Enjoyable character-driven mystery.
Alice Lake finds an amnesiac man she decides to call "Frank" sitting on a beach near her house. Miles away, a newlywed's husband vanishes on his way home from work. Police reveal to the new wife that his passport is fake and the man she knows as Carol doesn't exist.
Weaving present day mystery with a decades old seaside vacation that ended in tragedy, this novel slowly reveals the dark and unsettling connection that binds these disparate lives and answers the questions about their identities and the past.
The atmosphere is enticing and the seaside setting with the multi timeline structure at first is a bit confusing, but it pulls in the reader. The build up and minute revelations make the book seem very slow moving and I put it down and didn't rush to pick it up again. The resolution, with all the coincidences, felt a bit too neat and almost a let down after all the information is finally exposed and the truth disclosed. I know we're meant to like the characters, especially Alice, but I'm just trying to imagine bringing a strange man who doesn't know who he is inside my home with my kids. There was nothing twisty or surprising about the conclusions so I can't really call this a thriller. I like the author, but this one just fell a bit short for me.
I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. Yes, I'm late getting around to this one! I wasn't impressed with the narrator, Helen Duff. I wish a male voice had been utilized as well to give a more immersive experience. When the audio had to go back to the library unfinished, I just continued to the end of the book without it and no regrets.
This is a standalone and not part of any series.
Genre and tags: mystery, romance, amnesia, psychopath, murder, fake identity, missing persons
No comments:
Post a Comment