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Summary:
“A heart-stopping, chilling thriller about an abducted girl, the boy who can save her and the terrifying cat-and-mouse game of deception and betrayal that they are playing. “If you’ve only just arrived . . . then why do you want to leave?” Elissa arrived in Memory Wood on the most important day of her life. The thirteen-year-old … thirteen-year-old chess prodigy was competing at the English Youth Grand Prix when she was snatched, and then woke up in a makeshift cell underground. Elijah has lived beside Memory Wood for as long as he can remember. He’s only twelve but he’s spent his life so far exploring every inch of it, and that’s how he finds Elissa. When he appears in her cell, Elissa assumes Elijah will help her; that he’ll go to the police and give them the answers they desperately need. But Elijah doesn’t want her to leave. As her abductor’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, Elijah’s company is soon her only source of relief and Elissa realizes that this strange, lonely boy is her one hope for survival. Drawing on all her resilience and powers of logic to outwit him, their deadly game of cat and mouse, of deception and betrayal, but also their bond of friendship, will determine both their fates. . .
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A thirteen-year-old girl attending a championship chess tournament is kidnapped and kept in an underground cellar. Elijah a twelve-year-old boy visits her and is her only hope for survival. The police are on the search for the missing girl and the detective leading the case has problems of her own. An intense thriller that has great atmospheric tension and a remarkable friendship that reveals the most extraordinary climax. A great debut novel by Sam Lloyd that reeks of gripping suspense and an engrossing read. A captivating tale and remarkably enjoying page-turner of a must-read, foure-star rating.
This is an unnerving, claustrophobic, gruesome and brilliant captivity story, told from three viewpoints:
Thirteen-year-old Elissa is drugged and kidnapped at a chess tournament. She wakes up manacled to the wall in a filthy and cold cellar.
Elijah is a twelve-year-old boy who visits her in her dungeon. He says he wants to help, but is he all that he seems?
Mairaed is the detective in charge of the operation to find Elissa. She works with determination despite living through her own personal tragedy.
The first half of the book reminded me of The Collector by John Fowles. There was a gripping, painful, awkward battle of wills between chess champion Elissa and her unpredictable visitor, Elijah.
In the second half, the mental battle moved elsewhere when each heart-pounding revelation was followed by an even bigger shocker.
Not only is Sam Lloyd a terrific plotter, he is an accomplished writer. The narration was so smooth, I took it for granted as I raced through, eager to find out what would happen next.
This must surely become one of the biggest hits of this surreal year.
This genre wise is part Police-procedural part psychological thriller.
13-year-old Elissa Mirzoyan is kidnapped from a local chess tournament and hidden in the basement of a run-down cottage on a private estate that Elijah has named the memory wood.
Elijah lives on the estate grounds with his family and is aware of the hidden underground basement.
Lonely and desperate for company he takes to visiting Elissa whenever he can just like he did with the previous basement occupant before her.
DS Mairead Maccullogh is the lead investigator assigned to the abduction case and she knows she’s in a race against the clock and operating on borrowed time if she wants to save Elissa from her fate.
Also Elissa herself will have to use every tool at her disposal to keep herself alive long enough to be rescued.
So this was an interesting page-turner with many twists and turns throughout.
Its told from various POV’s, has many different plot swerves and was overall an enjoyable experience.
So I did feel that this was a little slow at times in regard to the plot direction and I also didn’t think this adequately explained the whys and whatnots when it came to the reasoning behind the abduction.
The psychological factors for me are the main part of the draw and I thought this missed the mark massively in that regard, definitely leaving unanswered questions over how Elissa was chosen, was it just random? and most importantly the why of it all and though I did kind of work it out myself (I think) it was never actually confirmed to my complete satisfaction leaving loose ends that niggled me slightly.
Also, what did they ultimately want with her like the overall purpose and point here that was also kind of hazy?
Character-wise if we leave Elissa and Elijah out of the picture I thought we only scraped the surface when it came to deeper analysis only getting a two-dimensional view of all else involved in this beside those two.
Finally, I loved that this was set in my neck of the woods Shropshire, in fact, I live just a few miles away from the mentioned town so felt quite at home geographically.
In conclusion an intriguing read with some surprising twists.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of The Memory Lake.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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