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    After Anna
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    After Anna
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    After Anna
    Ebook388 pages5 hours

    After Anna

    By Alex Lake

    3.5/5

    ()

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    Unavailable in your country

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    About this ebook

    The No. 1 ebook bestseller, Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller and USA Today bestseller

    The real nightmare starts when her daughter is returned…

    A girl is missing. Five years old, taken from outside her school. She has vanished, traceless.

    The police are at a loss; her parents are beyond grief. Their daughter is lost forever, perhaps dead, perhaps enslaved.

    But the biggest mystery is yet to come: one week after she was abducted, their daughter is returned.

    She has no memory of where she has been. And this, for her mother, is just the beginning of the nightmare.

    Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, C. L. Taylor and Lucy Foley

    Praise for Alex Lake

    ‘Relentlessly fast paced, a compelling plot and anxiety inducing finale. A cracking read’ John Marrs, bestselling author of The One

    ‘Opens with a nightmare scenario and races to a gripping, horribly tense ending – I think I actually stopped breathing several times. Loved it!’ Jackie Kabler, bestselling author of The Perfect Couple

    'With an unrelenting sense of urgency, this brilliant book will get under your skin. Great hook, fast-paced, fully engrossing. Don't miss out – read it now!' Sam Carrington, author of The Missing Wife

    ‘This is creepy storytelling of the highest order: spine-chilling and difficult to put down’ Daily Mail

    ‘A superb read for suspense fans, this taut thriller will have you racing for the finish’ Heat

    ‘A gripping page turner’ Closer

    ‘The emotional rawness will take you to dark depths, but the journey towards that last flicker of hope is one you can’t pull back from’ Woman & Home

    ‘Evocative writing and emotional rawness’ Woman’s Weekly

    ‘A thoroughly entertaining, gripping read’ Cass Green, bestselling author of In a Cottage In a Wood

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateJul 30, 2015
    ISBN9780008150907
    Author

    Alex Lake

    Alex Lake is a British novelist who was born in the North West of England. After Anna the author’s first novel written under this pseudonym, was a No.1 bestselling ebook sensation and a top ten Sunday Times bestseller. The author now lives in the North East of the US.

    Read more from Alex Lake

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    Reviews for After Anna

    3.5/5

    59 ratings8 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A parents' worst nightmare....four little words: "Your Child Is Missing."Anna disappeared without a trace as school was being let out for the day.Anna's mother, Julia, was late picking her up and blamed herself. She and other family members were hoping that another family member had picked her up. Well....someone did pick her up, but they never brought her home.Anna was missing for a week, and then surprisingly returned. Very strange in a kidnapping case, but she was safe and unharmed. But was she and were other family members really safe in such an odd turn of events?AFTER ANNA had me on the edge of my seat as the kidnapper narrated what was happening and as we flashed back to the ongoing police investigation and daily lives of the characters.AFTER ANNA is a must read for anyone who loves thrillers, chilling situations, a unique story line, and an evil, manipulating villain. Mr. Lake did a marvelous job of keeping me guessing even though a few folks said they guessed right away who the kidnapper was.I would consider this one of the top thrillers I have read this year. As I neared the end, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to see the outcome.ENJOY if you read AFTER ANNA. 5/5This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation in return for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      After Anna by Alex Lake was a Sunday Times bestseller in Britain last year. I picked it up based on the publisher's description: "A bone-chilling psychological thriller that will suit fans of Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, Daughter, by Jane Shemilt, and The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins."Julia is running late to pick up her five year old daughter Anna from school - and her phone is dead. She hopes the school will understand - again. But when she finally arrives......Anna is not there. She's vanished without a trace.The first half of the book details the search for Anna and the guilt and blame Julia is subjected to - by herself, the public, her husband Brian and his mother Edna. The actual police investigation is a bit thin - the focus seems to be on the three main characters and their dysfunctional relationships. Despite what has happened, I found it hard to like Julia and empathize with her. She's mercurial, all over the map with what she wants from life, from her marriage and belatedly - from motherhood. There's no question about Brian and his mother however. Edna is quite opinionated and Brian is happy to agree with her. Negative social media coverage provides a realistic look at how the media influences opinions and public judgement.Cut into the narrative are the kidnapper's thoughts...."It was easier than you had expected. The girl came without complaint. You spotted her as she left the school, alone, looking around, clearly bereft of a parent to pick her up. Who would do that? Who would be so negligent as to leave a five-year-old in so vulnerable a position? It was appalling, it really was. But it was good for you."This is not a spoiler - it figures prominently into the publisher's description. In part two Anna is returned unharmed. Where was she? Why was she taken? And why is the kidnapper still interested in this family? I think this plot turn would have been better if the reader could have discovered it themselves, rather than having it already laid out. It certainly detracted from the search for Anna in part one as we know she is going to be found.There is a paucity of suspects and I found the whodunit fairly easy to suss out, despite the large red herring in the room. After Anna didn't quite live up to the comparison to Gone Girl, but I found the book entertaining for a lazy day's reading.
    • 4/5
      I liked it but I figured out the plot a little early.
    • 5/5
      The author made this book extremely easy to read! I will definitely recommend this to anyone and everyone!
    • 5/5
      A cracking good read with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing
    • 4/5
      Enjoyable. I guessed early on who most likely was the kidnapper, but it was still fun to get to the answer. I know there have been comments from people not liking the way the kidnapper speaks in 3rd person, but I found it to be an interesting difference.
    • 4/5
      Although it was easy enough to figure out who did it by the middle of the book, it was an enjoyable, easy read.
    • 4/5
      Although it was easy enough to figure out who did it by the middle of the book, it was an enjoyable, easy read.

      1 person found this helpful