A heart-pounding novel of unspeakable crimes and unforgivable sins from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sound of Rain.Homicide detective Nicole Foster has finally balanced an unsteady life and is anxious for a second chance. There’s no better place to start over than at the beginning—back at her childhood home on the Washington coast, where’s she raising her niece and keeping an … raising her niece and keeping an eye on her increasingly fragile father. But Nicole’s past is never truly behind her—not when a disturbing new case stirs dark memories of the haunting investigation that shattered her career.
In the middle of the hottest August in a century, a toddler is found dead inside a parked car. Her father says he forgot her. It’s an unthinkable crime. And for Nicole, it’s made all the more unbearable by her own suffocating secrets—those shared by an old rival who has reappeared from the shadows and is pushing Nicole to the edge once again.
Now, wherever the truth lies, solving this case and avenging an unforgivable death is the most important move in Nicole’s career. But to see it through to the end, how far is she willing to go? And what is she prepared to risk this time?
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Detective Nicole Foster is back in her hometown having gotten a second chance to do the work she loves. Her mother left her and her sister, Stacy, when they were young and younger sister Stacy out shined Nicole as they grew up. Stacy’s husband died in an explosion and Nicole is raising their daughter, Emma. A 1-year-old baby girl dies in a hot car when her father forgot to take her to daycare. Nicole and her partner, Carter Hanson, are working the case. This is an exciting book with lots of twists, turns and surprises in it. There are some very interesting characters and some great story lines that all tie in nicely as the book progresses. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good detective story.
The Weight of Silence by author Gregg Olsen is the second in the Nicole Foster thrillers. I liked the first one and this second book is even more intense! Nicole is working a case in the death of a baby girl. The father left the child in the car on a very hot day while he was at work. Is it an accident or was it planned? It is a heartbreaking plot and as I read the medical examiners exchange with Nicole, I felt so emotional. It was very sad but the investigation to find the truth by Nicole and her partner Carter was brilliant.
While Nicole is working tirelessly to solve the case concerning the baby’s death, she has an unpleasant reunion with her sister. This is where I think the title comes into play. Sometimes the silence of our past actions can later be a weight which is very hard to bear. As Nicole debates how to deal with her deceptive and murderous sister, I kept wanting her to make the correct choice and do the right thing, so she would have no regrets. Thank you to the author for that ending!
Publication date: August 14, 2018
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
This was an excellent read by any standards.
There are two things that stand out for me. One, I kept forgetting the author is male. His protagonist is a thirty-something (nearer forty than thirty?) female detective, Nicole Foster. The author writes in a first person point of view throughout the novel so the reader is seeing, feeling all through “female” eyes.That makes me query whether female readers also “forgot” the author was a male or could they tell? It’s an interesting point.
The second thing was the really neat book ends. A mirror image of the same scene both in the prologue and closing chapter. It worked.
The homicide investigation was in itself fascinating as were the characters of the main suspects. The homicide was so different than the usual run-of-the mill shootings and stabbings etc though nonetheless horrific. What could be more horrific than a toddler left to “cook” inside a car during a heatwave? Foster and her fellow detective have to determine whether this was a deliberate act or a tragic accident.
But strange as it may seem, the investigation took a back seat (pun intended) to the personal demons Detective Foster had to deal with. That is the fascinating part of this book and kudos to the author for pulling it off magnificently.
This is Book #2 in the Nicole Foster series but it can be read as a standalone. I did. I now need to read Book #1 ‘The Sound of Rain.’
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with s free digital copy of this book through NetGalley. I was under no obligation to review it and all opinions expressed are my own.
Gregg Olsen’s books are ‘deep’. They make you dig deep into your heart, your mind and into the minds of what humans can to do other humans for the most uncanny reasons. This book was definitely a tragedy of a loss life of a child, but it was so much more in delving into the life of Nicole as she had to process her demons while finding out the truth of this horrific crime.
Mr. Olsen has been a fav author of mine for many years. Still have a few to catch up on. Thank you for such great writing.
This was a good book and held my interest throughout.
The story of police woman Nicole Foster is heartbreaking for her because it’s tied to her professional and personal lives. She wants the perpetrator of a crime against a child and protection for her niece and without giving away the entire plot, it kept me engaged from beginning to end. Greg Olsson never disappoints me.
Sheila V
This new book was fantastic! It is the 2nd book in the Detective Nic Foster saga. If you didn’t read the first book you will still enjoy it, but the 1st book is good, too !
So many emotions came up as I read it and it was a page turner. I never knew what I was going to feel like! Nic Foster is a survivor, has started a new life with the Hoquim Police Dept. and is now taking care of her evil sister’s daughter. there are a lot of twists and turns, excitement and even tears. I highly recommend it !
Any true-crime reader needs to grab all of Mr. Olsen’s books. He’s easily one of the best authors I read.
What would you do to save someone you love? What do you do when someone has betrayed you over and over yet comes to you to claim they have changed? How do you deal with the emotional loss of your father through Alzheimer’s? This is a realistic book with multiple stories, all tied together but not until the end.
Has anyone listened to the podcast, “Breakdown”? If you like this book then I highly recommended checking it out. The story line is eerily similar to season 2, “Death in a Hot Car: Mistake or Murder”. Justin Ross Harris is the man accused of leaving his 24 month old son in the car, Justin also gets something from the store and opens his car door at lunch to throw the item inside. Check it out!
Lots of conflict kept the story going at a good pace. I didn’t expect the twist at the end of the book.
This was an emotionally agonizing read. The dual story line will have you chewing your nails and sitting on the edge of your seat. There are family relationships, work relationships, addictions, child neglect, etc., that fill the pages. The twists and turns are nonstop and make this a book I highly recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This book is a detective novel featuring Nicole Foster, a recovering gambler and detective called to investigate the death of a young child who was left in the car by her father. From the first, the situation is suspicious and Foster and her partner spend much of the novel uncovering clues about the father’s guilt. Alongside is Foster’s own situation as a recovering gambler, her lack of trust in others, and her own sad family history, including a sister that is a psychopath and cares nothing for her own daughter who Foster is raising. The book moved quickly, and I enjoyed it. What kept me from a 5 star rating was that the “twist” was not much of one and that the situation with Foster’s sister played out in a seemingly convenient/unbelievable way. No spoilers here. Overall a solid read and I have other books by this author in my queue to read. While not necessary, it is helpful to read the first book in the series prior to this one as there is more character development and background.
Great read I will certainly follow greg olsen
Not for the faint of heart, this grim mystery deals with the flawed detective Nicole from The Sound of Rain. In the last book she was kicked off the police force for her gambling addiction as well as crossing the blue line by exposing a police officer. Her sister was a major element in the other story.
This book follows two plot lines: the investigation into the possible guilt of the parents of a toddler left in a hot car and the sister’s hovering shadow and potential return. Nicole has custody of her niece and is petrified that her sister will come back for Emma.
The unfolding investigation into the death of the child is pretty tough to read. Not overly graphic but you are given enough more than enough information about a child dying in an overheated car. Was it an accident or murder, and was just the father responsible or were both mother and father complicit?
Gregg Olson does a good job in the head of the very flawed Nicole. As an ex-gambler and a one who has lived in the shadow of a toxic mother and a possible narcissistic and lethal sister, Nicole is not always likeable. Trying to do the right thing is a double edged sword. As in is it right to murder a homicidal sociopath?
Hard to put down and on KU.
Almost a four star, but there were a few things that could have been explored a little more regarding the death of the little girl as why the toxic sister came back. I am definitely a spell it out for me reader when it comes to mysteries.
Loved this book. I could not put it down.
Dark but well written and riveting!
I really got interested in the main character, and I enjoyed the way her personal life was interspersed with the very interesting case she was working on as a cop. I was really intrigued with how it was going to end as I didn’t see an easy way out to her predicament. Ending was a surprise. I’m going to read more of Greg Olsen’s books. Real page turner.
I’d like to say I enjoyed this 2nd book in the series more than the 1st, but I didn’t. I just really can not get into the whining of Nicole Foster as a lead character. According to her, everything wrong in her life is because of her parents (who liked her sister more) and her prettier sister. Really???? Take some responsibilities for your own actions like having a gambling addiction which cost you a job you loved. This story focused more on her life than the life of the 1 year old left in the car to die. I would rather have heard more back story on that family instead of all the repeated whining from Nicole. Even if there is another book in this series, I think I will let it pass by without reading it. I don’t think I can handle anymore of Nicole. The one saving grace in this story was then ending. However, it just didn’t make up for everything prior to that.
Book 2 in this series wasn’t quite as good since it focused mostly on the paranoid actions of the main character. Yes, in her defense, she does have good reason to be paranoid, but still. I was frustrated because I felt like she WAS responsible for where she ended up even though she kept blaming her sister. Her silence is what enabled her sister to face justice in the first place, and so I just felt she was to blame for everything that came after…