Publisher: Gollancz
ISBN: 978-1475266603
Pages: 217
Series: N/A
Type: Adult Mystery
Source: Received for Review
Goodreads
After a whirlwind romance, Liam and Rebecca marry despite knowing barely
anything about each other's backgrounds. A few short months after their wedding
in the middle of an afternoon shopping trip Rebecca vanishes, seemingly abducted
leaving a miriad of questions in her wake. Who would want to abduct Rebecca? Or
did she willingly disappear? Was the marriage a sham? Is Liam a
dupe?
This is one of those books which sounds really interesting and you
can't wait to start reading. A whirlwind romance cut short when the girl
suddenly disappears, leaving her heartbroken husband to discover why? It sounded
exactly like the kind of book I'd love so I was disappointed when my enjoyment
fell short. I really struggled with the author's writing style which has long
sentences and chunks of dialogue where I had to keep checking who was
who.
The character development was unusual in that it relied mostly on
info-dumping their pasts while failing really tell you who the characters were.
It was easy to see the facts of their life - the cop who joined the Marshals
rather than continue on to law school - but it didn't really show their
motivations. This meant I never really felt engaged with the characters and
didn't feel connected enough to be more than a little interested in why Rebecca
disappeared.
A big flaw in the book is that the romance between Rebecca
and Liam, the supposed driving force behind his desperation to find his wife, is
covered in a few paragraphs. A short while after her disappearance and he's
already calming talking about the possibility he was conned. For a whirlwind
romance I'd have expected his emotions to be a lot higher rather than the oddly
unemotional way he acts after the first couple of chapters.
I did enjoy
the mystery as it was cleverly written and packed with more twists and turns
than I thought could fit in a single book. The author has deftly created layer
upon layer of plot that undermines the reader's assumptions at every turn. The
drug industry angle was well handled, creating a believable manipulative force
underpining the central mystery. Unfortunately that was the only part I did
enjoy.
All in all this was an okay read but I'm not sure I'd read
anything else from this author.
Plot: 6/10
Characters: 4/10
Ending:
5/10
Enjoyment: 4/10
Cover: 5/10
Overall: 24/50
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Thank you for your honest review. Interesting interview. Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by CMash :)
Delete