#BOOKREVIEW: The Search Party by Simon Lelic #ProvidedForReview #Gifted #TheSearchParty

Before I picked up The Search Party by Simon Lelic I read a snippet of a review from an author I like (I have ZERO plans on naming names) and I thought The Search Party was going to be a horror story. It isn’t. The Search Party was a good read. It was a very good read. But, it isn’t something sinister instead it’s a thriller with a sad ending and a killer I didn’t quite guess.

Anyway… That is my very small rant almost out of the way. I like to go into a book cold – where I know nothing except the book blurb or with some expectations of the genre, maybe an idea of any trigger warnings – as long as they are correct. I think I’m a bit of a grump today!

I was expecting horror – I got a great thriller – not a disappointment.

And my rant is definitely finished now.

The Search Party by Simion Lelic was good. I loved the synopsis as soon as I read it and I was over the moon when I got accepted for the eARC over on NetGalley. Thank you to whoever clicked that approve button.

Plus the cover is awesome! Awesome. Who doesn’t love yellow and black together?

Book Blurb:

16-year-old Sadie Saunders is missing.

Five friends set out into the woods to find her.

But they’re not just friends…

THEY’RE SUSPECTS.

You see, this was never a search party.

It’s a witch hunt.

And not everyone will make it home alive…

THE CHALK MAN meets THE HUNTING PARTY in this gripping story; witness four suspects as, alongside DI Fleet, you attempt to discover the truth about what happened to Sadie…

It was good! It was good right from the start.

I loved Simon Lelic’s writing style, I very much enjoyed the one sided interview sections and I liked the different POVs from the various characters and members of the search party. It was clever writing. And a clever plot with a sort of dual timeline as the story unfolded. The eARC I had did have a lot of formatting issues and I sometimes was briefly confused at the quick change of POV and timeframe – but I imagine that will be sorted in the final copy. I loved reading the story told in sections by a variety of characters all with completely different perspectives and secrets. I was hooked.

The Search Party was a solid read with a gripping plot and an ending that left me a little bit emotional. The ending made sense and I had a few suspicions, but I still felt a bit raw after it.

I think my favourite character was the Detective – Fleet, he had a whole subplot going on and relationship problems. As well as past problems in the area, it was his childhood home town but he hadn’t been back in years because of a devastating event in his past. A detective with a tragic past, sounds cliché? But it wasn’t, I liked him and for me, I think his slightly separate story dragged the whole novel up a level.

Have you read any of Simon Lelic’s other books? I would love a recommendation or two of which book of his to try next.

I received a copy of The Search Party by Simon Lelic for review from the publisher, via NetGalley – THANK YOU!