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marilynw's review
4.0
Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon
Even though this story is listed as a mystery/thriller, I see more as a mystery/domestic drama. We know pretty quickly that someone is dead and we weren't there for what turns out to be a murder. We see the story unfold from the POVs of a lot of people.
Eden is the dead girl. She's had a rough several years but seems to have settled down while living at the place of an older couple. Jack and his friends, Hannah and Christopher, are in high school. Jack is a bully, Hannah and Christopher are bullied. Hannah hates herself so it's fitting she's spending time with Jack. Christopher is invisible unless people are making fun of him so being "friends" with Jack makes him somebody even if he's a bullied somebody.
Jack and Hannah's families are wealthy, Christopher is from another country, the son of a chef, on the outside in every way. So when Eden's death is investigated, the rich circle the wagons and Christopher is the bait to draw attention away from Jack and Hannah. When it comes to Jack, things have happened before, although not this bad. Jack's dad knows how to take care of things.
There are a lot of adults involved in this mess and each one is either grieving a death of a teenager, trying to throw suspicion off a teenager, and/or trying to throw suspicion on a teenager. Money, excellent lawyers, and cops who have already convicted someone in their own heads, rule the day. The truth is that no one is guilt free, even if they didn't kill Eden. These are not good people, this is not a good place. The story is not a happy one and there will be no feeling of resolution or closure at the end. Life will go on for some and not for others.
Pub: Jan 17, 2023
Thank you to Celadon Books, NetGalley, and Edelweiss for the print and digital copies of this ARC.
Even though this story is listed as a mystery/thriller, I see more as a mystery/domestic drama. We know pretty quickly that someone is dead and we weren't there for what turns out to be a murder. We see the story unfold from the POVs of a lot of people.
Eden is the dead girl. She's had a rough several years but seems to have settled down while living at the place of an older couple. Jack and his friends, Hannah and Christopher, are in high school. Jack is a bully, Hannah and Christopher are bullied. Hannah hates herself so it's fitting she's spending time with Jack. Christopher is invisible unless people are making fun of him so being "friends" with Jack makes him somebody even if he's a bullied somebody.
Jack and Hannah's families are wealthy, Christopher is from another country, the son of a chef, on the outside in every way. So when Eden's death is investigated, the rich circle the wagons and Christopher is the bait to draw attention away from Jack and Hannah. When it comes to Jack, things have happened before, although not this bad. Jack's dad knows how to take care of things.
There are a lot of adults involved in this mess and each one is either grieving a death of a teenager, trying to throw suspicion off a teenager, and/or trying to throw suspicion on a teenager. Money, excellent lawyers, and cops who have already convicted someone in their own heads, rule the day. The truth is that no one is guilt free, even if they didn't kill Eden. These are not good people, this is not a good place. The story is not a happy one and there will be no feeling of resolution or closure at the end. Life will go on for some and not for others.
Pub: Jan 17, 2023
Thank you to Celadon Books, NetGalley, and Edelweiss for the print and digital copies of this ARC.
donasbooks's review
4.0
Thank you to author Stephen Amidon, publishers MacMillanAudio, and as always NetGalley, for a advance audio copy of LOCUST LANE, narrated by Cassandra Campbell.
I went into this book with very little information (other than it was a domestic thriller with a large cast) and very few expectations (as it has gotten wildly mixed reviews). Normally I'm not a fan of large casts in an audiobook, but I have been often pleased with MacMillan Audio's productions.
Cassandra Campbell narrates the cast really well. Some of her ability to do this is because of Amidon's writing. He doesn't try to generate artificial static by having the characters fight for page time. Each one comes on the page, shows the reader their hand, and steps off. Then, importantly, they stay off until they have more to show, and not before.
I loved how the information comes together, as a result of how Amidon writes each character's section. Suspense is thick and the story felt compelling to me the entire way through.
My only complaint is about the very last scene!! I listened to it multiple times and couldn't figure out how it connected back to the main conflict, which I felt had been resolved already. I couldn't even figure out what was really happening in the scene. Perhaps Amidon intends this bit of obscurity, since this book is in part about the nature of small town justice being subject to the imperfect gaze of the spying neighbor.
Rating:
I went into this book with very little information (other than it was a domestic thriller with a large cast) and very few expectations (as it has gotten wildly mixed reviews). Normally I'm not a fan of large casts in an audiobook, but I have been often pleased with MacMillan Audio's productions.
Cassandra Campbell narrates the cast really well. Some of her ability to do this is because of Amidon's writing. He doesn't try to generate artificial static by having the characters fight for page time. Each one comes on the page, shows the reader their hand, and steps off. Then, importantly, they stay off until they have more to show, and not before.
I loved how the information comes together, as a result of how Amidon writes each character's section. Suspense is thick and the story felt compelling to me the entire way through.
My only complaint is about the very last scene!! I listened to it multiple times and couldn't figure out how it connected back to the main conflict, which I felt had been resolved already. I couldn't even figure out what was really happening in the scene. Perhaps Amidon intends this bit of obscurity, since this book is in part about the nature of small town justice being subject to the imperfect gaze of the spying neighbor.
Rating:
allisone's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
hisparks23's review
3.0
I had high hopes for this because sometimes an “adults behaving badly” mystery drama just hits right, but I think the marketing is a bit off because while this was a fine read, it’s not what I expected based on the synopsis. I did read it quickly and I didn’t see the ending coming, although I simultaneously wasn’t surprised by it when it was revealed.
Honestly at times the mystery of the murder felt like an afterthought to me. Mostly I just found myself feeling incredibly sad for all the teenagers in this story for some reason or another (I just wanted to give Hannah a hug,) and for all the people like Gabi who the system has completely failed and people like Patrick and Danielle who have become collateral damage of that failed system.
Honestly at times the mystery of the murder felt like an afterthought to me. Mostly I just found myself feeling incredibly sad for all the teenagers in this story for some reason or another (I just wanted to give Hannah a hug,) and for all the people like Gabi who the system has completely failed and people like Patrick and Danielle who have become collateral damage of that failed system.
suzydemric's review
2.0
This drew me in quickly. It is told from multiple POV, all the parents of the involved teens. We get basic description of each teen from some of the parents, but never hear directly from any of the teens.
That is what makes this more of a drama than a true thriller or mystery, in my opinion. While yes, the parents have a stake in it all because their child could be involved in the murder, it isn't quite as compelling as the direct suspects sharing what they know would be.
I did guess relatively early on who was probably guilty, but didn't quite figure out how until that person is revealed as the killer.
The resolution wasn't great or even good. Readers can infer and speculate what happens next, that might create a more developed resolution, but readers are kind of left hanging.
That is what makes this more of a drama than a true thriller or mystery, in my opinion. While yes, the parents have a stake in it all because their child could be involved in the murder, it isn't quite as compelling as the direct suspects sharing what they know would be.
I did guess relatively early on who was probably guilty, but didn't quite figure out how until that person is revealed as the killer.
The resolution wasn't great or even good. Readers can infer and speculate what happens next, that might create a more developed resolution, but readers are kind of left hanging.
cheri325's review
3.0
I love literary mysteries with unlikeable characters. This should have worked for me, but just didn’t. I can’t put my finger on why, except to say that the characters seemed very one-dimensional.