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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
3.5 stars. I figured it out about 2/3 in but still nice and twisty!
fast-paced
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a tension-packed gripper of a story that follows college student Matt Pine who returns to his dorm room after a night of partying only to be greeted by the Agent Sarah Keller of the FBI. She informs him that his family — his mother Olivia, his father, Evan, his sister, seventeen-year-old Maggie, and his little six-year-old brother Tommy, who were supposedly vacationing in Tulum, Mexico, were all found dead in their hotel room. It was initially believed that they were killed by a gas leak.
Now, this isn't the first time the Pine family has been in the headlines. Matt's older brother Danny is serving a life sentence in prison for having murdered his girlfriend Charlotte after a high school party. The crime became well known after it was featured in a viral Netflix documentary entitled "A Violent Nature." Via taped footage of the police interview, it was pretty darn evident that Danny was coerced into a confession, and there really wasn't any evidence pointing to his guilt. Regardless, he was convicted of murder.
Most people believe he's innocent and have rallied behind Danny, and the Pine family has never given up trying to exonerate him, pretty much bankrupting the family in the process. Matt, however, isn't so sure about Danny's innocence and his harboring a secret about that night that he's never told anyone.
Soon the FBI believes that his family's deaths were no accident but they were murdered — and Matt may be next on the list. Now, Matt has to figure out what happened to his family and do so without getting killed in the process. So in this way, we have kind of a cat and mouse scenario.
Adding to the intrigue, we subsequently learn as the story unfolds that Matt's family was in Mexico following a lead surrounding Danny's case. So was the family's murder connected to Charlotte's? Or were they killed for an entirely different reason?
The story then hurtles along at breakneck speed, never giving you the opportunity to catch your breath, with the suspense pretty much unrelenting, almost to the very end.
But it was the extremely well-developed characters that truly made this an addictive read.
Now what's interesting about this book is that it's told from several different points of view. We get Matt and Agent Keller's side of things in the present time. But the story is also told from the point of view of Maggie, Evan, and Olivia, the murdered family members.
Their sections were all titled "Before”…before their death…. and recounted events leading up to and including their stay in Mexico. These were especially heart-wrenching to read, knowing the fate that awaits them.
But they really lent especially intriguing elements to the narrative, and I enjoyed getting to know each of them. Each of their narratives was also essential to the plotline and were key in telling the story, even though it broke my heart to fall in love with them.
There are not many thrillers that I give five stars to, but this one is especially deserving, I thought.
Now, this isn't the first time the Pine family has been in the headlines. Matt's older brother Danny is serving a life sentence in prison for having murdered his girlfriend Charlotte after a high school party. The crime became well known after it was featured in a viral Netflix documentary entitled "A Violent Nature." Via taped footage of the police interview, it was pretty darn evident that Danny was coerced into a confession, and there really wasn't any evidence pointing to his guilt. Regardless, he was convicted of murder.
Most people believe he's innocent and have rallied behind Danny, and the Pine family has never given up trying to exonerate him, pretty much bankrupting the family in the process. Matt, however, isn't so sure about Danny's innocence and his harboring a secret about that night that he's never told anyone.
Soon the FBI believes that his family's deaths were no accident but they were murdered — and Matt may be next on the list. Now, Matt has to figure out what happened to his family and do so without getting killed in the process. So in this way, we have kind of a cat and mouse scenario.
Adding to the intrigue, we subsequently learn as the story unfolds that Matt's family was in Mexico following a lead surrounding Danny's case. So was the family's murder connected to Charlotte's? Or were they killed for an entirely different reason?
The story then hurtles along at breakneck speed, never giving you the opportunity to catch your breath, with the suspense pretty much unrelenting, almost to the very end.
But it was the extremely well-developed characters that truly made this an addictive read.
Now what's interesting about this book is that it's told from several different points of view. We get Matt and Agent Keller's side of things in the present time. But the story is also told from the point of view of Maggie, Evan, and Olivia, the murdered family members.
Their sections were all titled "Before”…before their death…. and recounted events leading up to and including their stay in Mexico. These were especially heart-wrenching to read, knowing the fate that awaits them.
But they really lent especially intriguing elements to the narrative, and I enjoyed getting to know each of them. Each of their narratives was also essential to the plotline and were key in telling the story, even though it broke my heart to fall in love with them.
There are not many thrillers that I give five stars to, but this one is especially deserving, I thought.
dark
mysterious
sad
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The jumping timelines and points of view were constructed very well as clues trickled out and suspense built. As a suspenseful mystery this was very successful and compelling.
Some of the writing was poor. One example: Maggie’s friend drops “like” in every sentence and says “literally” when she means “figuratively”. Following this monologue, the author feels compelled to write, “Maggie’s friend overused ‘like’ and misused ‘literally’.” That was,like, literally unnecessary.
More problematic was Matt’s internal monologue describing his unhoused chess partner as being clean, educated and intelligent, you know, not like most homeless people.
The author also stereotypes the Mexican police and citizens, as well as Matt’s friends of different ethnicities. My 4 stars are based on the story alone.
Read the 1 star reviews for further insight on the racism - you may want to skip this one if that is a trigger for you.
Some of the writing was poor. One example: Maggie’s friend drops “like” in every sentence and says “literally” when she means “figuratively”. Following this monologue, the author feels compelled to write, “Maggie’s friend overused ‘like’ and misused ‘literally’.” That was,like, literally unnecessary.
More problematic was Matt’s internal monologue describing his unhoused chess partner as being clean, educated and intelligent, you know, not like most homeless people.
The author also stereotypes the Mexican police and citizens, as well as Matt’s friends of different ethnicities. My 4 stars are based on the story alone.
Read the 1 star reviews for further insight on the racism - you may want to skip this one if that is a trigger for you.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Quick read. Excellent mystery. Great ending.