S.K. Barnett | SAFE

Plot (via Goodreads):

A kidnapped girl survived twelve nightmarish years.
Now she's safely back home . . . or is she?

Jenny Kristal was six years old when she was snatched off the sidewalk from her quiet suburban neighborhood. Twelve years later, she's miraculously returned home after escaping her kidnappers—but as her parents and younger brother welcome her back, the questions begin to mount. Where has she been all these years? Why is she back now? And is home really the safest place for her . . . or for any of them?

Review:

So, Dutton is really great at marketing, it's a fact. When I looked on the back cover of Safe, I was immediately curious because there's this little disclaimer that intrigues you stating "...wait until you get to page 87." Naturally, I knew I would at least get to page 87 before I set this one down. Nope, I was wrong. I read it all in one sitting. SAFE by S.K. Barnett is a non-stop compelling psychological thriller with a ton of mystery and intrigue. The way this story is told really grips you from the beginning and is relentless with its grip.

The characters in this one were so well written. I loved this because you got small snippets of who they could possibly be and questioned everyone's intentions and the twists and turns were brought on purely by the characters themselves rather than the actual plot; it was fantastically done. After I got to page 87 and one reveal made itself known, the rest were like a snowball effect. This one was definitely not the story I was expecting and every single time I got used to what was happening in the story, more would reveal itself and by the end, I just was dumbfounded as to how tricked (in a good way) I felt by Barnett.

I can't go in too much detail, but this one was such a twisty and fun read that kept me really entertained and completely immersed in the story. I will say, just as a forewarning, this read does have a ton of dark content and actually featured some things in it that I had not been expecting, so there may be some trigger warnings with this one including a lot of different things dealing with sexual abuse. Overall, I loved this story for its entirety and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great thriller.

Special thanks to Dutton for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5