The sins of her Mother.

Author : Ali Land
Title : Good Me Bad Me
Published :
Pages : 324
Format : Kindle
Publisher : Penguin

Annie's mother is a serial killer. The only way she can make it stop is to hand her in to the police. But out of sight is not out of mind. As her mother's trial looms, the secrets of her past won't let Annie sleep, even with a new foster family and name - Milly. A fresh start. Now, surely, she can be whoever she wants to be. But Milly's mother is a serial killer. And blood is thicker than water. Good me, bad me. She is, after all, her mother's daughter...

 

     So often in the cases of serial killers the family's of the perpetrators are forgotten in the head lines. What would you do if it turned out a member of your family had committed such heinous acts. And just suppose it was one of your parents could you turn them in to the police. And how would it effects things if you knew for awhile what they had been up to. Tried to bring you in to the fold as it where. Can life shattering events ever be come to terms with and how do you make it out the other side. This is where our story finds Milly. It was with great Intrigue that I opened this book. A subject so often left out of finds story's both in real life and fiction.  

 

     The hero of our book only wants to start again. Have a new life away from the crimes of her mother. Are the sins of her mother to much to wash from her own hand. Milly is a very intriguing person. She struggles greatly with what has happened to her. Living under a new name she wants to make friends. How can you get close to others when you cant tell them your own past for fear of what others will think of you. Her mother is never to far from her even in the nagging voice at the back of her mind . I'm not sure how I would cope in her situation. it is so far in to the extremes of human experience. How to balance the knowing that a mother is suppose to be caring and protecting of her children and hers is anything but. Is she brave and strong or is it a deep survival instinct from life with her mother Her new family is suppose to be a fresh start but as she starts to learn they are any thing but well adjusted. A mother how barely eats and spends most of her time out of it on drugs. A father how is far to obsessed with his work. And a daughter how Milly thinks could be a new friends but would rather torment her to the ends of the earth. Learning some hard truths about how family can all be fractured in one way or another. Milly struggles to deal with her own dark passenger while other try to manipulate her to their own ends.  She many not be the most likable character at times but she will take you on one hell of a trip.

 

     I'm grateful the author chose to take a different tack with this novel. In showing us another side to a series of crimes she has given us both a fascinating and horrific story.  The choice to present it in the first person makes for a strong one. Allowing us to get inside Milly's head. and deal with the things confront her. The lasting damage her mother has done to her comes across in waves. Her need to connect with a loving adult figure. Be it her new foster father who has ulterior motives with her . Or a teacher at school who feels her attachment is become a little to close for comfort. In the telling of this tale the author ask us hard questions about mental health and how we reflect back on to those who suffer from them. She also ponders who much of a parents actions come back on a child. And ultimately will children suffering from both physical and emotional abuse. start showing the same traits later on. Becoming the abuser and hurting others. Recent figure show that its actually a low amount where this is the case. But For people on the outside there will always be that though at the back of their minds.  Land's show this to great effect through out the second half of the book. While also hinting at just how complicate Milly may have been in her mothers crimes. Can you truly blame a terrified child for doing as a parents asks. The book made me question a lot of things while delivering a spin chilling tale. Her use of flashing back to the first moment our heroin enters a police station all the way to the end of the court case is used to good effect. It draws you in to what  life with an abusive killer is like. How mind games can break you down till not much of who you could have been is left.  Some times with first time writers you cut them some slack here and there. But with this book I never felt the need. She created a captivating story unlike any of the crime book I had read before.

 

     I would say this book kept me up at night but in all honesty I flew through in between getting home from work and going to bed. Her background in mental health comes through in what feels to me to be the realness of Milly as a charter. With every twist and turn you get drawn in to a dark and twisted world. I could write a lot more but you need to experience her world for your selves.  I look forward with baited breath to more books by Land. so if your willing to have some ideas turned on there head all the while being drawn in to a dangerous and dark  game turn the cover and fall in.