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Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Rewind in Books

Jul 20, 2019

Rewind

Catherine Ryan Howard | 2019 | Mystery, Thriller

8.0

(3 Ratings)

Book Rating

Enjoyable thriller

This is a page turner of a thriller. It takes a little to get to grips with the time jumping but it helps that it uses rewind, pause and fast forward as chapters to give you some baring and once you get it it’s fine and kinda fun in a novel way. This book lends itself to being a great easy read with enough going on to keep you engaged but without being too taxing on the old noggin - perfect for holiday reading.

Natalie is a social media influencer and I did find the beginning of the book was throwing a bit too much jargon about this area at us; along with describing click bait journalist Audery’s world it felt like a real push to be “with it”. It is however a great area to explore as opening yourself up to the world like that gives a whole huge potential for weirdo exposure. When Natalie visits the remote Irish village of Shanamore she gets to meet even more odd characters in the form of holiday cottage manager Andrew with a real Norman Bates feel to him and other locals. There is definitely an air of creepy, in a skin crawling fashion, about them.

I didn’t find there to be much mystery in this book with it all being too evident who was responsible as soon as they began to appear. The multitude of POVs and the moving around in time did hamper any real development of feeling invested in the characters. All in all an enjoyable quick thriller read without too much thought required.

My thanks to the author, publisher Atlantic Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Edge of Darkness (2010) in Movies

Aug 8, 2019

Edge of Darkness (2010)

2010 | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

6.0

(11 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Mel Gibson is back on the screen in the winter thriller “Edge of Darkness”. Boston cop Thomas Craven (Gibson) is excited about his daughter Emma’s (Bojana Novakovic) visit home from her first post college employment position. Yet from the very start something seems wrong. Before dinner is even served a masked assailant kills Emma in cold blood on the porch of her father’s house leaving Officer Craven determined to figure out who killed his daughter and why which requires Craven to do this with or without the help of the law.

This is not a mystery but rather the story of a cop’s determination to avenge his daughter against impossible odds which are stacked with numerous shady characters that Craven must deal with to solve the murder, including senators, businessmen, and one title-less problem solver. Moreover, the flick walks directly into the muddy waters of morality, the law, business, and politics.

Tightly packed with characters, “Edge of Darkness” leaves little room for character development, thereby loosing much of the emotional response it seeks to create. However, the standout performance by Ray Winstone, who plays the insightful but questionably aligned Jedburgh, did lighten what otherwise is a dark and densely packed tale.
Further frustrating the viewer, the film’s ending is expected and not at all as dramatic as the buildup demanded. I left wondering why Gibson would remake the original award winning BBC-miniseries into a boring film that is ripe with undeveloped characters.

This thriller lacks the inventiveness or conclusion to make it worthy of Mel Gibson’s return. There were a couple of mildly tense moments and few well executed scenes but overall “Edge of Darkness” is really more of a substandard drama than an engaging thriller. The 117 minutes spent watching the “Edge of Darkness” was slightly enjoyable, but the story really is nothing new.

Kudos

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Perfect Wife in Books

Aug 8, 2019

The Perfect Wife

J.P. Delaney | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Thriller

8.3

(6 Ratings)

Book Rating

Abbie wakes up confused about who she is and how she got there. The man next to her claims to be her husband, Tim, who runs a famous technology startup. Abbie learns she's an artist, wife, and mom. Tim tells her she had an accident several years ago and now Tim has used technology to help her recover.

I won't go into a lot of detail about this one, but it totally took me by surprise! I don't want to spoil it, but it's riveting!! I was hooked from the beginning! It's so fascinating and makes you really think about technology and humanity. Abbie's character is really interesting, and there's a great mystery that keeps you clued to the pages. Plus, there's some wonderful insight and thoughts about autism, sexism in the technology sector, and so much more.

Definitely recommend this fascinating thriller!