EXCERPT: ‘Hang on,’ Evan said, sounding frazzled. There was a fuzz of activity from the othr end of the line and then: ‘There’s someone in the road.’ It took Melody a moment to realise what he meant. ‘Someone walking?’ She’d noticed the day before that there was little in the way of pavements around the lake. Most people seemed to drive everywhere, though there had been the odd person walking on the verge. There was no reply at first, but Evan’s voice sounded confused when he next spoke. ‘I think it’s a little girl. Hold on.’ Melody realised she’d sat up a little straighter as her sister turned to take her in, suddenly interested. From the other end of the phone there were muffled scratchings of what sounded like tyres on gravel – and then the unmistakable thunk of an opening car door. ‘Are you okay?’ Evan said, although his voice wasn’t as clear as it had been seconds before. ‘Are you talking to me?’ Melody asked. ‘There’s a girl here,’ Evan replied, and the phone was seemingly back to his mouth. ‘I don’t think there’s anyone else around. She’s covered in mud, or . . .’ he tailed off, before adding a whispered: ‘blood . . .?’
ABOUT ‘THE CALL’: Your fiancé calls. ‘A little girl needs help.’ Then they both disappear…
Melody gazes across the rippling lake to the trees on the shore, waiting for her fiancé Evan to arrive so their family holiday can begin. Here in this cabin in a small Canadian island town, there’s so much space for their son to play. It’s going to be perfect – just like the first time Melody visited as a child. But then a call from Evan shatters her world.
‘There’s someone in the road. I think it’s a little girl. She’s covered in mud. Or… is it blood?’ His voice becomes distant. ‘Are you OK? What’s your name?’ Then there’s a thud.
Evan never arrives to the holiday cabin. Melody, and her son, are terrified and desperate for answers. But with miles of endless, empty forest, and no reports of a missing girl, what hope is there of finding Evan?
The more questions Melody asks of the locals, the more she fears a terrible secret hides just out of sight. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more danger she is in……………………
MY THOUGHTS: My feelings about The Call are mixed . . . the characters are not at all relatable, especially Melody. I can understand her wanting to protect Sam from the news that his father is missing, but really, just how long did she think she was going to be able to keep it from him?
If I had to describe The Call in one word, it would be ’emotionless’. I wanted someone to root for, to empathise with. No one seems to care that Evan is missing. Melody does dumb things, and I don’t mean her trying to protect Sam, but had I been the investigating officer, I would have been looking very closely at her as a suspect! Melody’s family just continue with their normal lives, going out and sightseeing in her sister’s case, and her father walking and doing crosswords. Even Sam, once he learned his father was missing, was remarkedly unconcerned.
There are a lot of dead ends – I can’t even call them red herrings because they just weren’t that interesting or weren’t developed at all. Sometimes I felt quite bored because the plot wasn’t moving anywhere. And the ending?
