A review by capercaillie
UNSUB by Meg Gardiner

mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Meh. It was...fine. I wasn't expecting anything amazing as I was looking for a quick procedural thriller for a lazy beach read, but I had hoped for something a bit more engaging based on the hype.

It largely felt like a sort of Criminal Minds fanfic, except the characters didn't really seem to have much character, which let down what otherwise might have been a decent thriller. The writing is flat enough that I assumed this was maybe the author's first book. It's largely a collection of police procedural tropes that would work well for a TV episode, but less so for a book that really takes its time getting anywhere.

The random chapter 2/3 through from the killer's perspective managed to completely quash any tension or mystique so far built up around the antagonist

since he was actually just a lame techbro with mommy issues rather than the sophisticated, Machiavellian villain he'd been built up to be.

The action was decent, but I didn't really care about the main character because there wasn't really much character to care about, and the ending was extremely fanfictiony - despite barely even having become a detective and only having worked a single homicide case, she is suddenly invited into the Criminal Minds' FBI's behavioural analysis team because she's that special. OK...