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“Thriller of the year” according to <i>Observer</i>; it makes you wonder what all the other thrillers were like. <i>Gone Girl</i> is a contemporary crime thriller by American author Gillian Flynn. Likable “Cool Girl” Amy Dunne is missing; the police think her husband has something to do with it, but what really happened?
Flynn begins the novel with an epigraph: “Love is the world’s infinite mutability; lies, hatred, murder even, are all knit up in it; it is the inevitable blossoming of its opposites, a magnificent rose smelling faintly of blood.” – Tony Kushner, <i>The Illusion</i>. This implies that love and hate, and perhaps murder, will be the main issues within the novel. It hints that relationships may not be all that they first appear, which becomes evident as you read deeper into the book.
Split into three parts, the first section alternates between a first person account from Nick Dunne, the husband, of what is occurring on the day in which Amy disappears and the following days when both he and the police are attempting to determine the truth about what has happened and trying to find out where Amy is; and diary entries from Amy dating as far back as 2005.
To begin with I did not think much of the story and did not particularly like Amy, despite her being portrayed as a likable character; however I soon got into the story siding with Nick and wanting him to be innocent even though evidence and suspicion were mounting against him.
Initially I assumed that the truth would not be revealed until the end of the story rather than on the first page of part two. For the remainder of the book Nick’s narrative remains the same, progressing from where it left off at the end of part one; whereas Amy, instead of diary entries, she is telling the reader the truth about what happened on the 5th July – the day she went missing – and the subsequent days and weeks. At this point I became a bit bored with the story; as the reader we know the truth and it is frustrating that the police are getting it wrong. However part three contained more suspense than the rest of the novel.
So, why only three stars? As I already mentioned it did not seem that great at the beginning and to be honest I did not feel satisfied with the ending either. One of the main things that bothered me was the use of swear words. I understand that many people swear and so it is inevitable that these words would end up in novels; however in my opinion there is swearing and then there is <i>swearing</i>. This was beginning to border on the latter. Yes some of the characters were angry but I thought the use of expletives was slightly overdone.
Despite these misgivings it was a well-written piece of fiction that I think others may enjoy – the ratings on <i>Goodreads</i> certainly suggest that; but for me it was not anything special.
Flynn begins the novel with an epigraph: “Love is the world’s infinite mutability; lies, hatred, murder even, are all knit up in it; it is the inevitable blossoming of its opposites, a magnificent rose smelling faintly of blood.” – Tony Kushner, <i>The Illusion</i>. This implies that love and hate, and perhaps murder, will be the main issues within the novel. It hints that relationships may not be all that they first appear, which becomes evident as you read deeper into the book.
Split into three parts, the first section alternates between a first person account from Nick Dunne, the husband, of what is occurring on the day in which Amy disappears and the following days when both he and the police are attempting to determine the truth about what has happened and trying to find out where Amy is; and diary entries from Amy dating as far back as 2005.
To begin with I did not think much of the story and did not particularly like Amy, despite her being portrayed as a likable character; however I soon got into the story siding with Nick and wanting him to be innocent even though evidence and suspicion were mounting against him.
Initially I assumed that the truth would not be revealed until the end of the story rather than on the first page of part two. For the remainder of the book Nick’s narrative remains the same, progressing from where it left off at the end of part one; whereas Amy, instead of diary entries, she is telling the reader the truth about what happened on the 5th July – the day she went missing – and the subsequent days and weeks. At this point I became a bit bored with the story; as the reader we know the truth and it is frustrating that the police are getting it wrong. However part three contained more suspense than the rest of the novel.
So, why only three stars? As I already mentioned it did not seem that great at the beginning and to be honest I did not feel satisfied with the ending either. One of the main things that bothered me was the use of swear words. I understand that many people swear and so it is inevitable that these words would end up in novels; however in my opinion there is swearing and then there is <i>swearing</i>. This was beginning to border on the latter. Yes some of the characters were angry but I thought the use of expletives was slightly overdone.
Despite these misgivings it was a well-written piece of fiction that I think others may enjoy – the ratings on <i>Goodreads</i> certainly suggest that; but for me it was not anything special.
Louise (64 KP) rated Nirvana (Nirvana #1) in Books
Jul 2, 2018
I received an advanced readers copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
To start off, the cover of this book is beautiful, it’s so inviting and definitely would catch my eye in store or even on-line. This book is a Young Adult dystopian novel.
Extinction is the world as never seen before. It first started when the bees disappeared, without the aid of the bees for pollination, the crops and animals started to die. With windstorms and drought, earth is a desert where no one can exist.
Hexagon is the newly reformed government that provide people with their basic needs, living in bunkers and working for pittance, apart from the rich. The rich get to live in the ‘bubble’, which is where they still have pretty much the same lifestyle. They also run what is called ‘The Farm’ which is where they are growing their own crops and have siphoned off their own water reserve for crops and the bubble. Hexagon also monitors everybody, with camera’s, surveilance and bugs set everywhere, nothing gets past them.
Nirvana is a virtual reality, where the population can pay half of their wages for 15 minutes in the holographic world, they are able to choose certain situations such as earth, the moon, space whatever they want really, however this is all monitored by Hexagon.
Kenders is a 17-year-old animal activist and also a lead singer for a band named Sixty Sextet, before extinction she was singing lyrics about liberation, however nowadays she is working in Nirvana as ‘help support’ for Hexagon. Andrew her long-term boyfriend has gone missing, it’s a journey of Kenders trying to find out what really happened and whats going on and who she can really trust.
Andrew is a holographic/virtual reality designer, with a high-profile job for Hexagon, however he’s not really happy with how things are panning out. Then all of a sudden he goes missing, assumed dead. He starts contact with Kenders through Nirvana giving her clues.
There were a few things that let this book down for me, there was not much world building, it could have been more fleshed out and could have got a real feel for the world. The characters were bland they didn’t really have any characteristics. The romance was just blah! It was an easy read and a short novel of 186 pages. There were things that were not properly explained and then parts which just had a quick explanation and then it was moving on again. It was very plot driven. There was a bit near the ending which was a bit cheesy and made me cringe a little(this might only be me though).
The ending was left on a bit of a cliffhanger, however I wasn’t really left wanting more. It was just a Meh ending. I just feel like the next book is just going to be the same all over again.
If you are a fan of dystopian, romance with a bit of a love triangle going on, this might be the book for you.
Overall I rated this book 2.5 out of 5 stars
To start off, the cover of this book is beautiful, it’s so inviting and definitely would catch my eye in store or even on-line. This book is a Young Adult dystopian novel.
Extinction is the world as never seen before. It first started when the bees disappeared, without the aid of the bees for pollination, the crops and animals started to die. With windstorms and drought, earth is a desert where no one can exist.
Hexagon is the newly reformed government that provide people with their basic needs, living in bunkers and working for pittance, apart from the rich. The rich get to live in the ‘bubble’, which is where they still have pretty much the same lifestyle. They also run what is called ‘The Farm’ which is where they are growing their own crops and have siphoned off their own water reserve for crops and the bubble. Hexagon also monitors everybody, with camera’s, surveilance and bugs set everywhere, nothing gets past them.
Nirvana is a virtual reality, where the population can pay half of their wages for 15 minutes in the holographic world, they are able to choose certain situations such as earth, the moon, space whatever they want really, however this is all monitored by Hexagon.
Kenders is a 17-year-old animal activist and also a lead singer for a band named Sixty Sextet, before extinction she was singing lyrics about liberation, however nowadays she is working in Nirvana as ‘help support’ for Hexagon. Andrew her long-term boyfriend has gone missing, it’s a journey of Kenders trying to find out what really happened and whats going on and who she can really trust.
Andrew is a holographic/virtual reality designer, with a high-profile job for Hexagon, however he’s not really happy with how things are panning out. Then all of a sudden he goes missing, assumed dead. He starts contact with Kenders through Nirvana giving her clues.
There were a few things that let this book down for me, there was not much world building, it could have been more fleshed out and could have got a real feel for the world. The characters were bland they didn’t really have any characteristics. The romance was just blah! It was an easy read and a short novel of 186 pages. There were things that were not properly explained and then parts which just had a quick explanation and then it was moving on again. It was very plot driven. There was a bit near the ending which was a bit cheesy and made me cringe a little(this might only be me though).
The ending was left on a bit of a cliffhanger, however I wasn’t really left wanting more. It was just a Meh ending. I just feel like the next book is just going to be the same all over again.
If you are a fan of dystopian, romance with a bit of a love triangle going on, this might be the book for you.
Overall I rated this book 2.5 out of 5 stars
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Flight (2012) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
I’m not good with dramas. I like to watch movies to escape reality and dramas are all about reminding you of the turmoil and awkwardness and unpredictability that is reality. But, only if they’re good. Dramas require an emotional response from the viewer, which can only be achieved through great performances, enhanced by story, music and editing. (don’t quote me I could be missing one). If one or more elements are missing, at best it’s an unexpected comedy, at worst you’ve just wasted time and money that you’ll never get back.
Flight in my opinion delivered. We start off with gratuitous nudity (for me it didn’t add to the story but guys will like it) from flight attendant Katerina Marquez (Nadine Valazquez) and a man, Captain Whip Whitacker (Denzel Washington) who’s about to hit his rock bottom. After a night of drinking and snorting some cocaine, together they take to the skies only for it to go horribly wrong, the plane begins an uncontrolled nose dive. Lot’s of close up shots put you right into the aircraft and you almost feel as if you’re on the flight as it’s going down (seriously my heart involuntarily started pounding faster).
Afterwards, the movie really hits its’ stride and gets into the gritty reality of what life can become. Denzel does an excellent job of bringing you in to the internal struggles with his demons; he’s so good in his denial. John Goodman plays a drug dealer Harling Mays, almost as a comic relief which actually works. Don Cheadle plays Hugh Lang, a criminal attorney sent to help Cpt Whitacker as questions arise about what really caused the plane to crash. He plays a great attorney, not smarmy, not slick, but intelligent and sharp, and in his own way, caring.
Nicole Maggen (Kelly Reilly), a drug addict who we witness goes through a relapse that puts her into the path of Cpt Whitacker. Co-pilot Ken Evans (Brian Geraghty) was a convincingly green pilot whom I would not want flying any plane I’m in. And flight attendant Margaret Tomason (Tamara Tunie), a good friend of Whitackers for several years and Pilots union rep Charlie Anderson (Bruce Greenwood) a long time military buddy who comes back into his life because of the crash. I liked both their performances, they really did great in their supporting rolls; you couldn’t have one without the other.
There is a question of devine intervention and redemption, but I think the movie steers clear of being overly religious. (I could have done without Ken Evans wife, overkill in my opinion and not necessary to the story). Anything more I say will spill the beans on the ending, so I’ll leave you with this; it really is unpredictable, you never quite know what Cpt Whitacker’s going to do until he does it. There are beautiful moments and bittersweet moments that create a powerful, emotional ride that I would recommend to someone who likes a good drama. And, even to people like me, who generally try to avoid them.
Flight in my opinion delivered. We start off with gratuitous nudity (for me it didn’t add to the story but guys will like it) from flight attendant Katerina Marquez (Nadine Valazquez) and a man, Captain Whip Whitacker (Denzel Washington) who’s about to hit his rock bottom. After a night of drinking and snorting some cocaine, together they take to the skies only for it to go horribly wrong, the plane begins an uncontrolled nose dive. Lot’s of close up shots put you right into the aircraft and you almost feel as if you’re on the flight as it’s going down (seriously my heart involuntarily started pounding faster).
Afterwards, the movie really hits its’ stride and gets into the gritty reality of what life can become. Denzel does an excellent job of bringing you in to the internal struggles with his demons; he’s so good in his denial. John Goodman plays a drug dealer Harling Mays, almost as a comic relief which actually works. Don Cheadle plays Hugh Lang, a criminal attorney sent to help Cpt Whitacker as questions arise about what really caused the plane to crash. He plays a great attorney, not smarmy, not slick, but intelligent and sharp, and in his own way, caring.
Nicole Maggen (Kelly Reilly), a drug addict who we witness goes through a relapse that puts her into the path of Cpt Whitacker. Co-pilot Ken Evans (Brian Geraghty) was a convincingly green pilot whom I would not want flying any plane I’m in. And flight attendant Margaret Tomason (Tamara Tunie), a good friend of Whitackers for several years and Pilots union rep Charlie Anderson (Bruce Greenwood) a long time military buddy who comes back into his life because of the crash. I liked both their performances, they really did great in their supporting rolls; you couldn’t have one without the other.
There is a question of devine intervention and redemption, but I think the movie steers clear of being overly religious. (I could have done without Ken Evans wife, overkill in my opinion and not necessary to the story). Anything more I say will spill the beans on the ending, so I’ll leave you with this; it really is unpredictable, you never quite know what Cpt Whitacker’s going to do until he does it. There are beautiful moments and bittersweet moments that create a powerful, emotional ride that I would recommend to someone who likes a good drama. And, even to people like me, who generally try to avoid them.
Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated The Curse of La Llorona (2019) in Movies
Jul 7, 2020
The Mexican Legend
The Curse of La Llorona is a 2019 supernatura/horror movie directed by Michael Chaves and written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. The film was produced by James Wan through his Atomic Monster Productions. It is based on the Mexican folklore, is Chaves directorial debut, and is set in "The Conjuring" Universe. It stars Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz, and Patricia Velasquez.
While playing with his family in 1673 Mexico, a young boy closes his eyes only to re-open them and find his family missing. While searching for them he witnesses his mother drowning his brother in a stream. Frightened, he runs away but is caught and suffers the same fate.
300 years later, in 1973 Los Angeles, Anna Tate-Garcia (Linda Cardellini) works as a social worker and is investigating a well known client of hers, Patrica Alvarez (Patricia Velasquez) whose children have gone missing. Demanding to check on her children's well being, Anna goes to Patricia's home with a police of. She searches for the children and finds them locked in a room. Patricia attacks her as she locates the children and is dragged away by the officer while screaming for her not to open the door. Anna takes the boys, Carlos and Tomas out of the room, ignoring their request to stay in the room where they are safe. That night, two boys are found drowned in a nearby river and Anna is called in to investigate their deaths. At the scene Anna hears Patricia screaming that it was Anna's fault for their deaths. This draws Anna and her family into the frightening supernatural realm of "La Llorona" and her deadly wrath.
I felt like this movie was a tough mix of somewhat silly but still creepy. It was good but had too many jump scares that you could see coming from a mile a way. The acting was generally good with Linda Cardellini really selling the terror of fighting off the evil presence. The children's performances were kind of hit or miss for me.. The tone and atmosphere of the film was great but for me "La Llorona" was scarier when she had her face veiled rather than the highly CGI-ed one they gave her when it was removed. The opening was downright silly to me. I didn't find it scary/creepy at all but a little disturbing. Also for some reason I think they went for too many scares in daylight. I know everything scary doesn't have to be at night, but I felt like it undersold them or didn't do them justice. One aspect that I really liked was how they brought in a faith healer or shaman, in Spanish "Curandero" to the Conjuring Universe. He was an interesting original character addition. Astwo different critics put it, "convincing premise, sufficient drama, decent twists, and enough scares make it worth the watch", but "predictable jump scare treatment and dragging exposition take out the potential from this film despite decent performance Orverall I'd give this movie a 6/10.
While playing with his family in 1673 Mexico, a young boy closes his eyes only to re-open them and find his family missing. While searching for them he witnesses his mother drowning his brother in a stream. Frightened, he runs away but is caught and suffers the same fate.
300 years later, in 1973 Los Angeles, Anna Tate-Garcia (Linda Cardellini) works as a social worker and is investigating a well known client of hers, Patrica Alvarez (Patricia Velasquez) whose children have gone missing. Demanding to check on her children's well being, Anna goes to Patricia's home with a police of. She searches for the children and finds them locked in a room. Patricia attacks her as she locates the children and is dragged away by the officer while screaming for her not to open the door. Anna takes the boys, Carlos and Tomas out of the room, ignoring their request to stay in the room where they are safe. That night, two boys are found drowned in a nearby river and Anna is called in to investigate their deaths. At the scene Anna hears Patricia screaming that it was Anna's fault for their deaths. This draws Anna and her family into the frightening supernatural realm of "La Llorona" and her deadly wrath.
I felt like this movie was a tough mix of somewhat silly but still creepy. It was good but had too many jump scares that you could see coming from a mile a way. The acting was generally good with Linda Cardellini really selling the terror of fighting off the evil presence. The children's performances were kind of hit or miss for me.. The tone and atmosphere of the film was great but for me "La Llorona" was scarier when she had her face veiled rather than the highly CGI-ed one they gave her when it was removed. The opening was downright silly to me. I didn't find it scary/creepy at all but a little disturbing. Also for some reason I think they went for too many scares in daylight. I know everything scary doesn't have to be at night, but I felt like it undersold them or didn't do them justice. One aspect that I really liked was how they brought in a faith healer or shaman, in Spanish "Curandero" to the Conjuring Universe. He was an interesting original character addition. Astwo different critics put it, "convincing premise, sufficient drama, decent twists, and enough scares make it worth the watch", but "predictable jump scare treatment and dragging exposition take out the potential from this film despite decent performance Orverall I'd give this movie a 6/10.
Graham Bonnet: The Story Behind the Shades
Book
Graham Bonnet was born in Skegness in 1947 and had his first hit single with The Marbles in 1968,...
Claimed (Breaking Free #7)
10.0
Rate It
Book
University student Demir Higgs is on the fast-track to graduate with honors and dive straight into...
Mpreg Omegaverse M_M
TheDefunctDiva (304 KP) rated The Wicker Man (1973) in Movies
Aug 29, 2021
Something Wicker This Way Comes
Contains spoilers, click to show
Forgive me, Father, for I am about to spoil this whole film. I am a novice film reviewer, and as such, I know no other way.
This film opens up with a police officer (Sergeant Howie) flying to an island in Scotland. I knew something was up when the older gentlemen in the harbor refused to send a dinghy for him to get onto the island. The older men seemed to be in on some kind of joke. As my teenager would say, “Very sus.”
The rather uppity lawman, portrayed quite convincingly by Edward Woodward, is searching for a girl on the island. The girl, Rowan Morrison, was reported missing by way of an anonymous letter sent to the mainland.
We are then introduced to the woman who is allegedly the missing girl’s mother. She runs the most unsettling candy shop ever. There are a lot of chocolate bunnies, which I am normally all in favor of. But she corrects the officer when he refers to them as bunnies. They are rabbits, of course. Because that increases the creepiness factor by ten.
Howie’s lodging is above a righteously rollicking pub. The locals sing and play about in the pub, and all seems normal.
Forward to the next scene. Holy unexpected nudity, Batman. I am glad my son chose to stay in his room and play Roblox. There are a bunch of naked locals openly copulating in and around the churchyard. Of course, it is later explained that it is not a churchyard, because poor, very stodgy, very Puritan Sergeant Howie has stumbled upon an island of RECKLESS HEATHEN PAGANS.
The lovely Britt Ekland portrays Willow, the barmaid. In a scene early on, she does a ritualistic dance in the nude, in the room next to the very tempted police officer. My boyfriend correctly observed that Howie should stay away from this woman, as she is clearly a siren. Her dance moves were odd to me, and at one point, I asked aloud, “What is she doing?” My boyfriend responded, “She’s twerking.”
The plot thickens like a good rabbit stew. Christopher Lee aptly portrays Lord Summerisle, the leader of the island. Summerisle makes some strange claims about the island, and says the women there get pregnant asexually by way of a ritual. This claim seems counterintuitive, since there seemed to be a lot of unprotected boinking going on by various members of the island, in the open air no less. But hey, maybe these adulterated pagans missed the lecture on the birds and the bees.
As a heathen myself, I didn’t find this movie too horrific until it neared the end. I was more focused on Sergeant Howie’s unwillingness to entertain a faith other than his own. The scenery was breathtaking, as it was filmed entirely on location in Scotland.
I’m not really going to spoil every detail of the ending. But I must observe that this is the strangest version of The 40-Year-Old Virgin I have ever seen.
This film opens up with a police officer (Sergeant Howie) flying to an island in Scotland. I knew something was up when the older gentlemen in the harbor refused to send a dinghy for him to get onto the island. The older men seemed to be in on some kind of joke. As my teenager would say, “Very sus.”
The rather uppity lawman, portrayed quite convincingly by Edward Woodward, is searching for a girl on the island. The girl, Rowan Morrison, was reported missing by way of an anonymous letter sent to the mainland.
We are then introduced to the woman who is allegedly the missing girl’s mother. She runs the most unsettling candy shop ever. There are a lot of chocolate bunnies, which I am normally all in favor of. But she corrects the officer when he refers to them as bunnies. They are rabbits, of course. Because that increases the creepiness factor by ten.
Howie’s lodging is above a righteously rollicking pub. The locals sing and play about in the pub, and all seems normal.
Forward to the next scene. Holy unexpected nudity, Batman. I am glad my son chose to stay in his room and play Roblox. There are a bunch of naked locals openly copulating in and around the churchyard. Of course, it is later explained that it is not a churchyard, because poor, very stodgy, very Puritan Sergeant Howie has stumbled upon an island of RECKLESS HEATHEN PAGANS.
The lovely Britt Ekland portrays Willow, the barmaid. In a scene early on, she does a ritualistic dance in the nude, in the room next to the very tempted police officer. My boyfriend correctly observed that Howie should stay away from this woman, as she is clearly a siren. Her dance moves were odd to me, and at one point, I asked aloud, “What is she doing?” My boyfriend responded, “She’s twerking.”
The plot thickens like a good rabbit stew. Christopher Lee aptly portrays Lord Summerisle, the leader of the island. Summerisle makes some strange claims about the island, and says the women there get pregnant asexually by way of a ritual. This claim seems counterintuitive, since there seemed to be a lot of unprotected boinking going on by various members of the island, in the open air no less. But hey, maybe these adulterated pagans missed the lecture on the birds and the bees.
As a heathen myself, I didn’t find this movie too horrific until it neared the end. I was more focused on Sergeant Howie’s unwillingness to entertain a faith other than his own. The scenery was breathtaking, as it was filmed entirely on location in Scotland.
I’m not really going to spoil every detail of the ending. But I must observe that this is the strangest version of The 40-Year-Old Virgin I have ever seen.
Tatiana Temple (3 KP) rated Find Me in Books
Jan 3, 2018
Kept me wondering
Contains spoilers, click to show
Find Me is about a young man named Jar who is convinced that his girlfriend, Rosa, who allegedly committed suicide five years earlier is alive. Throughout the novel you wonder if maybe she really is alive, if he has had a psychotic break and is imagining it all, or if you are missing something. This novel kept me on the edge of my seat, even with the last few sentences.
Towards the end of the novel you discover that Rosa is in fact alive but not in the capacity that you expect her to be. She is being held captive by her Uncle Martin. When Jar rescues her you get a sense of relief only to have a question raised in the last 3 pages of the book that still has me wondering if Rosa's abduction was in fact government sanctioned.
The only reason why I didn't give this a 10/10 is because towards the middle-end of the book you start reading in her Uncle Martin's POV who is a complete psycopath. Some of his thoughts are rather disturbing and some were hard for me to get through as I have a deep love for animals.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I definitely would recommend it to anyone looking for something that will keep your brain active throughout.
Towards the end of the novel you discover that Rosa is in fact alive but not in the capacity that you expect her to be. She is being held captive by her Uncle Martin. When Jar rescues her you get a sense of relief only to have a question raised in the last 3 pages of the book that still has me wondering if Rosa's abduction was in fact government sanctioned.
The only reason why I didn't give this a 10/10 is because towards the middle-end of the book you start reading in her Uncle Martin's POV who is a complete psycopath. Some of his thoughts are rather disturbing and some were hard for me to get through as I have a deep love for animals.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I definitely would recommend it to anyone looking for something that will keep your brain active throughout.
Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Cloudland in Books
Jan 15, 2018
So I'm still not quite sure what to make of this book. The language used in it's writing was very poetic & descriptive. I enjoyed that aspect of it a great deal. My real issue with it was the plot. For being a murder/suspense/crime novel, it sure didn't move very quickly. I wasn't kept on the edge of my seat as I usually expect from novels that fall into this category. The "edge of my seat-ness" didn't happen for me until about the last 40 pages or so. :(
This book tells the story of a former New York Times writer & teacher who loses her adjunct professorship because she becomes romanitcally involved with a student. She is asked to leave the university & eventually settles in upstate Vermont in a rural area called Cloudland. While walking home from a neighboor's house, she comes upon the body of a woman who has been missing for months. From there you a sprung into the middle of an investigation of a group of murders taking place in the area & the manhunt for the killer...
...except you aren't really thrown into the middle of it. The writing is good, but I always felt like a bit of an outsider looking in, instead of being put in the middle of the action. The minor twists & turns that came up in the plot felt forced & insignificant to the work as a whole. Was it a bad book, no not at all. I just wasn't swept away with it by any means.
This book tells the story of a former New York Times writer & teacher who loses her adjunct professorship because she becomes romanitcally involved with a student. She is asked to leave the university & eventually settles in upstate Vermont in a rural area called Cloudland. While walking home from a neighboor's house, she comes upon the body of a woman who has been missing for months. From there you a sprung into the middle of an investigation of a group of murders taking place in the area & the manhunt for the killer...
...except you aren't really thrown into the middle of it. The writing is good, but I always felt like a bit of an outsider looking in, instead of being put in the middle of the action. The minor twists & turns that came up in the plot felt forced & insignificant to the work as a whole. Was it a bad book, no not at all. I just wasn't swept away with it by any means.