I picked this book up at my local library because I had read the author’s other book, “Bad Summer People.” Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/reviI picked this book up at my local library because I had read the author’s other book, “Bad Summer People.” Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Maybe I should have stopped there! Because the reviews didn’t appear as positive for this one, either. I wasn’t sure I would want to take the time to read it, so I didn’t put the book on my “currently reading” shelf. But as things go with books, I couldn’t help but be curious, and so I dived in, after all.
I think I should have trusted the other reviews. I know, that isn’t a great way to start off a review, right? Well…
Let me just say it began with an interesting feeling…lovely setting, drama, secrets, an unsolved mystery, lots of romance, and possibility. The book having possibility, that is.
But…if this was intended to be a “gripping, darkly comic novel,” it didn’t meet that expectation for me.
The characters were mostly unlikable, and the plot veered in so many directions because of the multiple point of views that my head began to hurt trying to follow them. By the time the story was ready to reach its climatic peak, I was too tired to climb it. This story was just tedious with a predictable mystery.
It is advertised as a dark comedy, thriller mystery, satire of Corporate America. Maybe some may feel those vibes. For me, I was just happy to move on to another book.
2.5 stars hesitantly rounded up because of the promising beginning. ...more
This was a donation to my Little Free Library Shed that I forgot to put in my currently reading pile.
Where do I begin? Let me start with this next quThis was a donation to my Little Free Library Shed that I forgot to put in my currently reading pile.
Where do I begin? Let me start with this next question. How do you get in to a story where none of the characters are likable? Do you continue reading and hope that they change? That maybe something good comes out of their character?
The book starts with a young boy finding a dead body. Who is it? Who did it? And, that is when all the characters enter the story. Gossips. Cheaters. Hypocrites. Of course, any one of them, right?
The problem for readers is that with so many objectionable characters, who really cares who died or who did it?
The author considered her work, “social satire, with a sprinkling of mystery and a dash of White Lotus escapism.” (For those who are not familiar, White Lotus was a series on HBO. It was described as a ‘platonic ideal of the island getaway. A portal to a pristine, natural world, where you can forget your cares and where you can get pineapple at McDonald’s.’)
For me this book was anything but…shallow. Boring. Little substance. Difficult to connect to because of unlikable characters. Maybe other readers will feel differently. I may be an outlier....more
I have a love/hate relationship with this author. Well, maybe that is a bit extreme. I enjoyed his debut novel, “Trust me when I lie,” but I only thouI have a love/hate relationship with this author. Well, maybe that is a bit extreme. I enjoyed his debut novel, “Trust me when I lie,” but I only thought his “Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone” was okay. I didn’t think it was bad, and it was not enough to stop me from picking up this book. But let me just say, I wasn’t chomping at the bit to read it, either.
This is a story about a mystery writer taking a train trip with other mystery writers on their way to a mystery writers festival in Australia. And, one of the mystery writers is our “reliable narrator.” Let’s just say there are a lot of mystery writers in this story.
And, as I was reading it, I actually found myself putting it down a few times and reading other books in-between.
Why?
Because I also found myself bored.
Why?
Because as much as I love a train trip storyline, (especially one that will give a scenic view across the desert of Australia) {which I have never been and would love to go}, the author, plays a supposedly “reliable narrator” that was much too talkative, offering way too many characters to keep track of, and his “fair-play mystery” just became a bit too much for me. Phew! I know, quite the run-on sentence!
I realize I am probably an outlier here. I get it. There are a lot of Benjamin Stevenson fans out there. So, please take in other reviews. Don’t just rely on me.
I can appreciate that he utilizes his “reliable narrator” voice to give us some relevant clues like…
“It’s a staple of mystery novels that, just before the murder happens, certain conversations are overheard in the deep of night. This is to be the case here.”
And… “This may be a surprise, but everyone survives the night.”
Oh goodie. We got a reprieve. We are 108 pages into a murder mystery with no murder. Those of us who are waiting for this murder we keep reading about…well, where is it?!
“And then he died.”
Well, there you have it. Page 111. Is that a spoiler? Shame on me, if so. But I don’t think so. The author has been leading us to this point all along from the beginning. A murder was eventually going to occur. But goodness, so anticlimactic? Or is that the author’s intention? And the joke is on readers?
Of course, we don’t know the perpetrator. Or the motive? Will our “reliable narrator” reveal that to us eventually, too? Or, will he take us down twisty, dark aisles on this train ride through relentless conversations with other eccentric and conceited mystery authors, too?
And, to add to readers “pleasure” will more authors die? And/or, will there be a surprise twist at the ending? I leave it to readers to decide if you want to take this train ride to find out!
This older Grisham novel, is not a legal thriller. This is a dying judge summoning his son, a law professor, to come home to Mississippi tCatching up…
This older Grisham novel, is not a legal thriller. This is a dying judge summoning his son, a law professor, to come home to Mississippi through a letter. And, this letter becomes an interesting legal document that starts many legal actions.
Especially when the judge’s will is signed without witnesses. And, because all the characters seem to be lawyers, this looks like there is going to be a lot of challenges. Because of course, the Mississippi courts have expectations to follow. And, when there is lots of money involved, selfish people have expectations, too.
And, then there is the son, Ray Atlee. Who also happens to discover A LOT of cash in his father’s study when he does arrive. But he also arrives too late, because his father is already dead.
So, where did this money come from? What was his father up to? Will this affect his father’s stellar reputation if people were to discover he had this money? What is he to do with this money? Hide it, of course!
And, that becomes its own adventure.
So, who was more interesting, the characters or the money?
This is a slow-paced, somewhat boring plot, with mostly bland, unlikable characters. I really wanted to like it more and hope for the best for Ray Atlee....more
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