The Trap Book Review

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.