Not That I Could Tell
6.8
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An innocent night of fun takes a shocking turn in Not That I Could Tell, the next page-turner from...
women's fiction fiction
True Love: A Nantucket Brides Novel
9.5
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Just as Alix Madsen is finishing up architectural school, Adelaide Kingsley dies and wills her, for...
ClareR (5726 KP) rated The Last House on Needless Street in Books
Mar 9, 2022
It’s also a book with just enough oddness to keep me reading. Usually, a book about missing children would be a big “no” from me, but I have to admit to being drawn in by the talking, God fearing cat. I mean, how can that not appeal to the reader?
Ted is the main character though. He lives in a rundown house on Needless Street with his talking cat, Olivia, and his daughter Lauren, who visits at the weekends. He’s a reclusive man, who boards up his windows, has spy holes to look into the garden and uses a chest freezer to keep his cat in when he’s out. He doesn’t do himself any favours - he’s odd.
And so Dee decides that he is the man responsible for the disappearance of her sister. The Police have already discounted him, but she is sure that he fits the profile of a child abductor. She finds a house for sale on Needless Street, moves in and bides her time.
This is hands down, one of the strangest, delightfully off-kilter, most uncomfortable books I’ve read in recent times. I thought I had the ending all sorted out, but there are a fair few twists and turns that will wrong-foot you throughout this frankly brilliant book.
If you enjoy an eccentric, strange, slightly horrifying book, you’ll undoubtedly enjoy this. I loved it.
The Girl Whose Luck Ran Out by Gayleen Froese
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Mistletoe and Murder
9.0
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In Connie Berry’s festive holiday novella Mistletoe and Murder, American antiques dealer Kate...
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On the verge of being murdered, a child vanishes, and her tormentors, arrested for her...
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Kelvin (Tangled Tentacles #5)
JP Sayle and Lisa Oliver
10.0
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Fated mates find themselves drawn into a web of lies and deceit. Can they find the answers and...
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Traitor's Game (Soldier Spy #1)
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1808. Captain Will Fraser has just returned from the Front in the Peninsular War. He is disgraced...
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This was an interesting and rather original novel. Where often you get a story leading up to a kidnapping, or a mystery trying to solve who kidnapped someone, in Kensie's tale, Charlotte's actual confinement takes up little of the story. She learns who her kidnapper is pretty quickly (he never revealed his name to her). Instead, the novel truly does focus on the aftermath of her kidnapping: how will Charlotte recover from this horrible trauma. And, indeed, how will her family recover as well? The novel hooks you very quickly, and I found myself then wondering how Kensie would sustain such an odd plot without the push of a kidnapping or whodunnit (although there is Charlotte's desire to find the girl before her, but we only have her word that she existed). But the novel is very nuanced and has a psychological depth to it. Initially, I was wary that Charlotte wasn't going to exhibit a lot of signs of a young girl who spent four years trapped and abused; she seemed to jump easily from twelve to sixteen. But as Kensie peels away the layers, we do see how much Charlotte is suffering, and how hard it is for her to adjust to life outside of the attic.
While the tale focuses on Charlotte, we also get to see how her disappearance affected her family, as well, which is an interesting technique, as many kidnapping stories don't always involve the family. The dynamic between Charlotte and her twin, for instance, is a complex one, and well-portrayed. Kensie also throws in several surprises along the way, plot-wise: in a novel where you wouldn't think there would be much to hide. These devices don't seem contrived, however, but fit in nicely with the flow of the story.
Overall, this was a nice change of pace from a typical kidnapping novel and well-written. I still think some of Charlotte's adjustment was a little too easy overall, but it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the novel. A strong 3.5 stars.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss (thank you!) in return for an unbiased review; it is available everywhere as of 11/1/2016.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Sharp Objects in Books
May 10, 2018
This book on audio really held my attention. Two young girls are murdered in a small town. No one is sure who could possibly be doing this. The local police are convinced its an outsider, the Detective from the big city thinks its a local, and one of the friends of the dead girls, is convinced he saw a woman dragging her into the woods. Will the police find the killer before another little girl goes missing? Will Camille be able to spend this time in her hometown and complete her job or will it send her back over the edge?
I found myself staying in my car a little longer no matter where I was going while I had this book on audio. I've had the book on my TBR for a very long time. I was so glad I finally got a chance to get it off my list. If you haven't read it, I suggest you pick up a copy right away.