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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Read for the 52 Book Club Challenge: Prompt #28 Includes A Funeral
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Love the premise, hate the execution.
The book opens with a family found dead of an apparent accidental carbon monoxide poisoning at a vacation rental in Mexico. The family is already notorious: their eldest son, Danny, was the focus of a true crime documentary about his (wrongful?) conviction for the murder of his high school girlfriend. The documentary points out that Danny's confession was coerced and the result of manipulative interrogation techniques by the police officers. Danny's father, Evan, never stopped fighting for his son's innocence, but came off as a bit of a raving fanatic in the documentary. Shortly before the Mexico trip, he lost his job at the large accounting firm that also happened to be part of an FBI investigation for their corrupt business dealings with Mexican cartels. Besides Danny (who was in prison), the only other family member that survived was Matt, who was in college in NYC and did not join his family on their Spring Break vacation.
Intriguing, right? Unfortunately, this is bogged down by too many perspectives (do we really need at least a half dozen POVs in a slim thriller?) and too much time jumping. The characters were also so thin you could see right through them. Matt in particular was painful. His main character trait is supposed to be his love of the cinema and how he relates everything to movies. But the only two times he actually relates anything to a movie is A Walk to Remember and the TV show Felicity. This is a college age boy in presumably 2019ish (given the publication date) and his references are schlocky romances aimed at teenage girls from when he was a baby/before he was even born?!? Not that heteronormative men cannot like romcoms or Nicholas Sparks. But these are not the kinds of media that cinephiles normally gravitate to - I don't remember them really advancing cinematography/directing/etc.
Matt's friends are even more problematic. They felt like token representation so blatant and poorly drawn that they made a 1980s cartoon look subtle. Matt's friends had absolutely no purpose to the story, no internal life, nothing. I didn't even try to keep them straight because it honestly did not matter. They could have all been removed from the storyline and nothing would have changed (just switch "racist small town yokels" for "angry at Matt's family for making them look bad on Netflix small town yokels" and nothing would have changed. If a character's only purpose is to make another unimportant character pick a fight, just cut that character). Supposedly, Matt's friends show up later in the story to support him. These same friends, who apparently had the time and access to money to make an impromptu trip, decided to let this grieving child go alone to identify his family's dead bodies in Mexico. I suppose it's sweet they show up later but...what the heck. Maybe don't wait until he's returned from Mexico to show your support.
Everyone is a stereotype in this book and everyone comes out looking bad. For instance, a cop in Mexico has this line that feels straight out of a bad novel set in the 1960s South:
"You want to sass me, boy?" The man pulled out a nightstick from a ring on his belt and smacked it on the table.
This man, who presumably learned English as a second language, somehow picked up "you want to sass me, boy?" FROM WHERE. What old movie did he learn that from? Does he just pull that out with all American tourists, or does he save that for the ones who will have the FBI up his ass so fast that his nightstick will fall out of his hand (because why does he even sass someone that the FBI is involved with)? Also, a nightstick? Do cops still even carry those?
Of course, this is the kind of ridiculous book where the FBI apparently spends its resources flying teenagers to visit their brother in jail in a helicopter. I thought maybe it was because the FBI agent wanted to observe the interaction between Danny and Matt. But no. They just did it to be nice, I guess. Our tax dollars at work.
I can handle silly dialogue and stupid plotpoints and characters that were written by committee if the book is at least bonkers fun. And with a Netflix true crime documentary as a subplot, I was hoping it would be fun. It was not fun.
I also guessed the resolution of the myster(ies) (who killed Danny's girlfriend back in the day because it obviously wasn't Danny, as well as who killed the family in Mexico). It was a complete and utter cliche of an ending, and I had been hoping it would have been something more clever.
The book opens with a family found dead of an apparent accidental carbon monoxide poisoning at a vacation rental in Mexico. The family is already notorious: their eldest son, Danny, was the focus of a true crime documentary about his (wrongful?) conviction for the murder of his high school girlfriend. The documentary points out that Danny's confession was coerced and the result of manipulative interrogation techniques by the police officers. Danny's father, Evan, never stopped fighting for his son's innocence, but came off as a bit of a raving fanatic in the documentary. Shortly before the Mexico trip, he lost his job at the large accounting firm that also happened to be part of an FBI investigation for their corrupt business dealings with Mexican cartels. Besides Danny (who was in prison), the only other family member that survived was Matt, who was in college in NYC and did not join his family on their Spring Break vacation.
Intriguing, right? Unfortunately, this is bogged down by too many perspectives (do we really need at least a half dozen POVs in a slim thriller?) and too much time jumping. The characters were also so thin you could see right through them. Matt in particular was painful. His main character trait is supposed to be his love of the cinema and how he relates everything to movies. But the only two times he actually relates anything to a movie is A Walk to Remember and the TV show Felicity. This is a college age boy in presumably 2019ish (given the publication date) and his references are schlocky romances aimed at teenage girls from when he was a baby/before he was even born?!? Not that heteronormative men cannot like romcoms or Nicholas Sparks. But these are not the kinds of media that cinephiles normally gravitate to - I don't remember them really advancing cinematography/directing/etc.
Matt's friends are even more problematic. They felt like token representation so blatant and poorly drawn that they made a 1980s cartoon look subtle. Matt's friends had absolutely no purpose to the story, no internal life, nothing. I didn't even try to keep them straight because it honestly did not matter. They could have all been removed from the storyline and nothing would have changed (just switch "racist small town yokels" for "angry at Matt's family for making them look bad on Netflix small town yokels" and nothing would have changed. If a character's only purpose is to make another unimportant character pick a fight, just cut that character). Supposedly, Matt's friends show up later in the story to support him. These same friends, who apparently had the time and access to money to make an impromptu trip, decided to let this grieving child go alone to identify his family's dead bodies in Mexico. I suppose it's sweet they show up later but...what the heck. Maybe don't wait until he's returned from Mexico to show your support.
Everyone is a stereotype in this book and everyone comes out looking bad. For instance, a cop in Mexico has this line that feels straight out of a bad novel set in the 1960s South:
"You want to sass me, boy?" The man pulled out a nightstick from a ring on his belt and smacked it on the table.
This man, who presumably learned English as a second language, somehow picked up "you want to sass me, boy?" FROM WHERE. What old movie did he learn that from? Does he just pull that out with all American tourists, or does he save that for the ones who will have the FBI up his ass so fast that his nightstick will fall out of his hand (because why does he even sass someone that the FBI is involved with)? Also, a nightstick? Do cops still even carry those?
Of course, this is the kind of ridiculous book where the FBI apparently spends its resources flying teenagers to visit their brother in jail in a helicopter. I thought maybe it was because the FBI agent wanted to observe the interaction between Danny and Matt. But no. They just did it to be nice, I guess. Our tax dollars at work.
I can handle silly dialogue and stupid plotpoints and characters that were written by committee if the book is at least bonkers fun. And with a Netflix true crime documentary as a subplot, I was hoping it would be fun. It was not fun.
I also guessed the resolution of the myster(ies) (who killed Danny's girlfriend back in the day because it obviously wasn't Danny, as well as who killed the family in Mexico). It was a complete and utter cliche of an ending, and I had been hoping it would have been something more clever.
Spoiler
The mother had been having an affair with her ex-boyfriend, now a Senator (her youngest child was actually the Senator's secret baby). The Senator had ALSO been sleeping with Danny's girlfriend and gotten her pregnant (big yikes, but also of course the seemingly nice and supportive senator knocks up high school girls and then kills them). The girl confronted the Senator's son about being pregnant with his half-sibling and the girl ended up hitting her head. The son calls his dad, who comes and gives the killing blow to make the girl's death look like that of a local serial killer. Unfortunately, the murder gets pinned on Danny instead. When Danny's dad gets too close to the truth, the Senator hires a hitman who ends up killing the entire family. As soon as they mentioned "overly helpful and friendly clean cut Senator" I figured he or his son was involved. It was too obvious.
The story goes fast and I liked some the references used. However ending reveals felt really weak and easily guessed. MC himself doesn't actually do anything in the entire book, anything important that is. Considering how many POVs are used, lack of Danny's seems like a big oversight. Matt's group of friends and the constant "Island of Misfit Toys" assertion was cringeworthy. I like Ganesh though, he is only fleshed out character out of them. Also there was a drug cartel involment insinuation that just disappears midbook.
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated