“You thought you’d escaped your past”
- Book: Invisible Victim
- Location: Stoke on Trent
- Author: Mel Sherratt
Oh my goodness! Which middle earth cave have I just emerged from, that I have not heard about this author before?
When I first began reading, it became apparent that much of the premise was already known and being freely shared with me, so my initial reaction was how could this storyline provide enough oomph! as a thriller. Surely it would have been more suited being classified as a suspense novel? Then Bam! I was hit full force between the eyes and this full-throttle, psychological thriller took a grip of me body and soul, not letting go until the very last page, when I was spat out, a completely broken nervous wreck after being constantly kept on the edge of my seat and having my emotions played one way then another, by just about everyone involved in the telling of this story.
Those opening lines which had already taken my breath away, were only a brief teaser taster and held no real indication of what was to come once the palpable tension had really begun to be ratchetted up and the storyline gathered momentum. The ending was satisfying in that the body count had been kept to a minimum and the perpetrator was incarcerated in a suitable fashion, however everyone left alive and standing was traumatised and broken, each in their own way now being left to battle their own, long supressed, but reawakened demons. This was one outcome that I wouldn’t ever rely on as being ‘final’ and if I was Eva, I would always be looking over my shoulder – after all, Alex was not the only one with secrets to hide!
The chapters are quite short and concise, although they do jot back and forth quite a lot between timelines and narrators. However as soon as I realised whose voice I was hearing and I worked out which timeline I was in, the signposting styling became clearer and the sequencing was relatively easy to follow, with some highly perceptive and punchy narrative and dialogue keeping the pace steady and the storyline fluid.
This multi-layered story, was well structured, highly textured, and ultra intense. Author Mell Sherratt, definitely had plans for how she wanted my journey to progress whilst I was reading, adroitly dropping in so many little bombshells and weaving so many devious twists and turns into the plot, which maintained the constant wow! factor, to ensure that I never deviated from that path. Although I have to come clean and admit that I had worked out one of the most important game-changing factors to emerge about a third of the way in, and only just before it was revealed – but they all count to my way of thinking!
A very difficult and disturbing subject, was treated with gripping and compelling realism, and told with assured authority, raw passion and complete confidence, by an author who never flinched when it came to telling things as they were in Alex’s broken, warped and damaged mind. That a system which was designed to protect, nurture and care for the most vulnerable in society, even and perhaps, especially when, such unspeakable things were happening behind closed doors, in that place which should provide a safe haven, went so horribly wrong, who is ultimately to accept responsibility for the damage caused and shoulder the blame?
Alex has had plenty of time to ponder that question over the intervening years and the decision is that everyone in the chain is equally to blame for the monster victim they have created. However the grip on reality is slowly losing the battle over a mind which has suffered so terribly, until fact and fiction, truth and lies, know no boundaries and victim becomes aggressor in the most awful of ways, as everyone involved becomes a target for their vengeful retribution.
A compulsive, devastating social commentary of our time and a richly crafted study of human behaviour, dominate this lugubrious storyline, where there are no winners, just invisible victims. So many secrets, even more lies and untruths and escaping with her sanity intact, is Eva’s best and only outcome!
The attention to detail when developing the complex characters and the loud and clear voice which they are given to tell their own story, are the defining factors in the story. When it transpires that perpetrator and captive share a similar secret, the circle is complete. How they individually choose to deal with that burden, is what separates them as victims. None of the characters are particularly likable and I found it difficult to invest in, or empathise with any of them. When it comes down to it, they all have emotional baggage, much of which has been heaped upon them by a broken, disjointed system, leaving them emotionally scarred and bruised by the battle.
They do say that ‘revenge is a dish best served cold’, although this story would probably argue a good case against that, and very much goes to prove the point that revenge is a dish that can be served up at any temperature!
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