Christine A. (965 KP) rated Broken in Books
Sep 16, 2020
Magnolia (Maggie) is not surprised when her estranged twin sister is murdered by her abusive husband. She travels to Beaumont Cove, the town where her sister and Mike lived. Mike protests his innocence, and, at first, she does not believe him. Wandering around town and looking into her sister's time there, she begins to have doubts. Hiring a local PI, Maggie looks into her sister's murder and wonders if Mike is telling the truth.
Broken by John Rector is a short, quick read. It is 284 pages. The story flows well, but I did not connect with the characters. The town is supposed to feel creepy, but it came across as similar to a New Jersey tourist town during the off-season, devoid of tourists. The "big reveal" from one of the characters' past was not surprising, although it did explain his actions.
The cover and description of the book made it seem as if the story was going to be scary or suspenseful. It was neither. While it was worth reading, the book felt too short and not fully fleshed out.
According to Goodreads, Rector's short fiction won several awards, including the International Thriller Award for his novella, Lost Things.
This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 9/15/20.
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Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Captive in Books
Oct 17, 2021
I haven't read anything by this author before but the blurb reeled me in. I can't even imagine the horror of having to look after a person who has been convicted of a crime against you. You have to look after that person in your own home - would I be able to do that? This book certainly makes you think about it but this is the reality for the main character in this book, Hannah.
Her husband was murdered and Jem has been found guilty; he is now housed in a cell in her kitchen and Hannah is having to face this man every day whilst trying to come to terms with her loss and grief. Hannah is desperate to keep the memories of her husband alive but as she discovers more, he doesn't appear to be the man she knew and loved and when Jem professes his innocence - well he would wouldn't he - more doubts creep in and Hannah finds herself in a very difficult position.
Written from the perspectives of Hannah and Jem, this is a story that just keeps giving. There are some great twists and you never really know what's going to happen until the end.
This is an author I will definitely look out for in the future and my thanks go to Bonnier Books UK and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2196 KP) rated The Drinking Gourd in Books
Jul 13, 2022 (Updated Jul 13, 2022)
The premise of this book sounded intriguing, so I jumped in eagerly. However, the end result doesn’t quite work the way it should. The story is as much about Casey dealing with what happened to her and it is the current crime. While interesting, it meant some of the other characters were really driving the investigation. In fact, there are several storylines that felt more important than the sub-plots than they should have been. The story does have some good twists, but they feel a little abrupt when they happen. A few things felt forced into the story, and I didn’t get a good feel for the 1970’s setting. This isn’t one of my cozies, but I was mostly okay with the content, except for one chapter that definitely crossed some lines. When I was reading the book, I got caught up in the story, but there were too many issues to keep me from completely enjoying it.
ClareR (5716 KP) rated Fair Rosaline in Books
Aug 26, 2023
At the start of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and his friends are seen laughing and joking about Rosaline who has been sent to a nunnery. Here, Rosaline gets a chance to tell her side of the story, and she isn’t the silly girl that the Montagues would have us believe. She’s passionate, intelligent, musical, literate, and she absolutely doesn’t want to spend her life in a convent. So she manages to extract 10 days of freedom from her grieving father (her mother has died in the recent plague) and she intends to live them to the max.
Her first, and probably most life-changing act, is to go to a big masked ball held at the Montagues home. There she meets a very charming Romeo. But he’s not like the young boy we meet in Shakespeare’s play. This Romeo is much older and knows exactly what he’s doing. This Romeo is a serial womaniser who likes his women to be girls.
I hated him quite early on, he’s so well written. Romeo is manipulative, charming and a thief of both material goods and young girls’ innocence.
The way this is all written is frankly gorgeous. The language is reminiscent of Shakespeare (except more accessible!) with a fair few phrases borrowed from his original prose.
I could’ve read this all day. Absolutely beautiful. And yes, highly recommended, even if you just want to see Romeo get his comeuppance.