The Next Girl by Carla Kovach

The Next Girl (Detective Gina Harte, #1)

by Carla Kovach

THE ONLY BOOK YOU NEED TO READ THIS YEAR: THE NEXT GIRL...

You thought he'd come to save you. You were wrong.

'Absolutely the best thriller I've read this year!' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
'Just wow!... FANTASTIC... I just had to keep reading' Bonnie's Book Talk, 5 stars
'I couldn't put it down' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

How can someone vanish without a single trace?

Deborah Jenkins pulls her coat around her for the short walk home in the pouring rain. But she never makes it home that night. And she is never seen again...

Four years later, an abandoned baby girl is found wrapped in dirty rags on a doorstep. An anonymous phone call urges the police to run a DNA test on the baby. But nobody is prepared for the results.

The newborn belongs to Deborah. She's still alive...

THE MOST GRIPPING THRILLER EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT - if you like Lisa Gardner, Robert Bryndza or Clare Mackintosh, you will absolutely love this. A completely unputdownable page-turner with an ending that will blow your mind.

Reviewed by Emma (SCR) on

5 of 5 stars

Share
This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Thank you to Bookouture for letting me take part in this tour. I read the blurb for this and I was hooked! The cover was changed too and I love how bright it is now. The blue is so eye catching. 

The story follows DI Gina Harte and Deborah Jenkins as well as Deborah's family. 

Let's start with Gina. Gina clearly has a tortured back story which I look forward to digging into a bit deeper. She has a strained relationship with her daughter, Hannah, who thinks that she can't put her first. Hannah doesn't understand why Gina needs her job so much. I  am intrigued to go into more of Gina's character. She is going to be interesting to follow as the series progresses. 

As well as following Gina trying to investigate Deborah's disappearance we also see flashes of Deborah's life. She's locked up somewhere, chained in a small room and is laying in her own filth. It's a day or so after she gave birth. I couldn't imagine what poor Deborah had been through. She's been missing for 4 years and no-one had seen any trace of her. What happened to her in those 4 years? What had she experiences. I just wanted her to get free. 

The other part of this story is about Deborah's family. A lot of the time in these sorts of stories no one thinks about the family that's left behind if the person isn't found. Luke has been looking after their two children and has really given up all hope that she will ever be found. He's starting to move on but in his heart he still loves Deborah. I honestly felt so sorry for Luke. I cannot imagine what it must be like to not know what happened. To not know if the person you love is alive or not. Do you move on? Do you continue to hope? 

Carla got the suspense and the intrigue just right. I was reading the pages building up to the end and I was getting stressed and I didn't know what to do. My boyfriend kept asking if I was okay. It. Was. Tense! 

This was the first book I have read by this author but it won't be the last. I am really looking forward to more from Carla. 

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 2 April, 2018: Finished reading
  • 2 April, 2018: Reviewed