Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
3.5 Engaging but to many wtf moments. Plot driven. Enjoyed listening to it, though.
Two stars because oh my god, these idiots, but four stars for being an entertaining fast read. So, averaged out.
I finally finished, now I can get back to my life. :) I listened to the Audible version read by the author and it was a treat! She is an exquisite story-teller! What a phenomenal debut novel by Catherine Steadman! So much praise for such talent! The characters, the dialogues, the insights and observations about life and choices, the imagination for the plot, and the humor. Erin Locke (or Mrs. Roberts after her marriage) is a funny and believable character. As well as naive, stupid - which she funnily admits to us often -, brave - a true risk-taker for better or worse - and genuinely in love with her Mark.
(Be forewarned, there may be some spoilers in my review):
You know the plot if you've read anything about the book: Erin is doing a documentary about 3 convicted criminals: Alexa, Eddie Bishop (my favorite), and Holly. Mark has lost his job as an investment banker. The couple decide to have a minimal wedding and then go off to Bora Bora for their honeymoon. Then they find something in the water. Thunk Thunk Thunk against the boat. That is the moment I couldn't put this book down. The papers in the ocean. The plane crash. The bag. And so the adventure begins as a young married couple comes into possession of some very big ill-gotten goods, and has to make some very tough choices. I read a lot of reviews about the pace being slow, but I didn't feel that at all. I felt it was thorough and complete. She made you wait for it just enough. There were some things that didn't quite add up. Why would Mark do what he did? I know he sounded mysterious at times, but it just wasn't believable enough for me to make sense of it. It wasn't. Was he a bad person to begin with? Was it the lure of money that changed his character? Can that happen to any ordinary person? Can you really get away with something like this? Maybe that's the whole point. To put people in extraordinary circumstances and imagine which way they'd go. But I'll buy it. It was good. Really, really good. And the chuckles even in the most tense moments were very well-placed. Steadman is such talent, and I hope she continues to write fiction. One of those books you can only read (or listen to) once, so what are you waiting for? Go grab the Audible version, and enjoy!
3 days later, I'm still thinking about this book and a few loose ends are bothering me (SPOILER ALERT FOR WHAT FOLLOWS):
- So are we to believe that the bad guy was okay without the plane coordinates, and left the 2 M euros in Erin's account just to be nice? That was, as he said, part of the deal.
- Why didn't they want the diamonds and the money back?
- Why didn't we find out what is on the USB?
- Is Erin turning into a soft criminal of sorts, perhaps a right-hand woman to Eddie Bishop?
Hmmm, I wonder if she's saving it all for a sequel, but I want answers!!!!
(Be forewarned, there may be some spoilers in my review):
You know the plot if you've read anything about the book: Erin is doing a documentary about 3 convicted criminals: Alexa, Eddie Bishop (my favorite), and Holly. Mark has lost his job as an investment banker. The couple decide to have a minimal wedding and then go off to Bora Bora for their honeymoon. Then they find something in the water. Thunk Thunk Thunk against the boat. That is the moment I couldn't put this book down. The papers in the ocean. The plane crash. The bag. And so the adventure begins as a young married couple comes into possession of some very big ill-gotten goods, and has to make some very tough choices. I read a lot of reviews about the pace being slow, but I didn't feel that at all. I felt it was thorough and complete. She made you wait for it just enough. There were some things that didn't quite add up. Why would Mark do what he did? I know he sounded mysterious at times, but it just wasn't believable enough for me to make sense of it. It wasn't. Was he a bad person to begin with? Was it the lure of money that changed his character? Can that happen to any ordinary person? Can you really get away with something like this? Maybe that's the whole point. To put people in extraordinary circumstances and imagine which way they'd go. But I'll buy it. It was good. Really, really good. And the chuckles even in the most tense moments were very well-placed. Steadman is such talent, and I hope she continues to write fiction. One of those books you can only read (or listen to) once, so what are you waiting for? Go grab the Audible version, and enjoy!
3 days later, I'm still thinking about this book and a few loose ends are bothering me (SPOILER ALERT FOR WHAT FOLLOWS):
- So are we to believe that the bad guy was okay without the plane coordinates, and left the 2 M euros in Erin's account just to be nice? That was, as he said, part of the deal.
- Why didn't they want the diamonds and the money back?
- Why didn't we find out what is on the USB?
- Is Erin turning into a soft criminal of sorts, perhaps a right-hand woman to Eddie Bishop?
Hmmm, I wonder if she's saving it all for a sequel, but I want answers!!!!
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really enjoyed the audio book and strongly recommen it. The author read it really well.
I received an advanced reading copy of this book.
Starts with a slow burn but once that fire starts, it was hard to put out. It begins with our main character Erin digging a grave. We then go back 3 months to follow the story of how this documentary maker was suddenly in the process of burying someone.
I find it interesting that the woman who documents people on their release from prison has such an easy time going from being a straight forward honest person to someone who covers up a crime and finds it so easy to play a new role in her new world after finding a large sum of cash. The terror that her husband and she feels is real - the threat that the money's owners will find them a constant in their life. You are left wondering if that next phone call, or knock on the door will be the one where you get discovered.
Catherine Steadman has done a good job with her first foray into the world of thriller fiction. It is a book that will keep you in it's grip until the end, providing you can push through the first month of the book. It will be a great one for fans of The Confession and Girl on the Train.
Starts with a slow burn but once that fire starts, it was hard to put out. It begins with our main character Erin digging a grave. We then go back 3 months to follow the story of how this documentary maker was suddenly in the process of burying someone.
I find it interesting that the woman who documents people on their release from prison has such an easy time going from being a straight forward honest person to someone who covers up a crime and finds it so easy to play a new role in her new world after finding a large sum of cash. The terror that her husband and she feels is real - the threat that the money's owners will find them a constant in their life. You are left wondering if that next phone call, or knock on the door will be the one where you get discovered.
Catherine Steadman has done a good job with her first foray into the world of thriller fiction. It is a book that will keep you in it's grip until the end, providing you can push through the first month of the book. It will be a great one for fans of The Confession and Girl on the Train.
If you're looking for a fun summer read, look no further! I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I found it through Reese Witherspoon's book club, and even though it's not the sort of book I usually read, this summer I was in the mood for something a little bit suspenseful but not too scary or violent. This seemed like it might be juuuuust right. And it was! In fact it exceeded my expectations, and I wound up losing some hours of sleep due to not being able to put it down.
This is the debut novel from Catherine Steadman - another reason my expectations were somewhat low - I figured a first novel would need me to cut it some slack. But I was pleasantly surprised. The story is told from the perspective of Erin, a young documentary filmmaker, about to embark on married life with her husband Mark and on a new creative project - a film about three recently released prisoners. Tension is in the air from the beginning, partly because the first chapter lets us all know that somehow this story goes horribly wrong in the end. All we have to do is sit back and watch the unfortunate events unfold.
On their honeymoon in Bora Bora Erin and Mark find something in the water, and this discovery sets off a chain of events that spirals further and further out of control as the story goes on. I sense that there are some plot holes, though I don't want to spend this review dissecting things and giving spoilers. Just know that there are some loose ends that don't get tied up, some things that happen that don't quite make sense, and some questions left unanswered that you'll probably be really wanting to know the answers to. But while some of these loose ends and unanswered questions are frustrating, they're also part of the novel's appeal.
As we watch the events spiral we see the main characters (especially Erin, in her narrator role) behave in ways that are increasingly reckless and unwise. We see husband and wife pull apart from each other as trust between them deteriorates, and we see Erin instead put her trust in questionable characters. This is one of those books where you'll be wanting to jump into the story and stop the characters from doing what they are doing. "Why?! Why??!!" I found myself shouting (sometimes out loud) at my book, like a complete whacko. But that is part of the fun. As a reader you can watch this calamity from a safe distance and be thankful you aren't having to make these choices.
Not only is it fun, but the story did truly inspire me to think about how access to money and power can cause otherwise normal and good people to behave in unthinkable ways. At the heart of the book it seems is the question of whether people are inherently good or bad or whether circumstances make them so. It's an old question, but it doesn't feel tired in the telling of the story. We don't really get an answer in the end, which is frustrating but perhaps more realistic than if we did. There is possibly a hint of an answer when we finally learn how the events of the opening chapter transpired, but I actually preferred to ignore that hint of answer. To me the story is more compelling when we are simply left to conclude for ourselves.
All in all, if you are looking for a relatively light, moderately suspenseful summer thriller, told from a woman's point of view, this is it!
This is the debut novel from Catherine Steadman - another reason my expectations were somewhat low - I figured a first novel would need me to cut it some slack. But I was pleasantly surprised. The story is told from the perspective of Erin, a young documentary filmmaker, about to embark on married life with her husband Mark and on a new creative project - a film about three recently released prisoners. Tension is in the air from the beginning, partly because the first chapter lets us all know that somehow this story goes horribly wrong in the end. All we have to do is sit back and watch the unfortunate events unfold.
On their honeymoon in Bora Bora Erin and Mark find something in the water, and this discovery sets off a chain of events that spirals further and further out of control as the story goes on. I sense that there are some plot holes, though I don't want to spend this review dissecting things and giving spoilers. Just know that there are some loose ends that don't get tied up, some things that happen that don't quite make sense, and some questions left unanswered that you'll probably be really wanting to know the answers to. But while some of these loose ends and unanswered questions are frustrating, they're also part of the novel's appeal.
As we watch the events spiral we see the main characters (especially Erin, in her narrator role) behave in ways that are increasingly reckless and unwise. We see husband and wife pull apart from each other as trust between them deteriorates, and we see Erin instead put her trust in questionable characters. This is one of those books where you'll be wanting to jump into the story and stop the characters from doing what they are doing. "Why?! Why??!!" I found myself shouting (sometimes out loud) at my book, like a complete whacko. But that is part of the fun. As a reader you can watch this calamity from a safe distance and be thankful you aren't having to make these choices.
Not only is it fun, but the story did truly inspire me to think about how access to money and power can cause otherwise normal and good people to behave in unthinkable ways. At the heart of the book it seems is the question of whether people are inherently good or bad or whether circumstances make them so. It's an old question, but it doesn't feel tired in the telling of the story. We don't really get an answer in the end, which is frustrating but perhaps more realistic than if we did. There is possibly a hint of an answer when we finally learn how the events of the opening chapter transpired, but I actually preferred to ignore that hint of answer. To me the story is more compelling when we are simply left to conclude for ourselves.
All in all, if you are looking for a relatively light, moderately suspenseful summer thriller, told from a woman's point of view, this is it!
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes