Circle: The Diary of Stella Moore by Peter Dudgeon

This is the sequel to Chance. I would suggest reading the first book, mainly because it will really help readers to understand Cassie and what she has been through.

It also explains the relationships she has with Laura and Frank, aside from that it is just a good read.

I wish there had been less of a jump forward in years. I would have liked to have read about Cassie between Chance and before Circle. Then we might have seen more of Aaron and Laura. In Circle the events take place 7 years after Chance. Cassie is on the brink of adulthood, which means she can put the past into perspective, and also sees any future visions in a different way.

Her visions are similar to seizures and Cassie often becomes part of the person or the evil she can see. She experiences the events as if she is there, often through the eyes of the perpetrators.

If you have read Chance you will be aware of the hidden society of sexual deviants run by high powered and well-known men in society.

Dudgeon likes to mix his fictional with the stark reality of abuse, sexual exploitation, domestic violence and rape. In Stella's case he makes the case for the thin line between coercion and consent. When the line is crossed both the victims and outsiders have trouble recognising the difference between abuse and actual true consent. This is also sometimes the case for the perpetrators.

Maybe Dudgeon will let Cassie and Frank become a more permanent fixture, perhaps a psychic-detective combo? Hint, hint.

Buy Circle at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Read Chance, by Peter Dudgeon.

Chance by Peter Dudgeon

Ask yourself what you would do if your were able to see crimes being committed before they had actually happened. 

Being fully aware of the fact that if you do intervene in a future event, you may actually be changing future itself and something worse could happen instead.

Now put yourself in the place of a child in this position. Everyone puts your visions down to childish fantasies and an overactive imagination. Spot on predictions are called coincidences and blown off by the adults in her life.

They seem to think a lot of her 'stories' are related to her less than stellar home life. Her mother is dealing with addiction issues, because of this Cassie suffers from the neglect and bad decision-making of her parent. 

Cassie has quite a good understanding of what she can see and how, despite being so young. She knows that her visions are events and people she can see through the eyes of another person. Unfortunately for Cassie she is seeing through the eyes of a sadistic killer. A dangerous, ruthless killer with no remorse and a taste for pain.

I'm going to leave it at that lest I reveal some of the twists in the plot.Well maybe just a few more things. It was interesting to see how the lack of trust between parent and child changed throughout the story, and how the mother regains it.

Dudgeon has created a fast paced thriller with an unexpected ending. Despite his main character being a very young girl, the story never veers from the well thought through adult plot. It could do with a little more smoothness in the dialogues, but the author makes up for it with the creative twists.

I received a copy of this book courtesy of the author.

To buy Chance on Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble or go to Goodreads for other retailers.

Read Circle, the sequel to Chance, by Peter Dudgeon.