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kba76 's review for:
A Version of the Truth
by B.P. Walter
Sometimes you can appreciate a book and absolutely loathe everything about it. Sadly, this is one of those books.
We operate in a number of time frames and focus on a number of characters. Through the shifting narrative we uncover a truly grotesque and unpalatable story.
Julianne has a comfortable life in 2019. Son about to go to Oxford and a husband who showers her with gifts. Then, in the already tense build-up to Christmas Eve, her son asks to speak with her. He’s found files on the family Dropbox account. Files that suggest someone close to them is involved in something repugnant.
Julianne was the girlfriend of James while they were at university in Oxford. Being American she was always regarded as something of an outsider. Not privy to some of the jokes of James and his group of friends shared. Not part of some of their more extreme activities. Not part of, but complicit in, something awful they do and cover up.
Into this mix is thrown our everyday character Holly, a hard-working somewhat frumpy young girl who’s led a sheltered life and who can’t shake her fascination with James and his friends though she suspects their interest in her is not genuine.
As we start to piece together events there’s a sickening sense of powerlessness. You gain a horrible sense of what’s to come and it just keeps on coming.
Aside from the subject matter, the characters in this were either unpleasant or naive. The author seems to rely on cliched stereotypes in many instances, and the way the novel ended left nothing properly resolved. Frustrating.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for my thoughts, but this is not a book I’d recommend.
We operate in a number of time frames and focus on a number of characters. Through the shifting narrative we uncover a truly grotesque and unpalatable story.
Julianne has a comfortable life in 2019. Son about to go to Oxford and a husband who showers her with gifts. Then, in the already tense build-up to Christmas Eve, her son asks to speak with her. He’s found files on the family Dropbox account. Files that suggest someone close to them is involved in something repugnant.
Julianne was the girlfriend of James while they were at university in Oxford. Being American she was always regarded as something of an outsider. Not privy to some of the jokes of James and his group of friends shared. Not part of some of their more extreme activities. Not part of, but complicit in, something awful they do and cover up.
Into this mix is thrown our everyday character Holly, a hard-working somewhat frumpy young girl who’s led a sheltered life and who can’t shake her fascination with James and his friends though she suspects their interest in her is not genuine.
As we start to piece together events there’s a sickening sense of powerlessness. You gain a horrible sense of what’s to come and it just keeps on coming.
Aside from the subject matter, the characters in this were either unpleasant or naive. The author seems to rely on cliched stereotypes in many instances, and the way the novel ended left nothing properly resolved. Frustrating.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for my thoughts, but this is not a book I’d recommend.