Goodreads Description
A baby is missing! That's the crux of this fast-paced mystery. Unfortunately, the only reason I finished this story was that the plot was compelling enough that I had to know the outcome. It was riddled with problems. The writing seemed blunt, oddly choppy, and mostly obvious. There were many repetitive sentences in close proximity to each other (same paragraph, page, or chapter). The detective is repeatedly told "you need to do your job" in one scene, with a recurring answer of "I'm doing everything in my power". Ughh. At one point, the father of the missing girl actually says "We need to focus on getting Cora back." YES! EXCELLENT POINT!
The last truly annoying repetitious bit was the "constantly baffled" suspected parents routine. When questioned by police, the response was usually "We don't see what this has to do with anything." Obviously there is shock and sadness at a disappearance, and people often speak without thinking, but the dialogue seemed incredibly unrealistic-especially the scenes where the husband and wife are frustrated with each other. It's like the feelings (of hate or love) were absent.
Once past the writing, I was disappointed with the treatment of postpartum depression, and women in general. I'm embarrassed to say this often doesn't bother me unless it's blatantly obvious. I've been blessed with wonderful men in my life and don't have specific triggers. The husband is always shamefully bringing it up in conversation, almost as an excuse for any poor behavior. The characters weren't developed enough to feel like real people, as their descriptions were surface level (appearance, job) and vague. There is a lot more I could say about the outlandish twists and resolution, but that would obviously venture into spoiler territory. I'm truly not sure I'd recommend this to anyone. The suspense genre is full of great titles, and sadly, this missed the mark for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment