The Memory Wood by Sam Lloyd

I was sent a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

OMG! I haven't read a psychological thriller like this for some time.  This is on a totally different level to The Family Upstairs, and so much better.

What can I say without giving the story away.  It's about 13 year old Elissa who is a bright young girl, living with her mother.  They go away for a weekend chess tournament that Elissa is playing in and whilst Elissa goes to return something to the car she is abducted. When she comes around she is in the cellar of "The Gingerbread House', chained up and in the dark.  Her captor visits her but so does Elijah, a 12 year old boy who doesn't want Elissa to leave. He sees her as his new friend. Elissa realises that she isn't the first girl who has been brought here and the story follows the time after Elissa's disappearance.

The story is brilliantly written, even when you think you've sussed it out, there's a twist and a turn in the story. I thought I knew who the abductor was, I changed my mind three times, I thought I knew what the end result for Elissa was, I was wrong there too. Until the very end of this book, there are just so many things where you think you know what's happening and then you realise you've got it completely wrong.

The characters are brilliantly written, to the point that you feel sorry for Elijah, and you soon discover that his story is just as big a part of the story as Elissa's. Elissa, her mum, even the detective in charge of the case are all really good likeable characters and you feel for all of them.  The descriptions of The Memory Wood and the gingerbread house as Elijah calls it, are amazing, you could be there seeing it with your own eyes, it was mesmerising and yet chilling at the same time.

There is some gore, some parts that make you feel little uneasy, nothing hideous but very descriptive but it all adds to the story and the effect.

I couldn't put it down.

A really, really good read. My first Sam Lloyd book, his first book but I'll definitely be reading anything else he writes.

5 stars from me on Goodreads.

Brilliant!