Amazon.com.au:Customer reviews: Bring Them Home (Detective Karen Hart Book 1)

Top positive review

Enjoyable fast paced read Lincolnshire Detective Karen Hart and the missing girls

Reviewed in Australia on 25 April 2019

I really enjoyed this book. It had a different outcome to what I thought would happen.
The book is well written, fast paced and shows that police are human too, they have lives outside of work and make mistakes. Especially when working very long hours in the case of searching for missing children. The book is set in Lincolnshire, in the middle of England where the police have to manage a rural region of small towns and villages.
Even though I had a hunch of the abductor, there is still some un-expected twists.
I plan to read more books by this author.

5 people found this helpful

Top critical review

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Overexplained and lacking restraint

Reviewed in Australia on 5 October 2021

Sorry, I could not even get to half way. Too often the characters thought, and spoke in long sentences, explaining everything several times over to each other. It felt a bit like I was reading daytime soap opera. The portrayal of police work seemed unrealistic - lacking nuance and depth - everyone seemed overly sincere. I bought based on the reviews, and feel let down. I am leaving at three stars because it may have improved over time, I just could not stay with it.

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From Australia

original story

Reviewed in Australia on 23 March 2019

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A bit slow to start but the book gathered pace nicely as it went along. Well written and original story line with well rounded characters, I look forward to reading more from this author.

4 people found this helpful

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Elizabeth McMahon

Good read..

Reviewed in Australia on 29 April 2019

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This is the first book I've read from this author and I enjoyed it a lot. I like to read books in sequence of a series so I'm looking forward to getting to know the team of DCI Morgan, DS Karen Hart and the young detective constables Sophie and Rick better as the series progresses.

Helpful

A good, solid, police procedural.

Reviewed in Australia on 12 October 2018

This book was a bit of an unusual read because it was purely from the points of view of the police investigating the disappearance of these two little girls.

DS Hart and her team try and figure out what has happened to two little girls who go missing after they leave school a bit early one day. There are suspects galore, parents who have secret lives and the dynamics between the police team are still getting established. I quite like reading a series from the beginning and I am looking forward to reading books by this author, and books in this series in particular. I thought the characterisations were well done and the storyline flowed.

4.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Lauren McCay

Compelling reading

Reviewed in Australia on 25 August 2021

This book kept me in suspense all along. A surprise twist at the end. I am looking forward to reading the next book.

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From other countries

Mrs Terry Clarke

A REAL DON'T WANT TO PUT IT DOWN READ'

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 October 2018

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This is a really good, gripping read from D S Butler. The new Detective ( Karen Hart ) is an interesting character. I look forward to seeing more of her & how she evolves. I love the fact she is her own person & is not afraid to buck the system if she feels it necessary. The story holds you as you try to work out what's happened, but it is weaved so well that the twist surprises you. If this is the first book you have read by this Author, I urge you to read her D S Jack MacKinnon series. Great characters & great story telling. I am sure Karen Hart will become a favourite too. Thanks for the pleasure of yet another good read D S Butler

72 people found this helpful

Sally

Excellent crime/police story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 November 2018

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Loved this book. I've read several books by this author under this name and also writing as Dani Oakley. They are well written intelligent books with characters who draw you in and keep you involved in the story.
In this case, two young girls disappear on their way home from school. The ensuing search introduces a complex group of characters all with their own back stories of which we get a glimpse characters range from the over enthusiastic new officer to the experienced and the exhausted.
Relationships evolve alongside the plot, the twists and turns are largely believable and there is promise of more to come.
Looking forward to the next in the series.

31 people found this helpful

SandraL

First in the series - Lincolnshire Police Procedural

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 February 2019

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DS Karen Hart and her team are called in to investigate the disappearance of two 10 year old girls who sneak out of school early to meet a friend who says they can ride their pony. The case reminds Karen of one she investigated 18 months ago when a young woman went missing and was never found.

I read these books in the wrong order because I was given an ARC of the second DS Karen Hart book, which I really enjoyed, so bought this one. There were many twists and turns in the investigation, as you would expect, and I didn’t guess the ending. I am now looking forward to book 3 in the series.

I listened to this book on Audible, and although I enjoyed the story, I did not enjoy the narrator and sometimes felt like giving up because she was spoiling the story for me. Authors, please be aware that a narrator can make or break a book.

21 people found this helpful

XX9910

Bring Them Home - The story plus the Read & Listen experience

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 June 2022

Verified Purchase

I'm very new to audio books on Kindle having only recently upgraded to a Kindle that has the audio feature.
This was the first of a series of six books which I picked up on Kindle Unlimited's free trial as they are currently (June 2022) all Read & Listen for free.
Though the reviews looked pretty good I wasn't expecting too much having dipped into a few book series' in the past on Kindle years ago which I found badly written with terrible plot lines. I tend to avoid book series but with unlimited I could grab the set and pay nothing if this set turned out to be similar.

My audio experience:
I started this book using audible, I didn't listen to an audible sample before borrowing - if I had, I would likely have passed this book by.
I found myself struggling with the narration, this is, of course, entirely subjective but I wasn't 'feeling it' and wasn't getting into the book at all, instead I found myself thinking 'oh dear, that accent isn't great' and 'that's not how that word is pronounced' rather than listening to the story..
I was about to discard it - as I figured it wasn't for me.
Instead, I picked up my Kindle and read it the following day.
This changed everything.

My Reading experience:
I became totally engrossed with the reading experience. I found it very well written.
Once I was engrossed, I could then handle going back to 'some' listening again..
I didn't think the difference between these two formats would have such a high impact on my perception of a book - but it really does!

I haven't read anything by this author before.
Wow! Just wow!
This was a superb read! So much so I've bought the book to keep on my Kindle as I like to keep the really good books on there.

I love when authors go into a person's personality deeply, this book didn't do that but for the main characters I found there was just the right amount of description about them and there are snippets of the characters which will no doubt appear through the series so that we can get to know them.
Having said that, I do hope that each book in this Karen Hart series can be read as a stand alone story. Time will tell, I'll have to wait and see.
I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series and I see there is also another series written as D.S.Butler which I am interested in taking a look at also.

***SPOILER ALERT***
I will only mention one thing, no naming names - but please stop reading here if you haven't read the entire story.
All I will say is that I felt a huge sense of empathy for the person who committed the crime & the reason why it was committed.

Janice Staines

There’s a new detective in town - and she means business.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 May 2021

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When two ten-year-old girls decide to bunk off school five minutes before the ‘home’ bell and seemingly disappear without a trace, a major hunt is triggered in the normally sleepy village in Lincolnshire.

There is every expectation that the girls will be found quickly, but as the cold night draws in, the investigation team become more and more worried for their safety.

DS Karen Hart, is particularly anxious as another girl disappeared from the same village five years ago… and she was never found.

This is an interesting story, well told with a cast of characters the reader will be able to relate to. It is a story of anger, abuse, intimidation and infidelity and therefore it is not always an easy read. As each new character is introduced, you feel sure they must be somehow involved in the abduction of the missing girls…

I did manage to guess who the actual abductor was before the final reveal, although I was totally at a loss when it came to working out the motive. The final twist came as a complete surprise.

I look forward to reading more about DS Karen Hart and her colleagues in the future.

Godden

First in a series of (currently) 7

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 July 2022

Verified Purchase

Read this, and the next 2, on Kindle Unlimited - a great way to try out new authors!
Wasn’t expecting too much tbh but was pleasantly surprised! A good, well thought out plot with the necessary twists and turns and some very believable characters who expand as the series continues. Have just borrowed No.s 4,5 and 6 and very much looking forward to them

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