Reviews

Very well paced. It hooked me in right away with the con artist narrative and didn’t really have any dull moments. I loved that not only was the story split between two characters, but also between their past and present. I also loved that the ‘present’ diverted partway into the novel for the two main characters, delaying one of their stories as the other was left in the dark with the reader.

The main characters were interesting; flawed and dynamic, believable in a way. They were also distinctive enough, with Summer having a bold perspective while Leo was quieter and built into her strength. Both were intelligent, caring in a way, and had depth built up in the past chapters. I like how Michael was presented as well, perfectly shielded until the right moment so we could get caught up in the same beliefs as the characters for a time.

My complaints? Other than the three main characters, no one was fleshed out enough for a dynamic mystery/thriller. No one else had a story, like they were NPCs waiting to be looked at. I don’t think the author even considered a backstory for anyone or their motives for being in this world.

There also wasn’t much to piece together, other then figuring out the how of it all—and that was mainly how Leo escaped, where she was as Summer searched, and how would they both escape and manage to survive. The why became obviously very quickly, to the point where dramatic irony was far overplayed. I just felt like I was screaming at the characters to figure things out faster, when it seemed so blatantly obvious from the first mention.

For example: You can’t mention eerie paintings of women on the walls without an immediate assumption that they’re murder victims/trophies — especially when your friend is missing — and then you then find his painting lair and still just assume he paints women he seduces? For such smart, conniving, intuitive characters, it took me out of the book momentarily.