Wednesday 10 August 2016

The Trap Book Review

the-trap-melanie-raabe

Mumsnet recently gifted me a copy of this debut thriller of a novel from author Melanie Raabe to read and review. This story is quite gripping even from the opening pages...

For 11 years the bestselling author Linda Conrads has mystified fans by never setting foot outside her home. Haunted by the unsolved murder of her younger sister - who she discovered in a pool of blood and the face of the man she saw fleeing the scene, Linda's hermit existence helps her cope with debilitating anxiety. But the sanctity of her oasis is shattered when she sees her sister's murderer on television. Hobbled by years of isolation, Linda resolves to use the plot of her next novel to lay an irresistable trap for the man. As the plan is set in motion and the past comes rushing back, Linda's memories and her very sanity are called into question. Is this man a heartless killer or merely a helpless victim?


Now I find this a hard book to review for more than one reason. As I said at the beginning of my post from the opening pages I was entirely gripped by the storyline. Even though the book had been translated from German, the words seemed to read almost like poetry, they were light but with a sinister tone behind them.

The concept of this tale was clever as there is a book written within the novel itself, Melanie must have had a hard time keeping up with which story was which but the trouble for me was that I too became confused. There were moments where I struggled to differentiate between The Trap itself and the story that was weaved throughout the novel, characters started to blend. 

They say you should write what you know.....

I suppose in a way this made the book even more thrilling, it began to have a phycological effect on me, there was a sort of slow build up but the pace of the book still managed to remain fairly rapid and as the two stories began to blend I was left questioning my own thoughts on just who done it, was it the mystery man of someone else closer to home? Linda seemed to be heading for madness the closer to the end we came and I definitely felt that right along with her.

And this is the other reason I find books like this hard to review as I don't want to spoil things for the next person that decides to pick up this book and read it. Lets just say there are twists as with any book of this genre but the turns it takes you might not necessarily like.

He knows what happened that night and she wrote a book about it but, when the doorbell rings neither of them can be sure how the story ends.

By the end I felt like somethings had been lost in translation, there appeared to be parts that lost the suspense, it sort of ebbed a flowed and by the end I was left with a feeling of disappointment, I'm not sure quite how to explain it other than I was left unsatisfied that just seemed to be that final piece of the jigsaw missing to make this good novel great some how.

Overall for a debut novel The Trap certainly stands out, the concept is unusual and it is a book that if you start it then you really do need to finish it because you will want to know who done it however it isn't one that I would re-read. 

17 comments:

  1. I think I'd quite like to give this book a read, I'm normally a light-hearted chick-lit reader but I do love a good thriller too!

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  2. Thrillers aren't normally my kind of thing but this one sounds really good

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  3. I love a good thriller, something that makes you think and this sounds fab apart from the ending, it's a shame you got to the end and felt disappointed

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  4. I love reading a good thriller and with September approaching, I'm look for new books to read. I will be picking this up asap. xx

    www.annanuttall.com

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  5. This sounds like a good thriller. I am looking to make a new list of books so I might add this onto my list.

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  6. Oh I love a goos thriller book this sounds really good x

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  7. This sounds very gripping! I think I may give it a try!! :)

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  8. Ooh the book itself sounds great, but sounds a little hard to read!

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  9. Sounds interesting. My German isn't quite good enough to comfortably read in the original sadly, but it seems that the translation may be a bit disappointing.

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  10. Oh I do love a good thriller - perfect for my holiday!

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  11. Oooh this sounds like my sort of book. I love a psychological thriller book x

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  12. It certainly sounds interesting. It reminds me of Disclaimer, which also has a book within a book. I often find translated thrillers are my absolute favourite sorts of books, but maybe this one didn't quite hit the mark!

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  13. Wow! This one sounds like it really had an effect on you. Thanks for sharing, I'll add to my to-read pile! #readwithme

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  14. Sounds like a really interesting idea for a book. I'm intrigued to know who did it!
    #readwithme

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  15. The premise of this book sounds great, although it doesn't seem like the ending was satisfactory. Might give this one a miss.
    thanks for reviewing.
    #readwithme

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  16. Sounds like one for my wishlist. I'm all for twists and turns

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  17. This sounds like a really interesting concept - albeit confusing! X #readwithme

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