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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
An easy and predictable psychological thriller. No major plot twists or anything, just a very SLOW unwrathling of the story of the disappearance of a two year old girl named Bella. The different characters perspectives were weaved nicely together into the span of a four year period with all the events leading up the final reveal (last two pages). Nothing too exciting, 2.5 stars.
Last year books were "for fans of Gone Girl" this year, similar titles are peddles as being "for fans of Girl on a Train", and The Widow by Fiona Barton is not an exception. While I did not enjoy Girl on a Train, I'm a big fan of Gone Girl and can see where the similarities between these two books can be found.
The Widow is a domestic thriller. It tells the tale of widow, Jean(ie) Taylor, a woman navigating her life for the first time alone after the death of her infamous husband Glen Taylor. Glen was suspected of the kidnapping of young Bella Elliot while Jean supported him throughout the trial, her faith in Glen (almost) unwavering.
But does she know what really happened to Bella? Kate, a local reporter, is tasked to find out.
The story is written from multiple view-points, with the predominant one being that of Jean, written in a confessional-sounding first person. The other views consist of Kate the reporter, and DI Bob Sparkes, who is tasked with finding Bella. Each view is written slightly differently, giving the characters a good voice and allowing each character to be viewed through an opposing lense.
At 300 odd pages Widow is a quick and enthralling read, not quite on par with Gone Girl but very good in its own right. If you appreciate a mystery, a thriller or a questionable character The Widow is a good book to pick up this year.
The Widow is a domestic thriller. It tells the tale of widow, Jean(ie) Taylor, a woman navigating her life for the first time alone after the death of her infamous husband Glen Taylor. Glen was suspected of the kidnapping of young Bella Elliot while Jean supported him throughout the trial, her faith in Glen (almost) unwavering.
But does she know what really happened to Bella? Kate, a local reporter, is tasked to find out.
The story is written from multiple view-points, with the predominant one being that of Jean, written in a confessional-sounding first person. The other views consist of Kate the reporter, and DI Bob Sparkes, who is tasked with finding Bella. Each view is written slightly differently, giving the characters a good voice and allowing each character to be viewed through an opposing lense.
At 300 odd pages Widow is a quick and enthralling read, not quite on par with Gone Girl but very good in its own right. If you appreciate a mystery, a thriller or a questionable character The Widow is a good book to pick up this year.
Another great psychological thriller, The Widow had me gripped from page one and I couldn't put it down. I have to admit I was a bit reluctant to read this as there are so many books out about child abduction and murder but I'm really pleased I did read this. It's quite different.
The story centres around Jeanie the widow, her late husband Glen who was accused of abducting a young girl, a reporter and detective determined to find out the truth. Each character is well detailed and it doesn't take long to get to know them or so you think.
This isn't a fast paced book but there's enough there to keep you intrigued. I liked how it was told from different perspectives and also jumped from past to present time which kept me gripped.
I've seen so many reviews lately and a lot of them go into great detail about the book and give quite a few spoilers I feel now after reading the book so I'm not going to do that. I'll just say this is a compelling, unputdownable dark story and a must read if you're a fan of thrillers.
The story centres around Jeanie the widow, her late husband Glen who was accused of abducting a young girl, a reporter and detective determined to find out the truth. Each character is well detailed and it doesn't take long to get to know them or so you think.
This isn't a fast paced book but there's enough there to keep you intrigued. I liked how it was told from different perspectives and also jumped from past to present time which kept me gripped.
I've seen so many reviews lately and a lot of them go into great detail about the book and give quite a few spoilers I feel now after reading the book so I'm not going to do that. I'll just say this is a compelling, unputdownable dark story and a must read if you're a fan of thrillers.
This reminded me of The Wife by Alafair Burke, it handled the complicated tangle of victimhood and complicity the wife of a horrible man has with a sensitivity thrillers often miss the mark on for cheap twists
I so enjoy Fiona’s style of writing.... felt it ended a bit suddenly but enjoyed trying to work it out as chapters passed! I do love reading from different character perspectives as was in Suspect too.... now onto The Child
It was interesting and a page turner, but the characters were all very unlikeable.
I wanted to like this more. But it ended and I felt “meh”.
There just wasn't much there there, if you know what I mean. It's like the pitch for this book was "what could they possibly be thinking?" "They" would be pretty much everyone in the drama of a missing child--the kidnapper, his wife, the mother, the reporters. It's like it wanted to be a detective novel, but you have most of the information about what happened at the beginning, and there aren't any shocking twists, really--none at all that I didn't see coming 30% of the way in.
So how does the wife of a strongly-suspected child murderer stay by his side and live with herself? By being somewhat dim and very beaten down. How do vulture-like reporters live with themselves? By separating the dirty work from the ideal of their calling, and selective amnesia. There's just not much insight here.
So how does the wife of a strongly-suspected child murderer stay by his side and live with herself? By being somewhat dim and very beaten down. How do vulture-like reporters live with themselves? By separating the dirty work from the ideal of their calling, and selective amnesia. There's just not much insight here.
Although I really liked this book it was definitely not the next Gone Girl. I thought what had happened was fairly obvious (at least to me) and I wasn't surprised by any twists or turns in this book because to me there weren't any. Still definitely worth the read though and very well written!