#BlogTour Without a Trace by Carissa Ann Lynch

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Without a Trace by Carissa Ann Lynch. It's a psychological thriller with the pace of an action read.

About the Author
Carissa Ann Lynch is the USA Today bestselling author of My Sister is Missing, Flocksdales Files trilogy, Horror High series, Searching for Sullivan, Shades and Shadows, Midnight Moss, This Is Not About Love, 13 anthology, Twisted anthology and Without A Trace.

She resides in Floyds Knobs, Indiana with her family and collection of books. With a background in psychology and corrections, she’s always been a little obsessed with the darker areas of the human mind.

Follow @carissaannlynch on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Facebook,Visit carissaannlynchnovels.com
Buy Without a Trace

About the book
Lily’s gone.
Someone took her.
Unless she was she never there…
A little girl has gone missing.
Lily was last seen being tucked into bed by her adoring mother, Nova. But the next morning, the bed is empty except for a creepy toy rabbit.
Has Nova’s abusive ex stolen his “little bunny” back for good?

At first, Officer Ellie James assumes this is a clear custody battle. Until she discovers that there are no pictures of the girl and her drawers are full of unused toys and brand new clothes that have never been worn…
Is Ellie searching for a missing child who doesn’t actually exist?

Review

When Officer Ellie James is called to the scene of a potential abduction of a young child she soon starts to wonder if the mother is somehow deranged. Does this child actually exist? According to the alleged father she doesn't, but then he is also being accused of domestic abuse and yet the only one with a record of abuse is his wife. What the heck is going on?

No matter where Ellie looks nothing adds up. The mother disappears the day after reporting her child missing and the only thing left in her stead is a puddle of blood and something that suggests foul play. If Nova is delusional then where is she and why would anyone want to hurt her? Was there really a small child or is it just a symptom of Nova's delusional and fragile state of mind?

If you look beyond the crime and psychological thriller aspect of this read, the author wants to draw attention to domestic violence and the way society deals with it.

Should victims of domestic violence really be forced to commit crimes and do extreme things to keep themselves and their children safe? Should they have to become criminals to stay alive? The answer is no, and yet the reality is that the law still doesn't do enough to protect them, ergo they find they have no other choice.

Kudos to Lynch for pointing out how easy it is for the abuser to manipulate the system. For babies to be born into legal loopholes, which then often becomes the perfect surroundings for abuse. How the patriarchal system excuses the abuse, hides the abuse and helps to facilitate it.

It's a psychological thriller with the pace of an action read. The author keeps the reader on their toes in a sense that we never really know who is missing, dead or guilty until the end, and even then there are different shades of guilt. It's a complicated tug of war between victim, abuser and helper, who isn't exactly the innocent party in all of this.

Buy Without a Trace at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Killer Reads; Digital original edition (13 Jun. 2019. Buy at Amazon com.