Do Not Unlock – C S Jones

5 stars

I have never been so itchy as I was reading this book. I got to a certain point where I had to stop reading because I swear I could feel little squirmy bug things crawling on ME and got very wigged out by it. What a horrifyingly creative creature, and the knowledge that something like this (albeit on a far smaller scale) actually exists will haunt me the rest of my life.

Do Not Unlock is Jones at his absolute finest. His experience working in the prison system shines through in the sheer amount of knowledge and expertise present in the story. I swear he has this ridiculous ability to make me feel his words in a more visceral way than I’ve ever experienced reading anyone else; I almost felt like I was right there with the characters sometimes.

And speaking of characters, every single one had so much depth and complexity to them that they felt like real people to me. I could very easily see myself having a pint with Greg at the end of a long shift or watching stupid shows on the telly with Kev. They were all written so damn beautifully that they came alive off the page the more I got to know about them. It’s unreal the punch that Jones has managed to pack into this book….

This story is bloody brilliant and has completely ruined me for anything else! AND THAT ENDING!!! I finished the epilogue and sat staring at my book in total disbelief for MINUTES. I’m still completely dumbfounded trying to sort my thoughts out!

With a cast of characters I just couldn’t help but get attached to, and a story that had me in its crosshairs from the very beginning, Do Not Unlock will be my top book of the year. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

I wish I could give this more than 5 stars because it deserves all of that and so much more.