As a curator for a book subscription service, the biggest challenge I face is ensuring quality books in the box. There are hundreds and thousands of books out there and new ones release almost every day! We enlist many titles in our monthly previews and I attempt to read at least a few out of these lists, to maintain the quality of the books.
Silent Scream was one title included in the box that was dedicated to thrillers and mysteries. It is the first in the D.I Kim Stone’s series, and here is my take on the book.
Cover
The cover has an old building that looks abandoned and dilapidated with the view of a woman from the back. The premise of the story is that of an old and ruined shelter for girls, and this cover does justice to it. However, I have nothing much to comment with respect to its aesthetics as it just comes across as an average one to me.
Characters
DI Stone is the lead officer accompanied by her team, with Byrant being her closest associate. A school head mistress, a chef and a few others have been murdered, the investigation of which leads her to an abandoned shelter where she unearths more dead bodies. Often, in thrillers, the number of characters are many, but not all can be listed here as important or unimportant ones without giving the plot away.
Content
A woman is found dead in her bathtub, a man seems to have incited his own death followed with deadly blows. Kim is assigned the case and the investigation of it leads her to an excavation site. The dead seem to be associated to the ruined shelter for girls. On further investigation, more dead bodies are unearthed. Kim is puzzled by the new revelations and the alarming number of deaths that are happening as she unearths more secrets from the ground. Anyone who may have answers are falling like leaves from a tree, and making any breakthrough seems to be a mountainous task.
While the case seems to hitting dead ends, Kim is more moved than usual as the case brings back a lot of her childhood. Trapped in her memories of her childhood, and the way the case is progressing, Kim is determined to solve this case, and put the monster behind bars.
Language
Narrated from a third person perspective, the book has a simple narrative that is divided into various chapters dedicated to different characters.
Good Points
The book is quite interesting in the way in which it synchronises the past events and the present. The plot is more intense due to the link to her own life and the gruesomeness of some of the deaths. I enjoyed the part where they unearth the dead bodies and piece together the entire scenario.
Bad Points
The characters are a bit cliché. Right from the troubled Kim to her “cooler” partner, most of the characters are straight out of a crime show. Though I really enjoyed the book, it was a pretty long read and I felt the story could’ve been wrapped up in a more concise manner.
Overall
Another mystery that I quite enjoyed, and I look forward to more from the DI Kim series. Though I don’t think this is one of the bests this year, it was definitely a good read.
Who do I recommend it to?
If you enjoy thrillers and don’t shy away from gory details, do give this book a shot!
Go ahead, grab yourself a copy of Silent Scream and tell us what you think about the book! If you are a Kindle person, ensure to select the Kindle edition of the book.
Looking to buy a Kindle?
The frontlit, high-resolution Kindle Paperwhite seems to be the officially preferred Kindle at Meraki Post; Veena, Gazala and Ram have one each. And while Pooja may claim she is more of the “Love the new book smell” kind of person, she may be secretly deciding between the premium Kindle Oasis and the simple and efficient Good Ol’ Kindle.
Kindle Kindle Paperwhite Kindle Oasis
Meraki Post is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.in. Learn more.