person, Rebekah, the principal character, as she desperately tries to survive on an island deserted out of season, out of communication, bitterly cold and a hundred miles out from Long Island, hoping that she will be found.
The book starts with another “Wow ! ! “ trademark Tim Weaver opening. He has his reader hooked from the off, eg “Wind shook the bones of the building*. Not just the building, or the rafters or the structure, but the bones. And this is just the first page. After that, I began to feel a bit confused by different characters and time scale. We have Rebekah’s story in back snatches in between the account of her present perilous predicament. But this throws up questions. Sections are suddenly headed up” Before”, (before what?), and then without warning, we return to the present moment when she is trapped on an abandoned island with deserted buildings, one hundred and one miles from the nearest land and no means of communication. Seemingly unconnected, a soon to be retired NYPD detective, Frank Travis from a missing persons bureau, appears in a storyline. But nothing is unlinked.. If you’ve read Tim Weaver before you know you need to trust him. Anyway by this time you need to know what’s happening.
This author is the master of writing about abandoned places. He can make you hold your breath, make your skin creep. But I did start to wonder if he had rather overdone it this time. It went on for a large proportion of the book and, for me, started to loose it’s shock value and risk becoming boring. Such a waste. To keep the shock values high, the frightening descriptions need to be no more than a chapter or two at a time and the rest ordinary narrative of the story. He has squeezed every last drop out of the very scary situations in which he has put his heroine. For myself, I wished that he would occasionally take his foot off the gas and give his reader some bits of respite. But that’s just my opinion. There’s no pleasing some people. Towards the end when you think that the author can’t give you any more emotion, that everything is settled and explained, comes a final tremendous ending. You might possibly get exasperated with the book at times, as I did, but go for it. It’s one heck of a read.
The author is again writing about his favourite topic, missing people. But this time the search is not for someone. We, the readers are with that missing person, Rebekah, the principal character, as she desperately tries to survive on an island deserted out of season, out of communication, bitterly cold and a hundred miles out from Long Island, hoping that she will be found.
The book starts with another “Wow ! ! “ trademark Tim Weaver opening. He has his reader hooked from the off, eg “Wind shook the bones of the building*. Not just the building, or the rafters or the structure, but the bones. And this is just the first page. After that, I began to feel a bit confused by different characters and time scale. We have Rebekah’s story in back snatches in between the account of her present perilous predicament. But this throws up questions. Sections are suddenly headed up” Before”, (before what?), and then without warning, we return to the present moment when she is trapped on an abandoned island with deserted buildings, one hundred and one miles from the nearest land and no means of communication. Seemingly unconnected, a soon to be retired NYPD detective, Frank Travis from a missing persons bureau, appears in a storyline. But nothing is unlinked.. If you’ve read Tim Weaver before you know you need to trust him. Anyway by this time you need to know what’s happening.
This author is the master of writing about abandoned places. He can make you hold your breath, make your skin creep. But I did start to wonder if he had rather overdone it this time. It went on for a large proportion of the book and, for me, started to loose it’s shock value and risk becoming boring. Such a waste. To keep the shock values high, the frightening descriptions need to be no more than a chapter or two at a time and the rest ordinary narrative of the story. He has squeezed every last drop out of the very scary situations in which he has put his heroine. For myself, I wished that he would occasionally take his foot off the gas and give his reader some bits of respite. But that’s just my opinion. There’s no pleasing some people. Towards the end when you think that the author can’t give you any more emotion, that everything is settled and explained, comes a final tremendous ending. You might possibly get exasperated with the book at times, as I did, but go for it. It’s one heck of a read.
March 27, 2021
Time taken to read - 1 day
Pages - 512
Publisher - Michael Joseph
Source - ARC
Blurb from Goodreads
Rebekah Murphy has been missing for five months. Why is no one looking for her?
________
Rebekah Murphy knows too much . . .
She knows she's alone on an abandoned island with a killer on her trail.
She knows that to get home, she must live to understand why this is happening.
She knows someone tried to kill her for a secret.
What she doesn't know is what that secret is . . .
Detective Frank Travis doesn't know enough . . .
He doesn't know where to find Louise Mason.
He doesn't know how and why she vanished into thin air three months ago.
He doesn't know the identity of the man last seen talking to her.
What he does know is that he retires in one week - and if he doesn't find out where Louise went, no one will . . .
What neither Rebekah nor Detective Travis realize is that each holds a missing piece from the same puzzle - and it will cost them everything to finally solve it . . .
My Review
Rebekah is running, running for her life, she is hurt - she is desperate and other than that we don't really know what is going on, that is the opening chapter. We flip to the before and learn about Rebekah, her life and what takes her eventually to the Island, where she is now present day. The chapters flip between Rebekah trying to survive and then, the past as we run up to the present. Someone wants Rebekah dead, she is stranded on an Island alone and can't imagine why anyone would want to hurt her let alone kill her. Rebekah wasn't alone when she arrived so where is her brother and where is the person she is running from?
The then lets us know Rebekah's current relationship, stressors, family life, the now is her trying to survive on a deserted island, harsh elements, loneliness. There are twists, timeline jumps, little nuggets *missing pieces* of information as you delve further into the story.
There is a whole ton of mystery, different paces depending on if you are past or present & add into that we have Detective Frank Travis who is due to retire soon. Frank is looking into the disappearance of a missing artist who has a link to Rebekah's brother and is desperate to finish the case before he goes. Could Rebekah's family have had anything to do with her current predicament? I found myself flipping back and forth on theories and unwilling to put the book down because I wanted to know, just like Rebekah who, why and is she going to get out of it. 4/5 for me, this was my first time reading this author, I would read him again!
Pages - 512
Publisher - Michael Joseph
Source - ARC
Blurb from Goodreads
Rebekah Murphy has been missing for five months. Why is no one looking for her?
________
Rebekah Murphy knows too much . . .
She knows she's alone on an abandoned island with a killer on her trail.
She knows that to get home, she must live to understand why this is happening.
She knows someone tried to kill her for a secret.
What she doesn't know is what that secret is . . .
Detective Frank Travis doesn't know enough . . .
He doesn't know where to find Louise Mason.
He doesn't know how and why she vanished into thin air three months ago.
He doesn't know the identity of the man last seen talking to her.
What he does know is that he retires in one week - and if he doesn't find out where Louise went, no one will . . .
What neither Rebekah nor Detective Travis realize is that each holds a missing piece from the same puzzle - and it will cost them everything to finally solve it . . .
My Review
Rebekah is running, running for her life, she is hurt - she is desperate and other than that we don't really know what is going on, that is the opening chapter. We flip to the before and learn about Rebekah, her life and what takes her eventually to the Island, where she is now present day. The chapters flip between Rebekah trying to survive and then, the past as we run up to the present. Someone wants Rebekah dead, she is stranded on an Island alone and can't imagine why anyone would want to hurt her let alone kill her. Rebekah wasn't alone when she arrived so where is her brother and where is the person she is running from?
The then lets us know Rebekah's current relationship, stressors, family life, the now is her trying to survive on a deserted island, harsh elements, loneliness. There are twists, timeline jumps, little nuggets *missing pieces* of information as you delve further into the story.
There is a whole ton of mystery, different paces depending on if you are past or present & add into that we have Detective Frank Travis who is due to retire soon. Frank is looking into the disappearance of a missing artist who has a link to Rebekah's brother and is desperate to finish the case before he goes. Could Rebekah's family have had anything to do with her current predicament? I found myself flipping back and forth on theories and unwilling to put the book down because I wanted to know, just like Rebekah who, why and is she going to get out of it. 4/5 for me, this was my first time reading this author, I would read him again!
January 8, 2023
Very good. Unputdownable. Bit confusing.
December 26, 2020
Author Tim Weaver is one of my favourite authors and I love the ‘David Raker’ series so have been looking forward to this one for some time. This book is a standalone novel that took me a while to get to grips with but certainly improved all the way to the very end. Well written and some excellent characters together with a gripping thought out plot.
Someone is trying to kill Rebekah Murphy because she knows a secret but doesn’t know what it is. She is trapped on an abandoned island cut off from her family and friends with someone trying to hunt her down and kill her. She is desperately trying to work out what she knows, who is actually trying to kill her and why is no one looking for her.
Meanwhile Detective Frank Travis is looking for missing Louise Mason who disappeared three months ago without trace. Frank is due to retire next week and knows that he is Louise’s only hope of being found. Are these two cases connected and will Frank be able to solve them before it is too late.
I enjoyed this book but hope to read more in the David Raker series next year.
I would like to thank both Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Someone is trying to kill Rebekah Murphy because she knows a secret but doesn’t know what it is. She is trapped on an abandoned island cut off from her family and friends with someone trying to hunt her down and kill her. She is desperately trying to work out what she knows, who is actually trying to kill her and why is no one looking for her.
Meanwhile Detective Frank Travis is looking for missing Louise Mason who disappeared three months ago without trace. Frank is due to retire next week and knows that he is Louise’s only hope of being found. Are these two cases connected and will Frank be able to solve them before it is too late.
I enjoyed this book but hope to read more in the David Raker series next year.
I would like to thank both Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
February 26, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for this Advanced Review Copy.
This book opens strongly and keeps your attention throughout the whole island setting. The heroine is alone, and the narrative with this sole character is excellently portrayed. However, once certain things resolve, [avoiding spoilers, here!] the pace slows right down, which covers roughly the final quarter of the book. Such a shame, as the initial 3/4 held me gripped and not wanting to put the book down. By the time I'd read to about 80%, I grew bored and impatient. I kept going because I wanted the answers to what had happened and why. The perseverance paid off-sort of. None of the reasons felt that compelling or realistic to me. So much carnage and destruction based on a slim 'what if' scenario? Sorry, but that just did not work for me.
I liked main character, and she came alive for me. The setting and description were done well too. Here are some lines I loved:
'Tears mixed with blood, pink trails casting off down her cheeks, like coloured roads on a map.'
'She was so scared her bones ached.'
Despite the above wonderful writing, too much passive writing, switching between characters and scenes with no section breaks to help the reader orient themselves, and constant telling what has been shown in dialogue (eg: 'If you ever got caught with me ...' He faded out-time and again, the writer acts as though the elipses don't get the message across and tells us, unnecessarily, that the speaker 'faded out'. A small enough thing done once or twice, but the whole way through the book gets a bit much. Also, some actions I just couldn't understand, and taken together, all of this put me off the read somewhat.
So, in summary, the passive writing and extraneous telling need weeding out. As do the jumps between scenes and characters that happen with no warning. The final quarter of the book needs tightening up and shortening, and overall could do with a lot less character confessions, guesses, and monologues to speed up the pace.
A brilliant, strong start to the story, and great character development. Missing Pieces gets 3 stars from me, which I see as a positive review (see my notes below).
***
NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.
5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.
This book opens strongly and keeps your attention throughout the whole island setting. The heroine is alone, and the narrative with this sole character is excellently portrayed. However, once certain things resolve, [avoiding spoilers, here!] the pace slows right down, which covers roughly the final quarter of the book. Such a shame, as the initial 3/4 held me gripped and not wanting to put the book down. By the time I'd read to about 80%, I grew bored and impatient. I kept going because I wanted the answers to what had happened and why. The perseverance paid off-sort of. None of the reasons felt that compelling or realistic to me. So much carnage and destruction based on a slim 'what if' scenario? Sorry, but that just did not work for me.
I liked main character, and she came alive for me. The setting and description were done well too. Here are some lines I loved:
'Tears mixed with blood, pink trails casting off down her cheeks, like coloured roads on a map.'
'She was so scared her bones ached.'
Despite the above wonderful writing, too much passive writing, switching between characters and scenes with no section breaks to help the reader orient themselves, and constant telling what has been shown in dialogue (eg: 'If you ever got caught with me ...' He faded out-time and again, the writer acts as though the elipses don't get the message across and tells us, unnecessarily, that the speaker 'faded out'. A small enough thing done once or twice, but the whole way through the book gets a bit much. Also, some actions I just couldn't understand, and taken together, all of this put me off the read somewhat.
So, in summary, the passive writing and extraneous telling need weeding out. As do the jumps between scenes and characters that happen with no warning. The final quarter of the book needs tightening up and shortening, and overall could do with a lot less character confessions, guesses, and monologues to speed up the pace.
A brilliant, strong start to the story, and great character development. Missing Pieces gets 3 stars from me, which I see as a positive review (see my notes below).
***
NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.
5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.
February 25, 2021
Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Michael Joseph UK and of course Tim Weaver for letting me ready a copy of this I'm return for an honest review.
Bek travels to Crow Island with her brother Johnny who is heading there to learn more about the islands history for a book he wants to write.
They soon find that they are in an extremely dire predicament and are split up when a gunman comes after them.
Bek spends months on the Island, trying to survive, trying to find a way off and to even find her brother.
'This isn’t an island, she thought. She turned the boat around. It’s a prison.'
Right I'm going to be brutaly honest here but the first 60% was a real struggle to get through.
The whole premise and idea was brilliant however the execution especially Bek's time on Crows Island was extremely drawn out. I found myself continously losing interest.
The last 40% however was a whirlwind! And I just wish the rest was like it too. There was twists and turns all over the place and most of my brain power was invested into it.
However I feel that losing most of the story to the Island really damages the stars I want to give this.
The story followed several perspectives. Bek before the Island, Bek on the island, A retiring detective called Travis and Chief of Detectives McKenzie.
Unfortunately this is a 3 stars from me.
Bek travels to Crow Island with her brother Johnny who is heading there to learn more about the islands history for a book he wants to write.
They soon find that they are in an extremely dire predicament and are split up when a gunman comes after them.
Bek spends months on the Island, trying to survive, trying to find a way off and to even find her brother.
'This isn’t an island, she thought. She turned the boat around. It’s a prison.'
Right I'm going to be brutaly honest here but the first 60% was a real struggle to get through.
The whole premise and idea was brilliant however the execution especially Bek's time on Crows Island was extremely drawn out. I found myself continously losing interest.
The last 40% however was a whirlwind! And I just wish the rest was like it too. There was twists and turns all over the place and most of my brain power was invested into it.
However I feel that losing most of the story to the Island really damages the stars I want to give this.
The story followed several perspectives. Bek before the Island, Bek on the island, A retiring detective called Travis and Chief of Detectives McKenzie.
Unfortunately this is a 3 stars from me.
July 20, 2021
Poutavá obálka knihy Ztracené střípky vyloženě nutí člověka, aby po knize sáhl. Kor, když si na obalu můžeme přečíst: “Nová hvězda moderního thrilleru.” To vše značí, že se máme na co těšit, pokud se do knihy pustíme.
Kniha je rozdělena do několika částí a kapitol, ve kterých se prolíná současnost, minulost a také vyprávění z pohledu policisty. Přestože mám ráda, když má kniha dvě dějové linky, zde to na mne působilo poměrně rušivě. Střihy v kapitolách způsobovaly, zejména v první třetině knihy, jistou dezorientaci, která mi komplikovala čtení. Pak jsem si už zvykla na střídání dějových linek a orientace se mi vrátila. Přesto jsem se necítila při čtení příliš komfortně.
Musím přiznat, že jsem se do čtení musela trošku nutit. Celý děj mi přišel poměrně táhlý. Thriller je pro mne synonymem napětí, které jsem však při čtení necítila snad ani jednou. A pokud je tohle “nová hvězda moderního thrilleru”, tak opouštím svět thrillerů a začínám číst sladké romanťárny.
Kniha pro mne postrádala spád, děj se mi táhnul, měla jsem pocit, že je to nekonečný příběh. Vlastně celé mi to přišlo takové nějaké zmatené. Ano – rozporuplný a zmatený pocit po přečtení v sobě pociťuji.
A jestli bych knihu doporučila? Ano, pro méně náročné čtenáře, kteří nemají laťku nastavenou příliš vysoko. Pro nás, co čteme thrillery často, je tohle opravdu slabé kafe.
Kniha je rozdělena do několika částí a kapitol, ve kterých se prolíná současnost, minulost a také vyprávění z pohledu policisty. Přestože mám ráda, když má kniha dvě dějové linky, zde to na mne působilo poměrně rušivě. Střihy v kapitolách způsobovaly, zejména v první třetině knihy, jistou dezorientaci, která mi komplikovala čtení. Pak jsem si už zvykla na střídání dějových linek a orientace se mi vrátila. Přesto jsem se necítila při čtení příliš komfortně.
Musím přiznat, že jsem se do čtení musela trošku nutit. Celý děj mi přišel poměrně táhlý. Thriller je pro mne synonymem napětí, které jsem však při čtení necítila snad ani jednou. A pokud je tohle “nová hvězda moderního thrilleru”, tak opouštím svět thrillerů a začínám číst sladké romanťárny.
Kniha pro mne postrádala spád, děj se mi táhnul, měla jsem pocit, že je to nekonečný příběh. Vlastně celé mi to přišlo takové nějaké zmatené. Ano – rozporuplný a zmatený pocit po přečtení v sobě pociťuji.
A jestli bych knihu doporučila? Ano, pro méně náročné čtenáře, kteří nemají laťku nastavenou příliš vysoko. Pro nás, co čteme thrillery často, je tohle opravdu slabé kafe.
September 22, 2021
Different timelines, different sub plots, different chases but I felt the book quite literally lost the plot.
It had all the potential ingredients for the perfect psychological thriller and a deadly game of cat and mouse. Her alone on and island and him in pursuit but I lost interest in the chases after a while and willed the author on to include and add something different to the storyline rather than fill up the pages with yet another chase!!!
Unfortunately I did not connect with this story, the characters or the plot, so not for me but well written in terms of writing style.
It had all the potential ingredients for the perfect psychological thriller and a deadly game of cat and mouse. Her alone on and island and him in pursuit but I lost interest in the chases after a while and willed the author on to include and add something different to the storyline rather than fill up the pages with yet another chase!!!
Unfortunately I did not connect with this story, the characters or the plot, so not for me but well written in terms of writing style.
March 12, 2021
Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Michael Joseph UK and Tim Weaver for letting me ready an ARC of Missing Pieces in return for an honest review
This book is a stand alone from the David Raker series, but he does make a cameo appearance towards the end
I'm not sure where to place this book as it had so many characters, twists and turns that at the beginning i was thinking of giving up. It was very slow, then it would pick up pace, slow down again and then towards the end it got more gripping and had me racing to the finish.
Rebekah Murphy's marriage seems like the perfect marriage until she finds another mobile phone in her husband's car. After confessing that he has been having an affair the marriage falls apart and he moves out.
"Bek" goes on a night out with an old university friend and finds herself in the morning in another man's bed, but not remembering how she got there. Daniel Foley seems like a nice guy and tells her a bit about himself, but 'Bek" feels guilty and doesn't see him again.
Her brother - Johnny wants to be a historical writer and has made an appointment on "Crow Island" to meet a local historian and asks "Bek" to go with him. At first she is apprehensive about leaving her two daughters for the day and then decides that it may be good to get away from everything for the day and agrees to go with Johnny.
Things take a turn for the worse once they arrive at Crow Island and as the island is due to shut down for the winter the next day it all seems a bit eerie and very quiet. They must get the last ferry off the island at 5.00pm, or there is no other transport to get from the island to home, or they will have to stay overnight until the last ferry for the winter arrives the next morning.
They find the dead body of the historian that Johnny is supposed to meet and are then attacked and chased by another man. At this point you do not know why and this is the case for the most part of the book.
'Bek' and Johnny become separated after she falls down a gully and is presumed dead by the attacker. She then becomes trapped on an abandoned island after waking up and not being able to find Johnny. She then assumes that Johnny is either dead or has made it on to the last ferry home. She is now cut off from her family and friends with no mobile phone after losing it, no food or clothes.
Someone is trying to hunt her down and kill her, but she doesn't know why and is stuck on the island for 5 months. She tries to work out what she knows, whilst living in one of the B&Bs on the island and who is actually trying to kill her and why is no one looking for her.
At this point she discovers that the last ferry to the island for the winter was on 30th October, not 31st October as Johnny had mentioned. You never find out why Johnny lied about this and you never find out whose grave it was under the roots of the tree that they saw when they found the historians body.
Louise Mason, Johnny's ex girlfriend disappeared without a trace just before Johnny and "Bek' go to Crow Island. Johnny is the main suspect of her disappearance, so when they then both go missing detective Frank Travis is assigned to the case, but he is due to retire within the next week. He wants to solve the case before he retires and he knows that he is Louise’s only hope of being found alive or dead.
Are the two cases connected? If so why?
This book is a stand alone from the David Raker series, but he does make a cameo appearance towards the end
I'm not sure where to place this book as it had so many characters, twists and turns that at the beginning i was thinking of giving up. It was very slow, then it would pick up pace, slow down again and then towards the end it got more gripping and had me racing to the finish.
Rebekah Murphy's marriage seems like the perfect marriage until she finds another mobile phone in her husband's car. After confessing that he has been having an affair the marriage falls apart and he moves out.
"Bek" goes on a night out with an old university friend and finds herself in the morning in another man's bed, but not remembering how she got there. Daniel Foley seems like a nice guy and tells her a bit about himself, but 'Bek" feels guilty and doesn't see him again.
Her brother - Johnny wants to be a historical writer and has made an appointment on "Crow Island" to meet a local historian and asks "Bek" to go with him. At first she is apprehensive about leaving her two daughters for the day and then decides that it may be good to get away from everything for the day and agrees to go with Johnny.
Things take a turn for the worse once they arrive at Crow Island and as the island is due to shut down for the winter the next day it all seems a bit eerie and very quiet. They must get the last ferry off the island at 5.00pm, or there is no other transport to get from the island to home, or they will have to stay overnight until the last ferry for the winter arrives the next morning.
They find the dead body of the historian that Johnny is supposed to meet and are then attacked and chased by another man. At this point you do not know why and this is the case for the most part of the book.
'Bek' and Johnny become separated after she falls down a gully and is presumed dead by the attacker. She then becomes trapped on an abandoned island after waking up and not being able to find Johnny. She then assumes that Johnny is either dead or has made it on to the last ferry home. She is now cut off from her family and friends with no mobile phone after losing it, no food or clothes.
Someone is trying to hunt her down and kill her, but she doesn't know why and is stuck on the island for 5 months. She tries to work out what she knows, whilst living in one of the B&Bs on the island and who is actually trying to kill her and why is no one looking for her.
At this point she discovers that the last ferry to the island for the winter was on 30th October, not 31st October as Johnny had mentioned. You never find out why Johnny lied about this and you never find out whose grave it was under the roots of the tree that they saw when they found the historians body.
Louise Mason, Johnny's ex girlfriend disappeared without a trace just before Johnny and "Bek' go to Crow Island. Johnny is the main suspect of her disappearance, so when they then both go missing detective Frank Travis is assigned to the case, but he is due to retire within the next week. He wants to solve the case before he retires and he knows that he is Louise’s only hope of being found alive or dead.
Are the two cases connected? If so why?
May 11, 2021
Rebekah Murphy and her brother Johnny set out on a day trip to Crow Island, a small island just over one hundred miles from the U.S. mainland. This small place was inhabited for only half a year, mostly by fisherman. There were very few facilities on the island, which had been devastated by a hurricane in the 1980s. Johnny had set up a research interview with a local historian who was working on the island and Rebekah had offered to give him a lift. She had two very young children but was eager to spend time with her brother.
However, what should have been a simple task turned into a nightmare, as it became obvious that they had stumbled upon a murder – and the murderers! Without giving away any more of the plot, I can say that Rebekah was abandoned on the island, with little chance of escape, and with the threat of being hunted by the killers.
This novel by Tim Weaver is like a jigsaw puzzle. There are so many strands to the plot that must be fitted together to understand what is happening to Rebekah. The story is told from different standpoints and in different time zones. Mostly, it is clear where and when the story is taking place, but at times it was a little confusing. I think the author portrayed Rebekah’s emotional state well as she learned to cope with her situation. I enjoyed his portrayal of this resilient and brave woman.
All in all, this was an intriguing and well written book, but I would have appreciated less changes in the timeline. I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
However, what should have been a simple task turned into a nightmare, as it became obvious that they had stumbled upon a murder – and the murderers! Without giving away any more of the plot, I can say that Rebekah was abandoned on the island, with little chance of escape, and with the threat of being hunted by the killers.
This novel by Tim Weaver is like a jigsaw puzzle. There are so many strands to the plot that must be fitted together to understand what is happening to Rebekah. The story is told from different standpoints and in different time zones. Mostly, it is clear where and when the story is taking place, but at times it was a little confusing. I think the author portrayed Rebekah’s emotional state well as she learned to cope with her situation. I enjoyed his portrayal of this resilient and brave woman.
All in all, this was an intriguing and well written book, but I would have appreciated less changes in the timeline. I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
April 12, 2021
This is a great stand-alone thriller from Tim Weaver.
Rebekah decides to join her older brother Johnny on a trip to the remote and uninhabited Crow Island, only to find themselves being hunted. She has no idea why anyone would want to kill them, and with Johnny missing, Rebekah struggles to cope.
In New York, Detective Frank Travis is close to retirement, working on the case of the missing artist, Louise Mason, but is getting nowhere. What connects Louise with Rebekah?
This is a bit of a slow burner as the story slowly unravels the complicated mystery that is told from the past and present viewpoints.
This is a gripping mystery thriller that I really enjoyed.
Thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
Rebekah decides to join her older brother Johnny on a trip to the remote and uninhabited Crow Island, only to find themselves being hunted. She has no idea why anyone would want to kill them, and with Johnny missing, Rebekah struggles to cope.
In New York, Detective Frank Travis is close to retirement, working on the case of the missing artist, Louise Mason, but is getting nowhere. What connects Louise with Rebekah?
This is a bit of a slow burner as the story slowly unravels the complicated mystery that is told from the past and present viewpoints.
This is a gripping mystery thriller that I really enjoyed.
Thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
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