The Weight of Silence (Nicole Foster Thriller, #2) by Gregg Olsen

The Weight of Silence (Nicole Foster Thriller, #2) Reviews

• 
  Mackey

  Gregg Olsen has delivered once again - a taut, well-written police procedural that will keep you on the edge of your seat! 
  
  I have no idea why I waited so long to read The Weight of Silence by Gregg_Olsen when I know that his books always are going to amazing. Of course this one is no exception! 
  
  The Weight of Silence is the follow-up to Olsen's bestseller, The Sound of Rain, where we first met Detective Nicole Foster. Foster is back after her catastrophic downward spiral in The Sound of Rain and ready for a second chance. She's moved back to her childhood home on the Washington coast to care for her niece Emma and begin "fresh" in a new department. Of course, the past never really is buried and her sociopathic sister, Stacey, is not going to let Nicole's past stay in the past for long. 
  
  The story is two-fold: the majority of the theme is an extremely well written police procedural where Nicole and her partner, Carter, are investigating the worst kind of case - the death of a child. The parents insist at every opportunity available that the child's death was an accident. But was it really? Methodical policing may prove otherwise. As the case progresses, Olsen gives us an in-depth examination of Nicole's current life - her intense love for her niece, her "family" which includes an aging pooch and her Alzheimer ridden father. We learn more about Nicole's gambling addiction and the strength she uses to overcome it every single day. To say that Olsen is a master of character development is understatement. He is brilliant. Ultimately Nicole's past and present converge at a climactic conclusion that is extremely satisfying on both fronts. 
  
  There are times when I think that suspense/mystery/thrillers all are blending together and merely re-telling the same plot over and over again. With The Weight of Silence I am reminded how wonderful it is when the genre is done right. 
  
  Five highly recommended Stars to The Weight of Silence! 
• 
  Carolyn

  We first met Nicole Foster in
  The Sound of Rain where her gambling addiction and life had spiralled out of control. Loss of her job as a detective due to a case bungled by her police partner and lover saw her reduced to living in a homeless shelter, refused help by her wealthy sister, Stacy, always jealous of Nicole and out to hurt her whenever she can. But Nicole's strength of character and courage saw her pull herself back up to solve the bungled case and get on top of her addiction. She also took on the guardianship of Emma, her young niece from her selfish sister, whose husband has just died in a suspicious house fire, so that Stacy could live in Mexico with her latest lover and not be bothered with a young child.
  
  In this sequel, we find Nicole in a much better place. She's been given a second chance, living back in her childhood home with Emma, attending a counseling group for her addiction and with a new job back on the force. Her latest case involves the death of a baby girl left all day in a car on a blisteringly hot summer's day. Probably a tragic accident, but there is something that strikes Nicole as not quite right. In the midst of her investigation, Nicole hears that Stacy is back in the country and fears that she has only returned to make life difficult for her in one way or another.
  
  The death of a baby in such a horrible way is always difficult to read about, so it is easy to empathise with Nicole for wanting to dig down deep to find out the reasons for it. The plot moves slowly but steadily with good police work and development of the minor characters as Nicole investigates. Olsen paints a good picture of a woman doing her best to hold her head up against public opinion and fight her addiction while providing a stable, loving home for her niece. The book ends where it began, with a car accident, signifying another change in Nicole's future. This is proving to be an interesting, well written series and I look forward to the next episode. 4.5★
• 
  Sue Fernandez

  Thank you to Net Galley and Thomas and Mercer for an advance read of The Weight of Silence. I realized, only after I'd finished the book, that I'd read another of the author's as well, and I'd really liked it. This one was certainly no disappointment. It happened that I read it in the middle of a heatwave, and a story of a toddler dying in a hot vehicle, so it was timely. The main plot, though, while interesting, but somewhat predictable, was made better by the background of the police officers. Nicole is on this force after having made some bad decisions in another case, and she's also struggling to raise her niece, knowing her sociopath, narcissist sister could return at any time. This book has a lot of darkness, but it's not so heavy that you won't enjoy it. I highly recommend this book.
• 
  Diane

  The weight of Silence by author Gregg Olsen is the second in the Nicole Foster thrillers. I liked the first one and this second book is even more intense! Nicole is working a case in the death of a baby girl. The father left the child in the car on a very hot day while he was at work. Is it an accident or was it planned? It is a heartbreaking plot and as I read the medical examiners exchange with Nicole, I felt so emotional. It was very sad but the investigation to find the truth by Nicole and her partner Carter was brilliant.
  While Nicole is working tirelessly to solve the case concerning the baby's death, she has an unpleasant reunion with her sister. This is where I think the title comes into play. Sometimes the silence of our past actions can later be a weight which is very hard to bear. As Nicole debates how to deal with her deceptive and murderous sister, I kept wanting her to make the correct choice and do the right thing, so she would have no regrets. Thank you to the author for that ending!
  Publication date: August 14, 2018
  
  Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
• 
  Sherri Thacker

  The thought of leaving a child in a hot car and FORGETTING they are there in the hot car is just horrific. I can’t imagine that happening but I know it does happen in the news. The Weight of Silence by Gregg Olsen is the 2nd book in the Nicole Foster series and even though I did not read the first book “The Sound of Rain” by him (I do have it on my TBR pile), I felt like I was able to keep up with this book ok without having read the first book in the series. I enjoyed the book even though I found parts of it dragged about ¾ through and I was wanting to see how it ended. I didn’t love it but I did enjoy it. I look forward to reading his first book in this series. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this book prior to publication. All opinions expressed are my own.
• 
  Vintage

  Not for the faint of heart, this grim mystery deals with the flawed detective Nicole from
  The Sound of Rain. In the last book she was kicked off the police force for her gambling addiction as well as crossing the blue line by exposing a police officer. Her sister was a major element in the other story.
  
  This book follows two plot lines: the investigation into the possible guilt of the parents of a toddler left in a hot car and the sister’s hovering shadow and potential return. Nicole has custody of her niece and is petrified that her sister will come back for Emma.
  
  The unfolding investigation into the death of the child is pretty tough to read. Not overly graphic but you are given enough more than enough information about a child dying in an overheated car. Was it an accident or murder, and was just the father responsible or were both mother and father complicit?
  
  Gregg Olson does a good job in the head of the very flawed Nicole. As an ex-gambler and a one who has lived in the shadow of a toxic mother and a possible narcissistic and lethal sister, Nicole is not always likeable. Trying to do the right thing is a double edged sword. As in is it right to murder a homicidal sociopath?
  
  Hard to put down and on KU.
  
  Almost a four star, but there were a few things that could have been explored a little more regarding the death of the little girl as why the toxic sister came back. I am definitely a spell it out for me reader when it comes to mysteries.
• 
  Amelia

  Lovers of the TV program CSI with the character Olivia Benson should enjoy this book. Family. Love. Complications. Consequences. Engaging read.
• 
  Cassie’s Reviews

  I really enjoyed this book some parts of this book may not be suitable for everyone due to some of death scenes of a child. The book starts with detective Nicole Foster back in her hometown having gotten a second chance after some things that happened in the first book. Her sister Stacy has always been the perfect sister in their mothers and father eyes . Well Stacy’s husband died in a mysterious house explosion that Nicole is certain Stacy caused. Now Nicole is raising Stacy’s daughter while Stacy is living the high life off her husbands life insurance. While at work Nicole is investigating the death of a one year old girl who was left in the car on the hottest day of summer and dies after her father forgot to bring her to daycare, both Nicole and carter her partner are the lead investigators. The father is quickly arrested and further investigation shows what a monster he truly is and it’s also looking like the mother has quite a few secrets herself and she’s not much better. I loved the depth of each character that your introduced to. This book is full of lies , deceit and you really don’t know who to trust. Gregg Olsen is truly an amazing writer he really dives into difficult situations and subjects and you find yourself still thinking about the book even after you have finished it I give this book five stars!!
• 
  Effie Saxioni

  Πολύ καλύτερο από το πρώτο μέρος της σειράς,δεν ξέρω όμως αν πρόκειται για διλογία ή αν θα συνεχιστεί κι αυτό έχει μια κάποια επίπτωση στον βαθμό του.Τι εννοώ:αν τελειώνει εδώ και είναι αυτά που λέει η περιγραφή τους "Nicole Foster Thriller 1-2, τότε είναι μια χαρά γιατί όντως και στα δύο το προσωπικό δράμα της επιθεωρήτριας σχεδόν υπερκαλύπτει τις υποθέσεις. Αν αυτός είναι ο στόχος,τότε επετεύχθη με ακρίβεια χιλιοστού. Αν όχι,τότε είχε κάποια θεματάκια,πχ θα έπρεπε η έρευνα ενός τόσο σοβαρού εγκλήματος όπως ο εγκλεισμός ενός βρέφους σε αυτοκίνητο μια καυτή μέρα που οδήγησε στον φριχτό του θάνατο να βρίσκεται σε κυρίαρχη θέση στην πλοκή,αντί για τη Νικόλ που μεμψιμοιρούσε αδιαλείπτως γιατί δεν την αγάπησε κανείς.
  Σε κάθε περίπτωση παρόλα αυτά,ήταν ένα ωραίο βιβλίο που διαβάστηκε απνευστί.
  4⭐
  
• 
  Mary

  Wow how have I not read Greg Olsen Before? I absolutely loved this book. I have found another great author.thank you NetGalley.
• 
  Judy Morris

  I have to say, this was a excellent book. I have read several books by Gregg Olsen, but this one was the best one so far.. it started off so but thru out the book, it was gaining speed to a surprising ending WOW.
  Thank you net gallery for giving me the chance to read this book
• 
  Cheryl

  I like this author. It has been a while since I have read anything by this author. Thus the reason when I got the chance to read this book I jumped on it without a second thought. While, I have not read the first book in this series, I didn't have issues jumping right into this story. In fact, I liked Nicole. The problem is not her as much as the storyline.
  
  The storyline lacked intensity and a strong character emotional connection. The story starts out with a father grieving as he left his child in the car. A sad but all too real situation. Nicole is called out to help on the case.
  
  From this point on I was ready for the story to pick up. It didn't but I still held out hope and kept reading. The story moved at a slow pace without a lot of emotion emulating from the characters for me. Overall, this is not a favorite book of mine from this author as I but I will still read more books by this author.
  
  
• 
  Christina Renfro

  This sequel to THE SOUND OF RAIN is another edge of your seat, page turner! How would you balance moving forward with your life after hitting rock bottom, then raising yourself up only to be carrying the weight of a huge family secret? Not only all of that, but also having an unthinkable crime to solve without pushing yourself over the edge. This book takes you back inside the life of Nicole Foster, just in time to see her life and her secrets collide. A must read sequel, that has the ability to stand on it’s own.
• 
  Phaedra

  3.5 stars
  The Weight of Silence (Nicole Foster #2) by Gregg Olsen starts out with a car accident and then the author takes us back in time over 2 weeks with our main character, Detective Nicole Foster, leading us along the path of events both personal and professional. The case she's working on is beyond terrible and pulled right from headline news: a toddler dies after being left in a hot car by a parent.
  
  I have not read the first in this series, but The Weight of Silence works as a standalone detective/mystery/suspense as readers are given enough backstory on the main characters to make the pieces fit together. The story has a contemporary setting in a smaller town in the Pacific NW. There is very much the feeling that Nicole Foster has ended up here, along with other characters in the book, not by choice, but because they can't get away from their roots. Aberdeen/Hoquiam is an area that feels primarily blue collar and made up of unrealized and lost dreams which plays perfectly as atmosphere for this story's setting. Nicole's family & backstory plays heavily into one of the plot threads and seems as if this is the part of the books in the series that will be the continuing backstory and the 'case of the week' will be the other. The book moves quickly and was easy reading and kept the pages turning. Overall I enjoyed this book as a light suspense (although the crime itself is quite horrifying this isn't a gory or overly descriptive procedural crime story) read. I did find a couple of things that were repetitive and also not 100% believable, but not enough to keep me from grabbing another book by Gregg Olsen.
  
  **Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Mercer for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review**
• 
  Eileen Black randall

  I just finished this and wow, was it a page turner! Nicole Foster is a complex and utterly fascinating character in this and her first 'adventures' in The Sound of Rain. Following her trains of thought I related so much I felt like I became her, even in her darkest mind. Fascinating. I didn't want it to end.
• 
  Dora Okeyo

  This book took a toll on me. It's more of an emotional than a psychological toll. What do you do when you're a detective assigned to a case where a little girl dies in a car, in the middle of a heat wave, because her dad forgot she was in the backseat? It's the fact that this story focused on the death of a child, had characters that drove me up a wall and I couldn't shake off a feeling of anger and desire for justice? If you love a good detective mystery then this is something worth reading, I got an eARC off NetGalley and now I can safely say I've read a book by Gregg Olsen.
• 
  Pamela

  This is Olson’s second book in Nicole Foster series. The writing is excellent and the characters well drawn. Olson hooks his readers from page one. This a page-turner of a read. However, it is not an easy read and certainly not for the faint of heart because the crime that Foster and her partner, Carter Hanson, have been assigned to investigate is the death of a one-year-old locked into the back seat of her father’s car for several hours on the hottest day of the current heat wave. Olson does not spare his readers any of the details this horrific death. As the story progresses, Olson cleverly drops clues about where the story might be going. There are enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged until the last page.
• 
  Debra Oliva

  Imagine forgetting your one year old baby in the car all day in the middle of a summer heat wave! Or did you forget her accidentally on purpose?
  
  The Weight of Silence is the second in the Nicole Foster thrillers but the first for me. I couldn’t put the book down! Nicole is working a heartbreaking and emotional case while dealing with her “dead” sister who disappeared and left her daughter with Nicole.
  
  The ending is great but I want to read book three now!
  
  I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas & Mercer through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
  
• 
  Stuart Brkn Johns

  Family matters
  
  The plot of the book is fast-paced and keeps the reader guessing until the very end. The mystery of what happened is unraveled in a way that is both surprising and satisfying. The Weight of Silence is a well-written and emotionally charged thriller that is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats.
  
  4.5 stars
  Review by
  @StuartBrknJohns on Twitter
  Stuart Brkn Johns - Goodreads Author
  
  
• 
  Linda

  I'd like to say I enjoyed this 2nd book in the series more than the 1st, but I didn't. I just really can not get into the whining of Nicole Foster as a lead character. According to her, everything wrong in her life is because of her parents (who liked her sister more) and her prettier sister. Really???? Take some responsibilities for your own actions like having a gambling addiction which cost you a job you loved. This story focused more on her life than the life of the 1 year old left in the car to die. I would rather have heard more back story on that family instead of all the repeated whining from Nicole. Even if there is another book in this series, I think I will let it pass by without reading it. I don't think I can handle anymore of Nicole. The one saving grace in this story was then ending. However, it just didn't make up for everything prior to that.
• 
  Susan

  Wow, what a wild ride....loved every minute!
• 
  The Drowsy Bookworm

  3.5
• 
  Wayward Readers Book Blog

  Thanks to #Netgalley and Thomas&Mercer for the ARC
  
  The second book in the series, this was read as a stand-alone in my case. It worked as such, I do not feel I missed out on any character development or plot misalignment. The story itself was alluring and multifaceted. It does deal with the darker subject of child neglect and death, so sensitive readers should be aware.
  
  Homicide detective, Nicole Foster, is attempting to start life over in her small hometown. She is determined to escape her past. One that includes bad choices in men, addiction, and a narcissistic sister. For the past three years she has been raising her niece, taking care of her aging father, and working to regain her reputation as a good cop. As Nicole is beginning to find balance in her new life, a startling new case threatens to throw her off course. She receives a call from her partner, Detective Carter Hansen, to find that a toddler has been found dead inside her father’s car. As they begin to work what seems to be a straight forward case, Nicole and Carter find that everything and everyone is not as they appear. Simultaneously, Nicole’s memories of a past case that almost ended her career and cost her everything comes crashing forward. She is thrown into the lies and deception surrounding her sister’s life and she is forced to an awakening that she must either continue to bare the weight of keeping silent or find the strength to do what’s right.
  
  This book is an easy 4 stars. I hesitate on 5 because of the lack of closure we are left with involving some of the tertiary subjects. While understanding that this is a series and that the bigger story lines can, understandably, be carried over and left to linger, the reader does not want to be left without remedy on internal plots within the book itself. That being said, this is a great read. Olsen’s story is dynamic and the character twists are remarkable.
  
• 
  Lindsay

  Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the eARC. I did not know this was the second book in a series and it didn’t feel like one so this can definitely be enjoyed as a stand alone novel. Nicole Foster is a disgraced police officer starting over back in her home town. She’s raising her 7 year old niece Emma as her own and makes sure her aging father is well taken care of in assisted living. Her perfect sister Stacey, Emma’s mother, is as evil as they come and Nicole will do whatever it takes to keep her niece safe and happy. The main story centers around a man named Luke that pulls over next to a Starbucks screaming for help. It’s the middle of an oppressive heatwave in the Northwest and he’s “forgotten” his 1 year old daughter Ally in the sweltering car all day while he’s been at work. The investigation takes a lot of interesting twists and turns. I couldn’t decide which part of the story I needed resolution for first, Nicole and Stacey’s personal issues or Ally Tomlinson’s death. Definitely a fast paced book.
• 
  Kathy Wentworth

  Gregg Olsen was able to write an amazing sequel to "The Sound of Rain", and I was totally caught up by the story. I love the character of Nicole Foster, and the author has a way of making his books keeping the reader trying to guess the ending, even up until the last chapter. I highly recommend "The Weight of Silence" to everyone who enjoys an easy and exciting read!