Blurb from Amazon:
A father’s secret... a mother’s lie... a family mystery. An unexpected phone call – and Nina’s life takes a disturbing twist. Who is John Moore? And how does he know her name? Nina travels south to see the house she inherited, but sinister letters arrive and she finds herself in the middle of a police investigation. With her identity called into question, Nina uncovers a shocking crime. But what, exactly, happened in the attic room, all those years ago? The answer could lie close to home. The arrival of her ten-year-old daughter compounds Nina’s problems, but her tormentor strikes before she can react. Searching for the truth about the Moore family puts both Nina and her child into grave danger.
This book by Linda Huber should have been right down my alley and I believe that the Amazon blurb did a decent job at creating interest. But, alas, it did not live up to my expectations and I was quite disappointed that this read was another failure in my quest to find a great psychological thriller.
Maybe I should have been wary of any book that has "A psychological thriller" or "An edge of your seat serial killer thriller" appended to their title. I am not too sure why authors (or publishers) feel the need to do this but, in my experience, it usually means too much hype and little substance.
The family mystery in itself was quite interesting, and the disturbing twist and shocking crime advertised above were OK, if nothing else. What really let the book down in my opinion is the sloppy romance. Two days after meeting her father's solicitor, the main character (Nina) is already musing about her strong feelings for the guy, thinking that he might be "The One" and wondering whether she should maintain a professional relationship with him or let her heart sing?
I do not know if this is what women want (I am a woman by the way) but, honestly, who falls in love with someone after seeing them for a couple of hours while they are supposed to be grieving for a family member? The rest of the book was peppered with should-I-make-the-first-step, but-he-is-my-fathers-solicitor-i-cannot, etc. type of thoughts which totally ruined the real story here.
The Bibliovore's verdict ⋆⋆
This could have been a good psychological thriller as opposed to a pseudo love story had the narrative been less focused on unbelievable characters and their even-less-believable feelings for each other. Then again, it might just be me as this book seems to garner lots of positive reviews on Amazon.
This book by Linda Huber should have been right down my alley and I believe that the Amazon blurb did a decent job at creating interest. But, alas, it did not live up to my expectations and I was quite disappointed that this read was another failure in my quest to find a great psychological thriller.
Maybe I should have been wary of any book that has "A psychological thriller" or "An edge of your seat serial killer thriller" appended to their title. I am not too sure why authors (or publishers) feel the need to do this but, in my experience, it usually means too much hype and little substance.
The family mystery in itself was quite interesting, and the disturbing twist and shocking crime advertised above were OK, if nothing else. What really let the book down in my opinion is the sloppy romance. Two days after meeting her father's solicitor, the main character (Nina) is already musing about her strong feelings for the guy, thinking that he might be "The One" and wondering whether she should maintain a professional relationship with him or let her heart sing?
I do not know if this is what women want (I am a woman by the way) but, honestly, who falls in love with someone after seeing them for a couple of hours while they are supposed to be grieving for a family member? The rest of the book was peppered with should-I-make-the-first-step, but-he-is-my-fathers-solicitor-i-cannot, etc. type of thoughts which totally ruined the real story here.
The Bibliovore's verdict ⋆⋆
This could have been a good psychological thriller as opposed to a pseudo love story had the narrative been less focused on unbelievable characters and their even-less-believable feelings for each other. Then again, it might just be me as this book seems to garner lots of positive reviews on Amazon.
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