A first-class thriller which you do not want to miss… meet Little Darlings by Melanie Golding.

The plot:

The twins are crying. The twins are hungry. Lauren is crying. Lauren is exhausted. Behind the hospital curtain, someone is waiting…

Lauren is alone in the maternity ward with her new-born twins when a terrifying encounter in the middle of the night leaves her convinced someone is trying to steal her children. Lauren, desperate with fear, locks her and her sons in the bathroom.

When DS Joanna Harper picks up the list of overnight incidents that have been reported, a report of an attempted abduction catches her eye. The only thing is that it was flagged as a false alarm just fifteen minutes later.

There’s nothing on CCTV. No one believes the woman was ever there. Harper is sucked into Lauren’s claims that she keeps seeing the woman and her babies are in trouble.

But how far will they go to save children who may not even be in danger?

Astounding

The synopsis above gives me chills even having finished the book. I’m still getting chills from Little Darlings. It’s totally messed up, and I’m HERE FOR IT. It’s sinister, but not your usual thriller. It’s difficult without giving too much away, but I’d just say that this is one hell of a book.

Now I know that I have a very vivid imagination, and can literally picture anything in front of me, but this book gave me the creeps big time. There were many paragraphs which had the heart palpitations in full force, and at one point, I was laying down reading, and suddenly had to sit up, just so I could see all areas of my room.

If you looked up the definition of ‘page-turner’, I’d be surprised if Little Darlings wasn’t featured. I tutted at the end of one chapter because I needed to know what was going to happen, but in true thriller fashion, there was a break. It’s engaging, with not a dull page. It’s not too long, not too short; just an absolutely perfect book.

Gripping, making you want to scream at the characters, intriguing with the mental health aspect, and chilling, leaving you haunted right down until the last word.

There’s lots of conversation, paired well with enough description for you to feel like you were a fly on the wall.

I loved these characters and how they were portrayed. The two main protagonists’ personalities really shone through, and all is not what it seems with Harper. These little details have really made this book a five-star read for me. I couldn’t fathom giving it any lower.

Keep your eyes peeled for more by this author, because I’m expecting amazing books in the future, if Little Darlings is anything to go by.

Astounding.

Little Darlings, Melanie Golding, RRP £12.99 (hardback); Book Depository 

Pages: 326

Publisher: HQ

Genre: Thriller