This is my first book by this author. I’ve been familiar with her name for many years, but, for some reason, had never read any of her books. After reading this one, I’m sure to read more. I really enjoyed this book.
This one is short, barely over 200 pages. It begins with our main character, Abby (not her real name, as we find out), getting off a city bus (at the wrong stop), and then rather absentmindedly stepping off the curb right in front of the bus, getting hit by it, which sends her into a coma for a bit. Oh, I forgot to mention, this was the morning after her wedding.
As the people in her life try to figure out if this was intentional or accidental, we get Abby’s back story, the story of her parents. And all throughout, we keep returning to the scene of a couple skeletons that Abby found when she was a child.
Ms. Oates does a magnificent job of putting us in the heads of the different characters. Sometimes, we are in Abby’s head. Sometimes we are in her father’s head (he was capital C “Crazy”), and sometimes we are in her mother’s head. The domestic abuse that occurs in that horrible excuse for a marriage is disturbing, to say the least. Abby’s father was a classic case of “toxic masculinity.” Sometimes, we are in the head of Abby’s new husband, Willem.
The psychological nature of this book is thrilling. It is called “A Novel of Suspense” on the cover, and it certainly is. Right down to the last page. It’s a quick read, and if you’re into this kind of thing, I highly recommend it.
I received this book as a winner of a Goodreads Giveaway, and am leaving a voluntary review.
I do want to explain that, when I review books on Goodreads, I follow the star rating literally. I went back and forth between three stars (liked it) and four (really liked it). In fact, while I was writing this review, I changed it again.
The story concerns a strip club in the late nineties, called Lovely Lady, and there is a murder/abduction that takes place, involving two of the ladies.
The things I liked about it: I liked the over all writing style. I liked the way the chapters were set up. Rather than having chapter numbers, each chapter is named after the character who is the main character in that chapter. Or, it might be better to say that it is the character whose perspective is being represented in that chapter. It is all in third person, though. I also liked how the chapters seemed to get shorter as the end of the book approached, indicating, to me, the urgency as things headed to a close. I also like that the chapters about the perpetrator were simply titled “Him.”
I liked the interactions of the characters. Not that I have any experience knowing how strippers interact with one another, but there seemed to be a rather realistic approach, here. The writing on the inside of the cover indicates that the author was once a dancer, so she should know, right? There’s a lot of tension between the dancers, because, of course, there is a lot of competition. I also liked the interactions of the police officers/investigators that were involved.
I liked that it didn’t get too “spicy.” Given the subject matter, there could have been a lot more sexual content than there was. But the author focuses more on the crime and the investigations, as well as the personalities of the characters.
There were a couple of things I didn’t like. One was that one of the detectives, Holly Meylin, reminded me way too much of another character by another author. It just seemed to me that she was too similar to Holly Gibney, of Stephen King fame. This may be totally coincidental. I have no idea. The other thing that I didn’t like was a plot development that came roughly midway through the book, that, to me happened much too quickly. Hopes were dashed. In fact, I have to confess that I was even a little angry at the author at that point. I got over it, of course, and finished the book.
One other thing in the dislike category: When the crime is committed, and this isn’t really what I would consider “spoiler,” because it happens in the first chapter, two of the girls are taken, because they happen to be riding in the car together. One is killed on the spot, and the other is abducted. The murdered girl is left at the scene. I don’t recall that there was ever any explanation as to why the perpetrator did that. I may have just missed it, but I don’t remember that being explained. And, of course, the author doesn’t owe me anything, you know. I just wish there had been something said about that.
I didn’t really touch on the topic of abusive relationships, because that is certainly addressed as well. I think it’s worth noting that this is also represented in this story, in more ways than one.
Definitely worth reading, I think, as a mystery/thriller (I fell that is more thriller/suspense, perhaps, than mystery), and I also have to confess that I did not figure out “whodunit” before the reveal. In fact, it didn’t even cross my mind. So well-played, Ms. Rutkoski.
The Constant Reader 