Book Review: Rattle by Fiona Cummins

Rattle

by

Fiona Cummins

This book was given to me by Katie Green from Pan Macmillan books to read and give an honest review. Firstly a massive thanks goes to Katie for this. This is Fiona Cummins debut novel so I had no idea how this book would be and what her style of writing would be like. I had heard great reviews though and was really looking forward to reading this.

"A creepy but cracking read, with a psychopath of a serial killer making this stand out from most books"

Précis (taken from the cover): 

He leads an ordinary life - some of the time.
He has a past which explains his behaviour - most of the time.
He has a hobby too terrible to understand - all of the time.
Etta is a detective who suspects him.
Erdman and Lilith are parents who fear him.
And Jakey and Clara have something he craves.

The Collector has come to rattle their bones and he won't stop until he is caught.

In this deadly game only one thing is certain. FINDERS KEEPERS. LOSERS GRIEVERS.

Review:

This book started really well and you were hooked within the first few pages. I believe this is because you were so curious as to what type of thriller this will be. In the author's notes you read about a disease called Stone Man Syndrome (Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva) and I know.. I have never heard of this either. As the book goes on you find out more about this and what connects it to the story itself. The story contains children being kidnapped which can be quite an upsetting storyline for some so if this affects you in any way I would probably not read this this. The detective in charge is Etta Fitzroy and specialises in missing people. Etta has cold cases and deals with her own problems throughout the book which I really like. When the good guys have demons and are not perfect it has a real feel to it. Not only do you get to follow the story through Etta you also get to feel and learn what the parents are also going through which keeps the story at a fast pace as you are always wanting to read on and find out what happens next. I read this book in under two weeks which is quick for me. One of my favourite TV shows as mentioned in previous blogs is Criminal Minds. If you have never watched this show it has some of America's most nasty, horrible & terrifying serial killers in it week in, week out. The "baddy" in Rattle would fit in great in this show. The collector as he is called is disturbed, cruel and messed up. I'm not saying serial killers are good, I know this.... But from a readers point of view I loved how this character was written and really stood out from a lot of books you read that include serial killers. The story itself was really original and was really clever so a big thumbs up to Fiona for this and you can tell time was taken to research.

The characters in this book were greatly written to be honest and all had their parts to play. Etta was a great detective to follow and as mentioned above The Collector was one of my favourite baddy's I have read about in a long time. 

Was there anything I did not like about the book? Well... There were a few small chapters about Erdman (Jakey's dad) and his story which I felt you did not really need in the book but that is such a small thing and does not ruin anything at all. This was just my opinion.

Overall this was a fantastic book which I really loved. I scored this book a 5 out of 5. Considering this is a debut novel it certainly had a feel like a veteran had wrote this. Fiona Cummins follow up book The Collector is out in 2018 and I will definitely be buying and reading this when it is out.

If you love thrillers then I fully recommend that you read this book. I hope, like me you will love it.

Has anyone else read this book?? Do you agree with me or not? Let me know your thoughts...

Speak soon

CBailey31