The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
Gallery/Scout Press: 8/6/19
eBook review copy; 352 pages
ISBN-13:
9781501188770
The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware is a highly recommended psychological thriller with Gothic overtones.
Rowan Caine is hired for an unbelievably generous salary by a
wealthy couple to be a live-in nanny for their children at their estate,
Heatherbrae House, in the
Scottish
Highlands. The house has been remodeled and wired to be a smart home,
where everything - lights, music, grocery lists, coffee maker, phones,
cameras in rooms, and more - are all controlled by technology called "Happy."
The three young girls who will mostly be in her charge seem sweet and
the teenage daughter is away at school, so when Rowan learns she is in
charge and being left alone with the girls in the house as soon as she
arrives with only the handyman, Jack Grant, around, she thinks she can handle it. But all is not as it seems.
The narrative is told through a letter to a solicitor from a Rowan
who is in prison awaiting trial for murder for the death of a child in
her charge. Rowan wants to tell her side of the story, a story that
wasn't listened to by her solicitor. Caring for these children is much
more trying than she thought it would be. The baby is a handful, and the
other two girls, eight and five, are hardly the sweet children she met
at the interview. She heard that the house is believed to be haunted,
but she doesn't believe in ghosts. However, Rowan is hearing footsteps
at night and then there is the malfunctioning technology doing things
like blaring music at night and operating lights at will.
This is an atmospheric psychological thriller that has a Gothic feel
but combines it with creepy cutting edge technology in an isolated
location. There is a feeling of unease and tension that is created
right at the start and then both increase incrementally as the novel
progresses. You know Rowan is in prison, but you don't know who dies and
what happened. There are little clues, but they are carefully embedded
in the narrative. You get the sense that Rowan might be an unreliable
narrator, but you aren't sure. The ending was a big surprise for me, but
it was satisfying and answered all my questions.
The characters are well developed, but bits and pieces are held back
with good reason as Rowan tells her story in her own way, only revealing
what she wants us to know, when she wants to tell us. This style helps
increase the atmospheric creepiness factor. The other characters are all
viewed through Rowan's point-of-view. Even the house and grounds become
a character. Rowan may not be a likeable character, but she is
believable in her thoughts and reactions.
The writing is quite good and I liked the way the plot unfolded and
the story played out, carefully and incrementally. I was surprised that
one of the huge plot twists which surprised me was withheld until the
end. It seemed that it would be the first thing you'd want to tell a
lawyer when you were awaiting trial for murder. Another final shocker,
though, explained why. All in all, though, this was a very good thriller
and I am going to look into more novels by Ruth Ware. 4.5
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Gallery/Scout Press.
The Victim by Max Manning
Sourcebooks/Landmark: 8/6/19
eBook review copy; 336 pages
ISBN-13:
9781492667018
The Victim by Max Manning is a so-so examination of two choices and two outcomes during an attack.
Gem Golding, a public relations executive, has two choices when she
is accosted in a parking lot by a man with a knife: to fight or to
comply; to be a warrior or a victim. The attacker, Con Norton, is a
psychopath who has made the attack a game where he alone decides what
happens. Gem doesn't know this or the rules to his game, but her choice
of how she will react will determine what he will do.
After the initial encounter where Con demands the keys to Gem's car,
two different versions of the future are presented in parallel
timelines. Chapters are alternately from the point-of-view of "Gem, the Warrior" or as "Gem, the Victim," and then within the chapters the alternate stories are told through Gem, Det.
Insp. Elliot Day, Con, and Gem's boyfriend, Drew Bentley. Also present is journalist
Matt Revell who is using Gem's story to advance his career. The
alternate story lines oscillate between the two different outcomes based
on Gem's initial decisions.
The two different story lines sort of reminded me of the choose your
own adventure books my children were obsessed with while in grade
school. In this case, while it was an interesting idea, I'm not sure it
was a great choice. The choice to present the two different narratives
in this rather contrived format simply didn't work for this reader in
this story. Perhaps if Manning stuck with alternating simply on Gem as
either a warrior or a victim it would have been a more successful
alternate universe sort of story. Adding all the other characters and
their reactions and choices to Gem's initial choice lessens the dual
perspective of the consequences of her initial choice. I started out
liking the book, thinking it might be an interesting way to tell the
story, but it soon became tiring for me and the resolution to the two
narratives were both not completely satisfying.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Sourcebooks/Landmark.
The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney
Penguin Random House: 8/6/19
eBook review copy; 432 pages
ISBN-13:
9781524796747
The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney is a recommended domestic thriller featuring artificial intelligence.
Five years after her death, Tim Scott, the founder of Scott
Robotics, has created a cobot, or companion robot, of his wife, Abbie
Cullen-Scott. Abbie, the cobot, has memories, but not all memories, only
those Tim has chosen to download. She knows she was an artist, mother,
good cook, and a surfer. Tim, however, won't tell Abbie how she died.
Abbie, while trying to regain whatever memories or knowledge she can,
learns that she supposedly drowned in a surfing accident, but a body was
never recovered and Tim faced murder charges in her death.
After starting out as an intriguing premise with the possibility of The Perfect Wife
becoming a compelling addition to the science fiction genre, it soon
became clear that little significant sci-fi evolution in the plot was
actually going
to happen. The novel, after the exciting opening, suddenly becomes a
domestic thriller along the lines of the "new" woman researching the
former wife. Few facts and little real usage was made of the AI needed
to make a cobot and program one to resemble a dead person. In order to
continue reading, I had to set my love of hard sci-fi aside.
The narrative unfolds through the points-of-view of Abbie the cobot
and the Scott Robotics employees. The chapters alternate between the
past and present and are told in the second and third person omniscient. It feels awkward when reading. What
does work is the depiction of Danny, Tim and Abbie's Autistic son.
Danny is the only character who felt real, believable. I'm afraid the
rest of the characters fell a bit flat for me.
Viewing The Perfect Wife as a domestic thriller, with the new
wife researching the previous wife, is what kept my interest in the
plot. In that aspect, the writing certainly kept things moving and
propelled the plot forward. The ending, however, was a let down, as were
the many plot points left hanging. This novel is okay - a good
airplane book.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.
Strange Harvests: The Hidden Histories of Seven Natural Objects
by Edward Posnett
Penguin Publishing Group: 8/6/19
eBook review copy: 336 pages
ISBN-13: 9780399562792
Strange Harvests: The Hidden Histories of Seven Natural Objects
by Edward Posnett is a very highly recommended, fascinating look at seven uncommon natural products.
In a synthesis of travel writing, history, interviews, and nature writing, Strange Harvests is a captivating, engaging, and thought-provoking adventure. Posnett traces the current and historical use of
seven precious natural objects from their historical origin to their
harvesting for use. These natural items include: eiderdown, swiftlet bird nests, civet coffee, sea silk, vicuña fiber, tagua, and
guano. As Posnett points out, "Each object
served an important purpose in the natural world... yet its removal, its harvest, need not spell
discomfort, mutilation, or death." The book includes notes and an index.
"The eider is
a
fat seabird, more penguin than duck..." that can be found nesting in
Iceland today where they are a protected species. Eiders don't naturally
nest in large colonies but after years of co-habitation they will
congregate close to humans for shelter and protection when nesting. They
line their nests with eider down, which can then be collected after the
eider's leave. If a harvester cares for the ducks, more will come to
nest, which, in turn, will increase the amount of eider to be harvested.
The coat of a vicuña is another incredibly soft, insulating fiber that is treasured. Vicuñas roam in the Andean puna,which accounts for the development of their coat. After facing extinction, vicuñas are now protected by the communities that have a stake in their survival, with the reserve of Pampas Galeras at the forefront of the efforts.
The black-nest Swiftlet makes nests that are edible and treasured by the Chinese. The nests have been a major export commodity, perhaps as far back as the
T’ang dynasty (618–907). "During breeding
season, both male and female birds begin to retch and chew, excreting
small strands of a thick, gelatinous substance from these modified
salivary glands lying below their tongue. This they spread in arched
form across the cave wall, inserting dark brown or black feathers from
their plumage. After thirty days, the initial arch has grown to form a
shallow cup into which the bird lays one egg." These nests are made on
the roof of caves and harvesting them is a physical challenge. Recently
harvesters have been making birdhouses to attract swiftlets to live in
buildings.
The story of civet coffee, or kopi
luwak, is as riveting as it is somewhat disgusting. Civet musk has been
collected and sold for years. A more recent development is collecting
coffee beans after they have been eaten and excreted by civets, and selling this as kopi luwak, civet coffee. The digestive
enzymes are supposed to add a distinctive flavor to the coffee. Along
the same excremental lines, guano has been collected off of some eighty
islands off the coast of Peru. These island receive little rain, so the
guano built up and accumulated to vast amounts of organic fertilizer.
The tagua nut is from a palm, Phytelephas, found mostly in northwestern South America. It is creamy white,
dense, and smooth and its cellulose is arranged in concentric
circles. In the
past, it was discovered that the tagua nut could easily be carved into
buttons, figurines, and toys. Plastic has now replaced the market for
tagua buttons, but there is hope among botanists and development experts that if people learned they could make money for the
harvest of “nontimber forest products” (NTFPs), it might induce forest conservation.
Bivalve mollusks, such as mussels, clams,
scallops, and pen shells, produce silken threads known as byssus.
This sea silk or
byssus, is used as an anchor by the mollusks to tether themselves to the seafloor against the
push and pull of the waves. Underwater, the beards look like brown moss, full of
algae and small shells, but when cleaned and combed, they appear to be golden threads, commonly known as sea silk. These
threads have been prized for their shine and strangeness for nearly two thousand years. Harvesting them is now prohibited. Until October, 2016, a weaver in Sardinia who called herself the "Maestro Chiara Vigo" ran the "The Museum of Byssus" and claimed a history of weaving that discounted others. Now that the museum has been closed, other women in Sant’Antioco, the descendants of the weavers from
Italo Diana’s school, are exchange their stories and reclaiming their heritage.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Publishing Group.
Lost You by Haylen Beck
Crown/Archetype: 8/6/19
eBook review copy; 320 pages
ISBN-13:
9781524759582
Lost You by Haylen Beck is a recommended psychological thriller.
Libby Reese has just sold her first novel and she is taking a
well-deserved vacation in a resort with her three-year-old son, Ethan.
Her husband left her when Ethan was a baby and she has raised Ethan on
her own. Now she is enjoying the resort while trying to keep a close eye
on Ethan. When he suddenly darts off into the elevator, laughing, Libby
doesn't get to him in time and the door closes. Ethan then disappears
and the search is on. We know from the opening that a woman has him. Security footage shows a woman, identified as Anna Lenihan, with him. When she is found, she claims he is her son. She must be crazy... or is she?
The plot starts out in what seems to be a very predictable direction
and then, suddenly, jumps the track altogether, changes direction, goes
back four years earlier, and becomes an entirely different novel. Now we
meet Anna when she loses
her waitress job in Pennsylvania. She is desperate for money when she
learns about a medical research clinic that will pay well and she goes
to an interview. It's to be a surrogate mother and Anna decides to do
it.
The sudden leap into a different story is startling and will
completely throw you off track. Both of the female characters are
well-developed and complex characters, with flaws and Libby is shown to
be an utterly different character too. They are both emotionally
unstable. It also makes the novel much more interesting, adding twists
and turns in the plot and in our emotions. The novel also becomes
creepier, and heads toward the unbelievable too. It is a compelling
story and relatively fast-paced to keep your interest.
The novel was a rollercoaster for me. It began as a commonplace plot
that took a different turn. It became a character study, with comparing
and contrasting personalities. There are bad decisions and poor choices.
Then it became menacing and... unbalanced. At the end I was unsure
exactly how I felt about the novel as a whole.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Crown/Archetype.
The Betrayed Wife by Kevin O'Brien
Kensington: 7/30/19
eBook review copy; 464 pages
ISBN-13:
9780786045075
The Betrayed Wife by Kevin O'Brien is a so-so novel of psychological suspense.
Dylan and Sheila O’Rourke are married with three children. She knows
he's not perfect, but he has supported her through hard times and cares
about her. He was supportive about moving to Seattle after her rough
patch and they are doing well now, right? Or is Sheila just doubting
herself and seeing things when she feels like she's being watched,
followed, and receives strange texts. She even tries to be as supportive
as she can when sixteen-year-old Eden turns up, claiming to
be Dylan’s child by another woman. Her mother has died and Dylan is her
only remaining relative.
Right from the start a woman dies, so you know there is going to be some kind of suspense.
Next we are introduced to Sheila, who is anxious, being followed,
hearing noises, and keeps referring to her difficult times. Teenage son
Steve is a good character, but the other two children are forgettable
characters. Then Dylan shows his lack of morals and we learn about his
serial affairs. And Sheila knows about him, but stays with him. At this
point it is hard to keep reading this rather pedestrian novel of
suspense because it feels like we have heard this story before: cheating
husband, loopy wife, illegitimate child, and a deranged lunatic on the
loose.
The narrative is mainly told through the point-of-view of Sheila, Dylan, Steve, and Eden.
It does keep you reading, mostly while shaking your head and muttering
about... well, the whole plot. I kept reading just to see what happened,
how Eden was involved, who the crazy neighbor was, and if Sheila
finally got a backbone and told Dylan bye-bye. Perhaps I need to avoid
books with serial philandering unfaithful husbands. I'm not sure it was
totally worth powering through, especially when I got to the ending.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Kensington.
Someone We Know by Shari Lapena
Penguin Random House: 7/30/19
eBook review copy; 304 pages
ISBN-13:
9780525557654
Someone We Know by Shari Lapena is a recommended domestic thriller.
In Hudson Valley city of Aylesford,
N.Y., we know a killer is in the neighborhood. Lawyer Robert Pierce reports his wife, Amanda, missing, but the police and neighbors think she left him. At Paul and Olivia Sharpe's house, they discover that their teenage son, Raleigh, has been
breaking into neighborhood houses and hacking into their computers,
learning their secrets. Olivia makes Raleigh show her the two houses he
broke into and she secretly sends them anonymous letters apologizing for
her son's actions. This sets off one of the recipients to start going
house to house to discuss this home invasion and wanting to know who the
teen is. Suddenly the information pipeline goes rampant and starts spilling over with all manner of personal secrets and promiscuous affairs.
So, the plot does move along and suspects keep piling up as new
information is uncovered. Lapena throws out all sorts of twists and
turns to keep the reader guessing. The characters, however, are not
particularly well developed and there really isn't anyone you want to
support. You might want to shake a few people and tell them to snap out
of it, but they are all caricatures and don't feel like real people.
While suspense keeps the novel rolling along, mainly because everyone is
sleeping around - or with Amanda - and everyone is a suspect, none of
the characters are memorable or interesting. Olivia is just plain
stupid. What functioning adult would ever think it would be a good idea
to send out anonymous letters telling people their house was broken
into? Once she did that my interest and engagement in the plot
plummeted. Basically, I didn't really care what happened to any of these
people and kept reading for the big twist and final reveal. This is a novel to read for the suspense rather than the clever writing.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.
