The Secret By Katerina Diamond

The Secret by Katerina Diamond is another book that I bought online from Bookdepository. My decision to buy it was solely on the strength of its high Goodreads rating of 4.1.

The Secret by Katerina Diamond

‘The Secret’ is the follow up to ‘The Teacher’ but I have not read the later. ‘The Secret’ is a complex story, touching on subjects such as abuse, drugs, human trafficking, the sex trade, sex, rape and murder. Think of Usain Bolt in a 100-metre race. From the start the action is fast-paced, with tension piling up with each page turn and surprising twists throughout that have you guessing who to trust.

Police officer, Bridget Reid, is posing undercover as a prostitute in a brothel when two men break into her apartment and murder two of the girls and one client. Though she was the real target, she narrowly escapes with her life and goes on the run pursued by the killers. Injured and feeling extremely cold, the last thing she remembers before passing out is making it to the place where she had agreed to meet with her boyfriend detective sergeant Sam Brown. When she wakes up, she finds herself locked in a basement room and she doesn’t know her captor.

DS Imogen Grey and her partner DS Adrian Miles are assigned to the case of the missing Bridget and the triple murders with DS Sam Brown also involved in the investigation. Sam was Imogen’s ex-partner and Imogen finds it rather upsetting as she has unresolved past issues with Sam.

Told from the perspectives of Imogen, Bridget, Adrian and a disturbed boy, the narrative weaves the past and the present, giving us insights into Imogen’s past and her unhappy history with Sam that caused their fall out. The use of the boy’s voice lends a creepy edge as it shows his spiral from a young boy into a deranged killer.

How the novel ends paves the way for a sequel and I think I have found a new series to get addicted to, something like the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy . But first I will have to find the first book ‘The Teacher.’

This is a novel I highly recommend. It is uncomfortable reading at times but I find it a great read.