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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
I received a review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Kara was the only survivor of her blended family's massacre when she was 7 years old, twenty years ago. Kara's big sister, Marlie, was not among the dead and has never been located. Her brother, Jonas, who was tried and convicted of the crimes, is being released on a technicality.
The press, due to Jonas' release and the 20th anniversary, has returned with a vengeance. Kara begins receiving cryptic text messages. People Kara knows are being murdered. Kara, not mentally stable since the murders, begins to completely disintegrate. Is she imagining things or is what she sees real? Who can she trust? Where can she turn for help?
With a host of characters who had motivation to murder Kara's family - is Jonas truly the killer or was he framed - the plot line twists and turns. Plot line captured my interest from the first chapter and kept me entertained throughout. For the first time in a long time, I was tempted to turn to the back pages to discover "who did it." Truly enjoyable book.
Kara was the only survivor of her blended family's massacre when she was 7 years old, twenty years ago. Kara's big sister, Marlie, was not among the dead and has never been located. Her brother, Jonas, who was tried and convicted of the crimes, is being released on a technicality.
The press, due to Jonas' release and the 20th anniversary, has returned with a vengeance. Kara begins receiving cryptic text messages. People Kara knows are being murdered. Kara, not mentally stable since the murders, begins to completely disintegrate. Is she imagining things or is what she sees real? Who can she trust? Where can she turn for help?
With a host of characters who had motivation to murder Kara's family - is Jonas truly the killer or was he framed - the plot line twists and turns. Plot line captured my interest from the first chapter and kept me entertained throughout. For the first time in a long time, I was tempted to turn to the back pages to discover "who did it." Truly enjoyable book.
Starts great, but then she fills it with repetition of details, instead of a good story. Also foul language is over done.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
This was a great twisty mystery thriller - just when I thought I’d figured out whodunit, Lisa Jackson gave me something else to think about as I followed this story of a woman traumatized from the grisly murder of her family when she was 7 - at Christmas. Jackson does a great job of Fl developing all the characters, even those who don’t have a long feature in the book. The plot and people came alive for me.
The reason I gave this 3 stars is not for lack of story quality - it’s the copy quality. There was one instance when one character was describing the accident (I don’t say more so no spoilers!) and the other character responds with “Three?” I did not understand what that meant and then I realized, info in the paragraph after that should have been included in the dialogue above the “three?” There were other punctuation errors (on one of the last pages, the author forgot to close a quote, and repeated the quote in the next paragraph…seems like quality control/editing issue.
In general, I had no idea what day it was. I thought everyday was Christmas or Christmas Eve and then someone referred to it as the coming weekend and … I was so lost on when in the timeline I was for this story.
I also found somethings questionable. Like the protest. Again don’t want to give too much away but this is connected to my misunderstanding of timing…how did all those people so quickly get there with signs and everything? I could have sworn one of the characters identified that day as Christmas, that they parked in a church lot and it was empty…I just find it hard to stay in the story when I see inconsistencies like this that pull me out.
That all said - again, it was a great story!
The reason I gave this 3 stars is not for lack of story quality - it’s the copy quality. There was one instance when one character was describing the accident (I don’t say more so no spoilers!) and the other character responds with “Three?” I did not understand what that meant and then I realized, info in the paragraph after that should have been included in the dialogue above the “three?” There were other punctuation errors (on one of the last pages, the author forgot to close a quote, and repeated the quote in the next paragraph…seems like quality control/editing issue.
In general, I had no idea what day it was. I thought everyday was Christmas or Christmas Eve and then someone referred to it as the coming weekend and … I was so lost on when in the timeline I was for this story.
I also found somethings questionable. Like the protest. Again don’t want to give too much away but this is connected to my misunderstanding of timing…how did all those people so quickly get there with signs and everything? I could have sworn one of the characters identified that day as Christmas, that they parked in a church lot and it was empty…I just find it hard to stay in the story when I see inconsistencies like this that pull me out.
That all said - again, it was a great story!
I hate-read this book and I wish I’d put it down when my instincts told me to (first 7 pages) but I kept going because the premise was interesting. There were too many typos/grammar errors, too many plot holes, and too many gory flashbacks for literally no reason. The ending was disappointing as heck and I regret wasting time finishing this book.
I usually enjoy reading books by Lisa Jackson but this one was terrible. I didn’t care for any of the characters and they all kept dwelling on the same issues over and over throughout the book. I was getting so frustrated with it I skimmed through a bunch of it to get to the end and find out what happened. I should have just stopped reading halfway.
This was a Goodreads Giveaway. It was fast paced and an exciting concept, although a little gory and could be triggering. However, the end was too wild for me. More like a horror film instead of a mystery thriller. And then after all the trauma, the last few pages were like nothing happened which was weird. I don't think I have read her books before and probably wouldn't read another until I get through my current TBR. I didn't hate it.
Check out my other reviews at jillandjackets.com
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Check out my other reviews at jillandjackets.com
TikTok: @jillandjackets
Instagram: @jillandjackets
It felt everything happed in the first and last 20 pages and more needed to happen in the interim.
I felt this book was relatively slower pace. Once it picked upper towards the end I felt like things were being thrown at you. It was difficult as an audiobook to follow at some points. I felt it could’ve definitely been a shortened story.
I’ve read a lot of books that just didn’t pull me in the way this one did. There were parts that were a bit iffy, but overall very catching and suspenseful.
I’ll never think of the song “Silent Night” the same again. It’s eerie usage in this gave me chills.
I’ll never think of the song “Silent Night” the same again. It’s eerie usage in this gave me chills.