I don’t think I’m alone in being one of the many readers who wait with baited breath for Angela Marson’s to bring out her latest Kim Stone series and I jump at the chance to be a part of the blog tour to promote her work! The Stolen Ones is the fifteenth in the Kim Stone series and I was itching to get into it!
Before I share my thoughts, here’s what the official blurb says
25 years ago he took a girl. Today he takes another.One August afternoon, eight-year-old Grace Lennard skips into the garden of the childcare centre she attends and vanishes into thin air.
Hours before, Steven Harte walks into Halesowen police station and confesses to having information that will lead Detective Kim Stone to Melody Jones – the little girl who was taken from a playground exactly twenty-five years ago. But something about his confession is off and Kim dismisses his claims.
Arriving at the scene of Grace’s disappearance, Kim finds a chilling piece of evidence: the heart bracelet belonging to Melody. Now Kim must play Steven’s twisted game if she is to find Grace alive. But they’re going to play by Kim’s rules.
With only twenty-four hours to make every second of Steven’s interrogation count, and scan his behaviour for hidden clues, Kim and her team soon link Steven to the abduction of several vulnerable girls – two were kept for a year and then released, unharmed – but where are Melody and the others?
Then small bones are discovered in the grounds of a local park, and Kim fears the worst.
Kim may be close to convicting a killer, but there’s another who wants revenge against her – Dr Alex Thorne – the evil woman Kim did her best to keep behind bars. Alex is about to reveal a shocking secret to Kim that will hit her where it hurts the most. And if Kim lets Alex mess with her head, she might not be able to save Grace and find the other missing girls in time.
My thoughts
My biggest worry about picking up an Angela Marson’s book is never about what lies beneath the cover, but always about how can I write a review that will do her work any justice! This might be the 15th in the Kim Stone series but the anticipation felt as I opened the first page is as palpable as always. I just knew I was about to lose myself in Kim Stone’s world. And I have to say in Stolen Ones, once again, Angela Marsons exceeded all of my expectations and then some! I’ll leave you to read the blurb for the overview of the storyline but let me tell you the opening prologue will chill you to the bone! As always I’ll give you a warning before you read – cancel all plans, forget about sleep, call into work dead – once you pick this up, you will NOT want to put it down!
Fans of the series are in for a massive treat as the psychopathic psychiatrist, Alexandra Thorne is back in town and she has Kim set firmly in her sights. Alexandra Thorne has been under lock and key for a long time but she still has the power to rattle Kim and rattle her she does. She is probably the evilest villain in all of the crime fiction books I’ve read, talk about manipulative, it’s her middle name! I love her! What skill this author has to create a character so loathsome but one who has the power to attract readers around her like bees around a honeypot! Deliciously dark!
Past and present collide in this latest instalment and with missing children at the core of the storyline, the tension is quickly ramped up as we watch Kim and her team race to find out who is behind it all! This plot is full to the brim with tension, and there is a very real sense of a ticking bomb as you turn each page! Honestly, the tension literally oozes out of every page. Tantalising twists kept my heart racing throughout and with perfect precision she manages to wrap it all up at the end and yet leave you begging for more!
I feel as though I have grown up with Kim Stone and her team; they are as real to me as the people I see around me every single day. The dynamics, tensions, trust and support between them all brings an authenticity to the series, they become real, multi-layered individuals who step out of the pages and into your life.
I have definitely got a wee soft spot for Penn, his love and concern for his brother Jasper shines through in this novel, as Jasper starts to push the boundaries in his quest for some independence while Penn wants to wrap him up in cotton wool and protect him from the world. I can’t wait to see how this plays out.
Angela Marsons never shies away from tackling the most difficult, delicate themes and always does so with sensitivity and a hefty dose of realism. Addictive as any street drug, this one will have your brain spinning and your jaw banging off the ground with a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. She pulls the rug out from under your feet every single time.
Do NOT miss it!
Don’t forget to check out what the other bloggers are saying!
The Stolen Ones can be purchased via
STOLEN ONES by Angela Marsons
Amazon: https://geni.us/B09BVJCBY5cover
Apple: http://ow.ly/KQAn50FKOui
Kobo: http://ow.ly/xjnb50FKOsf
Google: http://ow.ly/uyke50FKOo8
About the author
Angela Marsons is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of the DI Kim Stone series and her books have sold more than 4 million in 5 years.
She lives in Worcestershire with her partner and their 2 cheeky Golden Retrievers.
She first discovered her love of writing at Junior School when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read “Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people’s”.
After years of writing relationship based stories (The Forgotten Woman and Dear Mother) Angela turned to Crime, fictionally speaking of course, and developed a character that refused to go away.
She is signed to Bookouture.com for a total of 28 books in the Kim Stone series and her books have been translated into more than 27 languages.
Many of her books, including Blood Lines, Dead Souls, Broken Bones, Fatal Promise and Dead Memories reached the #1 spot on Amazon on pre-orders alone and the translation of Dead Souls, La Verita Sepolte, recently won the prestigious Primo Bancarella award.
Scottish Crime Fiction Blogger and Author 