Saturday 19 November 2016

BLOG TOUR: His Kidnapper's Shoes - Maggie James


Genre: Psychological suspense
Release Date: 15 November 2016 (republication)
Publisher: Lake Union


Daniel is my son. He has always been mine. And he always will be.

On some level deep inside, Laura Bateman knows something is wrong. That her relationship with her son is not what it should be. That it is based on lies.

But bad things have happened to Laura. Things that change a person. Forever.

For 26-year-old Daniel, the discovery that his mother is not whom he thought comes close to destroying him. As his world turns upside-down, he searches for sanity in the madness that has become his life. But he is left with nothing but questions. Why did Laura do something so terrible? Can he move past the demons of his childhood?

And the biggest question of all: can he ever forgive Laura?


What did I think?

There are a lot of books out there in the psychological genre but none have ever got inside my head more than His Kidnapper's Shoes. I still feel as if Laura is in my head, even after I finished the book.  Laura got into my head and under my skin as I pieced together the jigsaw of her life in this page turning novel.

We're introduced to Laura who has been arrested for abducting her 'son', Daniel, and refuses to utter a word in her defence.  All we can 'hear' are her deepest and darkest thoughts about how she ended up where she is, and what an emotional story that is.  Laura's son, Daniel, has always been tormented by the hazy memories of a woman beside his bed and a dark haired girl who played with him, neither of these women being the woman he knows as his mother.  Daniel is a tormented soul in the main anyway.  He sleeps with anyone he takes a fancy to but never gets too close, until he meets Katie.  He is encouraged by Katie to do a DNA test, the results of which cause jaw-dropping repercussions that nobody could ever have imagined.

The story has two distinct voices in Laura and Daniel, both of which started towards the dislike end of my love/hate scale but as the story unfolded I could feel the balance shifting - with reasons for actions comes compassion and understanding.  You always think of kidnappers as murderers or perverts, but what about the person who convinces themselves that they are doing it for love.  Laura didn't think that she was doing anything wrong; after a time, she convinced herself that Daniel was her son.  The only thing that was missing was the invisible bond that a mother has for her child.  Daniel never really felt that close to his mother and he absolutely hates his step-father and my heart was shattering as I wondered what kind of life he would have had if he'd never been taken.

His Kidnapper's Shoes is a psychological novel with a capital 'P'.  I felt as if Laura was telling her story only to me - I could hear her in my head as if I was listening to an audiobook.  It's a powerful novel of how we often judge things on face value, but once you walk a few miles in his kidnapper's shoes you see everything in a completely different light.  A superb novel that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:




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ABOUT MAGGIE JAMES

Maggie James is a British author who lives in Bristol. She writes psychological suspense novels.

Before turning her hand to writing, Maggie worked mainly as an accountant, with a diversion into practising as a nutritional therapist. Diet and health remain high on her list of interests, along with travel. Accountancy does not, but then it never did. The urge to pack a bag and go off travelling is always lurking in the background! When not writing, going to the gym, practising yoga or travelling, Maggie can be found seeking new four-legged friends to pet; animals are a lifelong love!




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