6.12.2016

finished reading


This is the third novel by this author. She writes thrilling, twisty stories. I listened to this audio book and wonder if I would have loved it if I had read it instead of really liking it as a listen. I liked the setting--how the story switched location from a Chicago neighborhood to a suburb immediately outside the city. Even though I have never been there, I had a sense of place. And I felt the cold!

I didn't care much for the narrator; Quinn Collins did not grow on me. She was too stereotyped and cliched. I don't know if the reader is supposed to like her, but she was way too self-centered and shallow. I almost wish there had been some narrative from Esther Vaughn's point of view. Esther was a compelling and complex character. I was very caught up in her story! I didn't relate well to Alex Gallow, the 18-year-old sad sack of a boy, either. I thought he was kind of whiny.

From the publisher:
In downtown Chicago, a young woman named Esther Vaughan disappears from her apartment without a trace. A haunting letter addressed to My Dearest is found among her possessions, leaving her friend and roommate Quinn Collins to wonder where Esther is and whether or not she's the person Quinn thought she knew.

Meanwhile, in a small Michigan harbor town an hour outside Chicago, a mysterious woman appears in the quiet coffee shop where eighteen-year-old Alex Gallo works as a dishwasher. He is immediately drawn to her charm and beauty, but what starts as an innocent crush quickly spirals into something far more dark and sinister than he ever expected.

As Quinn searches for answers about Esther, and Alex is drawn further under Pearl's spell, master of suspense Mary Kubica takes readers on a taut and twisted thrill ride that builds to a stunning conclusion and shows that no matter how fast and far we run, the past always catches up with us in the end.

1 comment:

The Gal Herself said...

OOOOH! I'll have to look into this one. Twisty, and with a sense of place I recognize!