You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A product of its time, this book is rampant with misogyny, antisemitism and homophobia. I could ignore that if the mystery aspect was good but the ending really fell flat, the stalker ended up being the least interesting option of all the characters. Mary is wildly unlikeable (even for a lawyer) and the story was bogged down with details that didn't go anywhere and everything just felt all over the place. The part at the convent was WAY too long and felt pointless. I also think it was WILD that she claims to have fallen in love with Ned so quickly. I'm debating continuing because I like her later books but I'm undecided as of now.
Literally any other person would have been a better stalker, I was hoping it would beJudy but I think it's too aspirational to have a secret lesbian love story in 1993. I didn't think it was Ned because the boyfriend is typically too obvious but it would have been a good twist after everything. I also thought it could be Berkowitz because he said "Mary had a little lamb" as like a nod to the reference of the book but it wasn't him either. I don't feel like there was a single clue to who the stalker actually was.
Literally any other person would have been a better stalker, I was hoping it would be
I hate stories that leave me wondering what's going on only to find out and say to myself "really?" Just a let down when everything surfaced
Audiobook- this book didn't pull me in like other Scottoline books I've read. It was just not holding my attention.
Why is it so hard to find a decent classic crime/thriller that won't offend my intelligence?
I rolled my eyes so much at this hot mess, an exorcist was called.
The heroine is too stupid to live. Her actions were mostly nonsensical and they were at least five pointless and abandoned plot strands.
The villain when revealed was too ridiculous and out of nowhere that the ending was completely unsatisfactory.
I can't discuss the stupidity of this book without revealing the whole plot so just trust me.
(For example there was an event that happened years before the events in the book and the circumstances of it were never questioned until the main character starts questioning in the middle of the book for absolutely no reason, but all of a sudden she is 100% sure that thing was no accident.)
ugh. Just kill it with fire.
(Not to mention the audiobook narrator who sounded angry throughout the whole novel - though, maybe I'd be too if I had to read it out loud - and had a seriously unpleasant voice and manner of speaking)
I rolled my eyes so much at this hot mess, an exorcist was called.
The heroine is too stupid to live. Her actions were mostly nonsensical and they were at least five pointless and abandoned plot strands.
The villain when revealed was too ridiculous and out of nowhere that the ending was completely unsatisfactory.
I can't discuss the stupidity of this book without revealing the whole plot so just trust me.
(For example there was an event that happened years before the events in the book and the circumstances of it were never questioned until the main character starts questioning in the middle of the book for absolutely no reason, but all of a sudden she is 100% sure that thing was no accident.)
ugh. Just kill it with fire.
(Not to mention the audiobook narrator who sounded angry throughout the whole novel - though, maybe I'd be too if I had to read it out loud - and had a seriously unpleasant voice and manner of speaking)
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
This book was not as attention grabbing as I thought it would be. Yet once I got through the slower parts it became a decent read.
I read a lot of books from many categories. I've read some pretty boring books that while boring, still offered something substantial either in story or facts. This book was boring and shallow. The story was so underdeveloped. I felt like there were many opportunities for a great story. It was like reading a rough outline of a story without meaningful substance. The story had so much potential.
**SPOILERS**
There were parts of the book that didn't need to be there. I don't know why so much time was spent on her sister. She had some impact on Mary's actions but not enough to justify how far the story went into her religious lifestyle. I found it difficult to relate to Mary or her family. The end of the story came out of nowhere and not in a clever or exciting way. I think the characters could have been better developed, perhaps more background detail specifically as it pertains to her coworkers. In the story, there is a lot of suspicion on different coworkers but it doesn't give much detail about them. The only coworker with any substance had so much pointed at him that it was obvious that the author was trying to divert the readers attention so she could throw in the random "surprise" ending. This leads to the end of the story where the person who is stalking her comes to light but I knew so little about them that it killed all suspense. I didn't care. The story was missing the normal climb to a suspenseful end.
I would not classify this as a legal thriller, or a suspense novel. It was not clever or exciting. I found it to be predictable. I probably wont read another book from this author.
**SPOILERS**
There were parts of the book that didn't need to be there. I don't know why so much time was spent on her sister. She had some impact on Mary's actions but not enough to justify how far the story went into her religious lifestyle. I found it difficult to relate to Mary or her family. The end of the story came out of nowhere and not in a clever or exciting way. I think the characters could have been better developed, perhaps more background detail specifically as it pertains to her coworkers. In the story, there is a lot of suspicion on different coworkers but it doesn't give much detail about them. The only coworker with any substance had so much pointed at him that it was obvious that the author was trying to divert the readers attention so she could throw in the random "surprise" ending. This leads to the end of the story where the person who is stalking her comes to light but I knew so little about them that it killed all suspense. I didn't care. The story was missing the normal climb to a suspenseful end.
I would not classify this as a legal thriller, or a suspense novel. It was not clever or exciting. I found it to be predictable. I probably wont read another book from this author.
Mary is not a very likable character as of yet. Might just be a product of her time period
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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:
Complicated