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I was looking forward to reading another by Elizabeth Haynes as Into the Darkest Corner is one of my favourite reads period, one I recommend often. I was disappointed by this one. It is the 2nd in a series and usually I would start from the beginning but the 1st didn't intrigue me, so I will say, that may have been a mistake but I didn't feel like I missed out on anything.

I enjoyed the character of Scarlett and was really disappointed at the ending, I felt like why did I go on that journey with Scarlett for it to end like that. And also the ending with her sister we knew as a reader but it just all came to an end and I didn't feel fulfilled as a reader after the whole story. I wonder if Elizabeth Haynes changed the story from her initial plan towards the ending. Never getting the parents story, especially the dads was a let down.

Ten years of hell, Scarlett lived ten years of hell when she was taken and put into a life of prostitution. When she is found and meets her mom again, what a shocker, punch in the gut reunion. "I haven't forgotten, you know. I saw you. I saw you." Kindle 38% Can you imagine seeing your mom when you are being thrown in a van. You would believe you would be saved and then nothing, ten years of nothing and then not even a sorry. "Sometimes you make mistakes. And if you don't own up to them, sooner or later they turn into bigger mistakes and bigger ones, and then you can't admit to them at all, ever." Kindle 89% This family was dysfunctional on a level of hate, I had nothing for the parents and understand the ending but still felt like something was missing, I needed closure.

The drug, human trafficking, crime groups case the police were trying to take down was a separate story which didn't engage me and this may have been from book 1. The style of adding evidence is usually quite entertaining and makes me feel like part of the investigative team. I thought this was worthless and didn't add to the readers enjoyment, also adding to the book being longer then necessary.

There were characters I enjoyed but overall this one just did not work for me, very disappointed. I enjoyed the ten year timelines then coming together at the end, that was executed well. It only gets a 3 because I completed it without skimming. I would have went back to book 1 if I really enjoyed this one, but I won't now. ( )

Ten years ago, 15-year-old Scarlett Rainsford vanished while on a family holiday in Greece. Was she abducted, or did she run away from her severely dysfunctional family? Lou Smith worked the case as a police constable, and failing to find Scarlett has been one of the biggest regrets of her career. No one is more shocked than Lou to learn that Scarlett has unexpectedly been found during a Special Branch raid of a brothel in Briarstone. ( )

On holiday with her family in Greece, 15-year-old Scarlett Rainsford disappears. The detectives working her case are stymied: few clues exist and even her family reacts strangely to her disappearance. Ten years pass, and the detectives who worked the case are shocked when Scarlett turns up during a raid at a brothel in Briarstone. How she vanished, where she has been, how she escaped, and what she ultimately decides to do is even more shocking. Author Elizabeth Haynes does a masterful job writing about a horrific subject: human trafficking. Keeping the violence and sex to a minimum, she still manages to convey the horror of young girls – some very young girls – being snatched off the streets, and forced into a life of sexual servitude. Beatings and death were common, escape impossible, hope non-existent. Yet Scarlett did escape, but did not return to the loving arms of her family. To complicate matters, a current homicide is eventually linked to Scarlett’s case. Detective Lou Smith and her staff are working overtime on these cases, unraveling the secrets that tie them together. This compelling story vacillates from past to present, ever suspenseful until the surprising end. ( )

Too many characters and different periods in time make the narrative a little hard to follow but what a great story! The author also uses intelligence reports and witness statements interspersed at times when they cannot mean very much to the reader. Though they become important later in the story, they were more distracting than suspense-building. Still, kudos to Haynes for writing a gripping and cleverly-plotted police procedural with a group of capable, intelligent, sympathetic, and courageous women! Brings to light the horrific practices of human sex trafficking without gratuitous sex or violence. ( )

Through the first hundred pages or so I thought that I was really going to like this book but then it sort of bogged down for me. The book follows an English detective named Louise Smith and two cases she is working on (one current and one a dead case come back to life). I think that she is trying to do too much here and the moving back and forth from one (missing woman) to the other ( assault with drug implications) detracts. She also intersperses dozens of police documents that kill the momentum. After over 450 pages it kind of trickles to a conclusion. ( )