Book Review: When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham

I am constantly impressed with how wonderful Robotham is at writing suspenseful thriller drama. His books never fail to entertain. This was, admittedly, not my very favorite – but it was still a marvelous character study, even if the characters were often people I struggled to understand and relate to. I have a hard time reading stories about the abuse of women and children, and there is plenty of that here. The misuse of power is another topic I generally tend to find overly infuriating and to create a visceral reaction that often makes novels using it as a plot device difficult for me. Yet despite these things, I could rarely put this one down…

It’s definitely due to Robotham’s skill as a storyteller. That made all the difference in this one for me. In less talented hands, this could have felt overly dramatic or heartstring-tugging – instead what he delivered was a taut exploration of the role of women in modern society (even if that isn’t what he intended to write) packaged in a cop story.

If you’re not familiar with his work you really should be. This is not necessarily the place where I would tell you to start – for me, that would definitely be the Cyrus Haven novels – but if it is the first book of his you stumbled across, it’s still worth the read… Once you start entering his worlds, you won’t want to stop!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.