In a small northern town, girls are disappearing.
You won’t see it in the papers and the police aren’t taking any notice, but the clues are there if you know where to look.
Becca sees that something is wrong, but she’s been labelled ‘difficult’ thanks to her troubled past. So when a girl is so savagely beaten she can’t be identified, and Becca claims she knows who she is, no one will believe her.
With the police refusing to listen, Becca digs for evidence that will prove what she is saying. But her search for justice will put herself and those closest to her in danger – and once she finds the truth, will anyone even listen?
As soon as I realised that Danuta Kot's latest book Someone Who Isn't Me was a follow on to her debut novel Life Ruins I knew I wanted to read this book first, although on the blog I'm reviewing them in reverse! And boy what a gripping and impressive debut it was, featuring three central characters Becca Armitage, her foster mum Kay McKinnon and Jared Goodwin, a young man that Becca meets.
Life has been hard for Becca, having spent her life in care she didn't have much support until she was placed with foster parents Kay and her late husband Matt who showed her, especially Matt who was able to calm her temper, there were good people in the world. With their guidance she slowly gained trust and was finally achieving something for herself, studying in college until one day she became a victim of a hacker that brought everything down around her. But now she's trying to make a fresh start in Bridlington but sadly it looks like her past is coming back to haunt her and she'll need her wits about her to survive.
Becca is working at a cafe in a homeless centre, a job that Kay arranged for her, where she's not exactly living her dream life but she can at least relate to some of what they are going through. When she is befriended by Paige she wants to look out for her but then one day Paige gets into a car and mysteriously disappears. When a young badly beaten up and unrecognisable girl turns up at a caravan site, Becca is convinced that it is Paige but her attempts to find out what had happened are thwarted at every turn. The police don't believe her and it seems that someone wants to keep her quiet about what is going on in the coastal town.
Jared is an injured adrenalin junkie who has come to Bridlington to recuperate after a terrible accident claimed the life of his best friend and left him broken, both physically and mentally, relying on painkillers to get through the days. He's renting a caravan on a remote site but he's soon regretting his decision when his peace and quiet is disturbed with the late night parties happening close by. But little does he know that he will soon find himself at the centre of all the drama that is going on when his path crosses with Becca and they discover that there might be more going on at these parties than they realise.
The third character to be featured is Kay, a widow who is still trying to come to terms to a life without her husband. Kay worries about Becca especially when the trouble starts, but little does she know how her own life could soon be in danger when her attempts to help Becca bring her into contact with someone she thought she knew but didn't really know at all.
This really was a disturbing read and showed just how easily the vulnerable in our community could slip through the cracks and disappear without anyone noticing or knowing what had happened to them. It also shows how you never really know who the good or bad people are in the world as someone you trust turns out to be involved in the seediest of crimes.
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