A good thriller which has a fantastic build-up and engaging characters – Playdate by Alex Dahl might be for you.

The plot:

Lucia went home from school for a playdate with her new friend Josie. Later that evening, Lucia’s mother Elisa dropped her overnight things round and kissed her little girl goodnight.

That was the last time she saw her daughter.

The next morning, when Lucia’s dad arrived to pick her up, the house was empty. No furniture, no family, no Lucia.

A seemingly happy family plunged into a life-altering situation. Who has taken their daughter and why?

Playdate does well to analyse family secrets with the sinister twist of abduction

You know when you just open up a book and you know it’s going to be a goodie? If we take away the twist, which I saw coming from relatively early on, it was a goodie!

The plot literally happens within the first 20 pages, so you’re completely blind to the story. This mean I got sucked in immediately and couldn’t put it down at all.

Chapters are short and sweet, divided by main characters, Elisa and Lucia, with multiple other characters to help you get the bigger picture. The addition of one character, a journalist looking into the story, really made a difference to the ending. I would’ve liked a chapter from Lucia’s dad, as there’s a lot around coping with the abduction which he plays a big part in, and we just don’t get this point of view. It’s a very female-character driven book.

You’re fed pieces of information which the other characters are blind to, so the twist is sort of expected, in my opinion. It’s a great build up, and I loved doing a mini-investigation alongside the characters.

There are some moments which are repetitive, but Dahl knows how and when to add in a nice little taster to keep you engaged.

Playdate does well to analyse family secrets with the sinister twist of abduction – it’s an easy read with lots of conversation and laced with suspense.

I was a bit disappointed by not having that huge plot twist, as it keeps building and building (although this may be because I read a lot of thrillers – other reviewers have said the twist is unexpected), but I gave it a 3-star because of the writing and different point of views which I really enjoyed.

Playdate, Alex Dahl, RRP £18.99 (hardback); Book Depository 

Pages: 450

Publisher: Head of Zeus

Genre: Thriller