Scan barcode
novelesque_life's review against another edition
3.0
3 STARS
"Joanne Hunter's secure suburban world is falling apart. Her husband's desertion after twenty years of marriage leaves her stunned. Eve, her best friend, is strangely distant. Her grandfather, who has been a pillar of strength and support, lies ill and helpless in a nursing home. Lana and Robin, her teenage daughters, claim every ounce of her energy and devotion and all the love she feels she has lost. Only one person seems to care -- a stranger with a rasping voice, a tormentor with a vicious mind. Danger and despair close in with each ring of the telephone. Each deadly message lures her inexorably towards the deep end…" (From Amazon)
Fielding is great at suspense...a female version of Harlan Coben with female heroines trying to get through bad situations in every day life.
"Joanne Hunter's secure suburban world is falling apart. Her husband's desertion after twenty years of marriage leaves her stunned. Eve, her best friend, is strangely distant. Her grandfather, who has been a pillar of strength and support, lies ill and helpless in a nursing home. Lana and Robin, her teenage daughters, claim every ounce of her energy and devotion and all the love she feels she has lost. Only one person seems to care -- a stranger with a rasping voice, a tormentor with a vicious mind. Danger and despair close in with each ring of the telephone. Each deadly message lures her inexorably towards the deep end…" (From Amazon)
Fielding is great at suspense...a female version of Harlan Coben with female heroines trying to get through bad situations in every day life.
housedesignerking's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
** Contains Spoilers **
Joanne Hunter has been married to her husband Paul for over 20 years. They have two daughters, Robin and Lana; Lana goes by Lulu. Joanne's best friend Eve lives next door with her husband, Brian. Eve recently had a miscarriage and believes her body is falling apart or that she has something wrong because she is always in pain. There's also Eve's mom who is trying her best but ultimately keeps annoying her daughter. Before the pain becomes too bad for her to take, she joins Joanne for tennis lessons with a man 20 years their junior who they both admit is rather attractive. Her grandfather is in a nursing home, sharing a room with another elderly man, and her grandfather thinks she is actually her mother, his daughter, Linda. When Paul decides they should separate, their daughters initially blame her for it. She already has something of a strained relationship with Robin, the eldest, so this doesn't help. On top of the things going on around her, shortly after her husband moves out, she starts getting strange phone calls from a voice that sounds androgynous and eventually turns threatening.
Honestly, I loved the first book of hers that I've read, called "See Jane Run," which was released in 1991. It was very much an edge-of-your-seat thriller and I'm waiting for my fiancé to read it so we can watch the made-for-TV adaptation. This one... did not leave me on the edge of my seat and I took a bit longer to read this one than the other one. Most of this book is not about the mysterious/threatening phone calls; most of this is actually about the stuff going on in her life and particularly Eve's life. I think Paul was a complete tool and a total jerk. Brian was no better when he decided to assault Eve. Honestly, if Brian is telling the truth and he and Eve are just married, but not romantically, they should really either seek out a therapist or -- I shudder to suggest -- divorce since he physically assaulted her. The other characters are frankly too small to really mention.
Fielding did a good job making you question who the seemingly androgynous caller could be in this one, but in reflecting on the other book of hers that I mentioned, I feel like she may have gotten better with her writing <i>after</i> this book was published in 1986. I feel like focusing so much on the other stuff in her life was a bit distracting and prevented me from being on the edge of my seat. The scene with the face-off with the caller should've been longer.. I also wish we would've found out definitively if Paul cheated on her with Judy.
*shrugs* It was still a good read, but not as good as "See Jane Run." 3 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting
Moderate: Stalking
Minor: Infidelity
khowlett93's review against another edition
2.0
Not my favourite by Joy. I was left feeling disappointed at the end- and I found the climax of the novel rushed. The buildup, that took the entire novel expect the last 20 pages, was drawn out, a little confusing at times and just didn’t seem to flow well.
bookaddicted's review against another edition
3.0
This was a great story up until the last couple chapters. It was one of those books that just ended "suddenly" when it could have been so much more climactic (and really should have been based on the rest of the book).
bookishyvonne's review against another edition
1.0
"Zwanzig Jahre hat Joanne sich nur der Familie gewidmet. Und jetzt läßt ihr Mann sie einfach mit den Töchtern sitzen. Nur langsam erholt sie sich von ihrem Schock und versucht, ihr Leben wieder in den Griff zu bekommen. Aber als sie endlich glaubt, ihr Gleichgewicht zurückerlangt zu haben, erhält sie plötzlich mysteriöse Anrufe."
Fielding kann zwar toll schreiben, die Geschichte konnte sie dadurch trotzdem nicht retten. Es fing ziemlich spannend an, aber das Ende war für mich extrem frustrierend. Auf den Täter ist Fielding gar nicht eingegangen, sodass die Leser nichts über sein Motiv erfahren. Die beste Freundin wird psychisch immer kränker, aber auch das wird am Ende nicht mehr erwähnt...
Fielding kann zwar toll schreiben, die Geschichte konnte sie dadurch trotzdem nicht retten. Es fing ziemlich spannend an, aber das Ende war für mich extrem frustrierend. Auf den Täter ist Fielding gar nicht eingegangen, sodass die Leser nichts über sein Motiv erfahren. Die beste Freundin wird psychisch immer kränker, aber auch das wird am Ende nicht mehr erwähnt...
More...