Snap by Belinda Bauer

The tag line on this book reads “she’s not alone…but she’ll wish she was”. While I know what that refers to, it is quite misleading with regards to the general nature of the story.

We begin with three children unaccompanied in a broken down car at the side of a motorway. Their mother has left to walk to the phone to get help and left eleven year old Jack in charge of his two sisters Joy and Merry. It’s over an hour later and she hasn’t returned, it’s getting too hot to stay in the car so they walk to the payphone to find her. But she’s not there. Days later her body is found in a ditch beside the same motorway, with a single fatal stab wound. The murder was never solved.

Three years later, the children’s father has abandoned them, leaving them living in a dangerous, dilapidated house. 14 year old Jack is trying to provide for himself and his sisters the only way he knows how, by robbing people’s houses when they’re away on holiday.  In another house, a woman wakes up to the sound of an intruder in her house. Finding nobody there she goes back to bed to find a knife on her pillow and a note saying I could’ve killed you.

And so the story begins…

This was a brilliantly gripping book; I had it read in one night. I’ve never read anything by this author before but I’ll definitely read more of hers in the future. The characters are very relatable, I instantly felt for Jack and his sisters, and wanted to know more about them. This is quite a clever book, and quite realistic. While depressing in parts, and thrilling in others, there is nothing that could be considered over the top. There are also one or two turns in the story, but nothing too predictable. In fact one of them came as a complete surprise. I highly recommend this book to everyone, it’s a great read. ​

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You can reserve a copy online from South Dublin Libraries’ catalogue here.