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| ★★★✰✰ |
Synopsis: A devious tale of psychological suspense involving sex, deception, and an accidental encounter that leads to murder. On a night flight from London to Boston, Ted Severson meets the mysterious Lily Kintner. Ted talks about his marriage and his wife Miranda, who he’s sure is cheating on him. But their game turns dark when Ted jokes that he could kill Miranda for what she’s done. Lily, without missing a beat, says calmly, “I’d like to help.” From there, Ted and Lily’s twisted bond grows stronger as they plot Miranda's demise, but soon these co-conspirators are embroiled in a game of cat-and-mouse--one they both cannot survive--with a shrewd and very determined detective on their tail.
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Review: For some reason, I got it into my head that this was going to be an excellent read, although when I went back to Goodreads after finishing it, the first review I saw was a mediocre (and accurate) one. While highly readable (I read it in two evenings), and while it does start off pretty well, the sheer volume of incredulity it inspires is never outweighed by a good story. It's definitely a very twisty novel, with one very unexpected twist right at the point where, for me, the book started going downhill, and then a small onslaught of them towards the end, jumping back and forth and, in fairness, never really letting you have a chance to guess what is actually going to happen. That could have been a good aspect, but I thought there was just too much of it.
Probably my biggest issue with the novel, besides the abundance of potential and actual murderers floating around the place, was that when a second female voice came into place in the second half of the novel, there was nothing distinctive enough about either voice to tell them apart, and I had to keep reminding myself which person was who, and what details/actions/history was associated with who I was currently reading about. It distracted me and drew me out of the novel, as well as making it more difficult to follow an already twisty novel. Additionally, the addition of a new voice in the final third did absolutely nothing for the book, adding a couple of quirks for the sake of another twist at the end, as well as padding out character background for a character we've seen hardly anything of, right before the book finishes - not the time for introductions and background.
All in all, it was very well written in the sense that it kept me reading and wanting to know what would happen, but I think it just tried too hard. There was too much unnecessary detailing, too much that was just unbelievable, characters I couldn't get invested in and an underwhelming ending despite the twists. Three stars for sheer readability, and I will try the other book by this author.
Rating: 3/5
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