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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
one of My friends recommended this had it read in 3 days if you like gripping stories that will make youu laugh and cry all in one this is it
Part mystery, ghost story, and thriller. Kate Cypher returns home to care for her mother when a girl is murdered in a manner similar to the murder of her friend years ago.
Great debut! Excellent build and intense plot.
Great debut! Excellent build and intense plot.
A murder mystery with supernatural elements.
Kate returns to the small town where she grew up to care for her mother, who is rapidly succumbing to Alzheimer’s. The night she arrives, a young girl is murdered in the same way as Kate’s childhood friend, Del, whose murder was never solved.
Kate returns to the small town where she grew up to care for her mother, who is rapidly succumbing to Alzheimer’s. The night she arrives, a young girl is murdered in the same way as Kate’s childhood friend, Del, whose murder was never solved.
There are two things I hate about how the Internet suggests things that I'd like based on what I've already purchased/read/watched: 1) It reminds me, by suggesting crappy stuff over and over again, that I'm a sucker for crap and 2) I'm almost powerless against suggestion, so, inevitably, I purchase/read/watch what it suggests, and the cycle of crap continues.
Okay, I admit that I sort of love that, actually. I am blessed to live in a time and place where I have access to a practially endless menu of schlock, and I don't take that responsibility lightly.
So I read two Jennifer McMahon books because the Internet told me to. They were okay in the way that Lifetime movies (the ones about kidnapping or stalkers or the ghosts of children who want to take revenge on their kidnappers or stalkers) are okay: the way the story was told was competent enough not to be distracting; the story itself was lurid enough to hold my interest, but I couldn't shake the nagging sense that I'd have to, like, spend the next week watching French New Wave movies and comparing translations of Beowulf to get my cultural karma back up; and, finally, everything fell very tidily into an obscenely sentimental ending. The ending of Promise Not to Tell, actually, went too far--I would have given it three stars, but then--well. I don't want to spoil anything, but the last scene was so saccharine that it bothered even my processed cheese-level sensibilities.
Like all good schlock, the characters in McMahon's books are rendered predictably, but thoroughly and lovingly; the plot stays true to all of its prescribed tropes but takes enough small twists and turns to maintain suspense; and all questions are answered in the end. No thread goes untied, people, and everything is very, very satisfying.
I also love Twinkies, "Mmm-bop," and TMZ. Don't mess with me.
Okay, I admit that I sort of love that, actually. I am blessed to live in a time and place where I have access to a practially endless menu of schlock, and I don't take that responsibility lightly.
So I read two Jennifer McMahon books because the Internet told me to. They were okay in the way that Lifetime movies (the ones about kidnapping or stalkers or the ghosts of children who want to take revenge on their kidnappers or stalkers) are okay: the way the story was told was competent enough not to be distracting; the story itself was lurid enough to hold my interest, but I couldn't shake the nagging sense that I'd have to, like, spend the next week watching French New Wave movies and comparing translations of Beowulf to get my cultural karma back up; and, finally, everything fell very tidily into an obscenely sentimental ending. The ending of Promise Not to Tell, actually, went too far--I would have given it three stars, but then--well. I don't want to spoil anything, but the last scene was so saccharine that it bothered even my processed cheese-level sensibilities.
Like all good schlock, the characters in McMahon's books are rendered predictably, but thoroughly and lovingly; the plot stays true to all of its prescribed tropes but takes enough small twists and turns to maintain suspense; and all questions are answered in the end. No thread goes untied, people, and everything is very, very satisfying.
I also love Twinkies, "Mmm-bop," and TMZ. Don't mess with me.
Thirty years ago, Kate's best friend, Del, was murdered. Now, she is back in town to take care of her mother, who has Alzheimer's. The first night she is back, another little girl is killed in the same manner as Del. Things get creepier and stranger from there as Kate tries to figure out exactly what happened 30 years ago.
This was an entertaining story that kept me turning the pages. The writing was a bit simplistic and the story was somewhat predictable, especially toward the end, btu I still wanted to get there on my own.
This was an entertaining story that kept me turning the pages. The writing was a bit simplistic and the story was somewhat predictable, especially toward the end, btu I still wanted to get there on my own.
My ebook loan was about to expire, so I dropped everything and powered through this in an afternoon. It wasn't worth it. I wanted it to be legitimately creepy! It seemed like it was headed that way, and the suspense was building, until it went so non-convincingly over the top. I found it to be more comedy than horror. Also, I didn't ever see why I should care about the characters. They were all defined by where they lived and what they did. I don't feel like I got inside their heads.
This book was terrible. Not even the writing was good enough to save the storyline, full of unbelievable characters, plot holes, a predictable storyline, & lots of other small messes. I'm grateful that I was able to read this so quickly & be done with it.
The story goes back and forth between the time before Del's murder, and the days after the second girl is killed. This was a bit confusing at first, since some of the detials, they went back and forth, but once you got used to that bit, I really enjoyed Jennifer's story telling.
Kate was great, she had to look after her mom, and deal with the fact that her husband was a cheater, and then this murder of a childhood friend that she pretended wasn't, lied about constantly, in fact.
I love how all the clues came together, and there was that influence of the paranormal, though you wouldn't expect it too much from the rest of the book-but there is a rational explanation of that.
All in all, I love it, didn't see the bad guy coming, though I could've if I'd linked the mother to what was happening to her to some other key facts :)
So if you like a murder mystery, check this book out!
Kate was great, she had to look after her mom, and deal with the fact that her husband was a cheater, and then this murder of a childhood friend that she pretended wasn't, lied about constantly, in fact.
I love how all the clues came together, and there was that influence of the paranormal, though you wouldn't expect it too much from the rest of the book-but there is a rational explanation of that.
All in all, I love it, didn't see the bad guy coming, though I could've if I'd linked the mother to what was happening to her to some other key facts :)
So if you like a murder mystery, check this book out!
I’ve read two of Jennifer McMahon’s books now and I have them both five stars. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I can’t wait to read all her other work.
I didn’t hate it but I also didn’t love it and after about 50% I was only continuing to her the ending explained.