2 Pretzels.
We’re doubling down on the book reviews this week. I didn’t care for either book, so it’s best we just get them out of the way.
A Kept Woman, Karin Slaughter
I must confess, this is my first Slaughter book. I noticed after I finished that it’s #8 in the Will books, so maybe if I read the other seven I would care more. But I doubt it and I don’t have time for that.
A former police officer is dead. A woman is dead. A witness can’t be found. Detective Will is called to the, frankly, confusing scene. The woman is believed to be Will’s wife, Angie. So, this should really be enough to make the story interesting. And it is. For some reason, there is also a story line involving NBA stars who raped a woman, their fixers, their wives, an investment firm. It’s just a lot. And, yes, Slaughter does bring it all together in the end. I’ll give her that. She takes these two bananagrams stories and merges them seamlessly. Also, she has a dope name for a thriller writer.
I guess what lost me was some of the extraneous characters. I don’t know that it was completely necessary to make some of the officers working the case crooked. It was pretty complex without adding that. I don’t know what we needed to get into the investors concerns about backing a guy who may be wrapped up in a murder case when they had zero issue backing a guy wrapped up in a rape case. Maybe just don’t back him and then we never have to meet you. The book felt weighed down with subplots.
An Anonymous Girl, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Wow. So, I read the pair’s first book, The Wife Between Us, and thought, overall, it was decent. The ending was weak and that continues to be an issue for me. The ending of this book is just…meh. But, first, the synopsis.
Sarah, a make up artist in New York, sneaks into a psychological study looking to make a little extra green. Dr. Shields is testing several subjects on questions of morality for her study. The study, turns out, has become an elaborate way of determining whether or not Thomas, Dr. Shields’ husband, is cheating. Dr. Shields is bananas, y’all. Which normally I could get behind. What killed this book for me, other than the ending, was Dr. Shields’ chapters.
I’m paraphrasing, but this is the gist of how this woman thinks/speaks.
This is her describing a deadbolt for some reason:
You turn the lever one way, causing the locking mechanism to engage, locking into place. You turn the lever the other way and the opposite happens. The locking mechanism disengages and….
So, you know, like a lock. Y’all, I just fell asleep typing that.
I don’t mind when a character has a particular way of speaking if there seems to be a reason for it. With Dr. Shields, though, it’s just how she is. Hella annoying. That’s how she is. Roughly half the book is her POV; it became tedious after a while.
As someone who writes with a partner, I really wanted to like these two. But I don’t know if I’ll give them another shot.
Okay, byeeeeeeee.
Smoky Lynx
Holland + Harper Productions 