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A review by lazygal
Close My Eyes by Sophie McKenzie
4.0
Memo to publishers: please STOP comparing thrillers to Gone Girl. The book we're reading is rarely worthy of the comparision.
This is one of those thrillers where you're not always sure who to trust. Eight years earlier, Art and Gen's baby was stillborn and in many ways, Gen has never gotten over that loss, still mourning Beth's death. Art is trying to move on, and is suggesting yet another round of IVF to help them conceive a new child. As Art turns 40, Gen starts to wonder what's going on: a woman comes to her door, insisting that the baby was a live birth, spirited away from Gen. She notes a strange payment from one of Art's bank accounts. People connected to the birth are either dead or have disappeared. And Art is getting weird phone calls that he's hiding from her. Gen sets out to find the truth - the twist here isn't quite telegraphed but it's not a complete surprise (in part because the book is interspersed with an interior monologue clearly belonging to a child).
Belief doesn't quite need to be suspended here, just occasionally paused. At times, the action seems speeded up, with quite a lot crammed into a day or an hour. And Gen's naivete about life is sometimes annoying, necessary because of the plot but annoying all the same.
ARC provided by publisher.
This is one of those thrillers where you're not always sure who to trust. Eight years earlier, Art and Gen's baby was stillborn and in many ways, Gen has never gotten over that loss, still mourning Beth's death. Art is trying to move on, and is suggesting yet another round of IVF to help them conceive a new child. As Art turns 40, Gen starts to wonder what's going on: a woman comes to her door, insisting that the baby was a live birth, spirited away from Gen. She notes a strange payment from one of Art's bank accounts. People connected to the birth are either dead or have disappeared. And Art is getting weird phone calls that he's hiding from her. Gen sets out to find the truth - the twist here isn't quite telegraphed but it's not a complete surprise (in part because the book is interspersed with an interior monologue clearly belonging to a child).
Belief doesn't quite need to be suspended here, just occasionally paused. At times, the action seems speeded up, with quite a lot crammed into a day or an hour. And Gen's naivete about life is sometimes annoying, necessary because of the plot but annoying all the same.
ARC provided by publisher.