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A review by yangelareads
House on Fire by Bonnie Kistler
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
2.5
Divorce lawyer, Leigh Huyett, knows all too well that most second marriages are doomed to fail. But five years in, she and Pete Conley have a perfectly blended family of her children and his. To celebrate their anniversary, they grab some precious moments of alone time and leave Pete’s son Kip, a high school senior, in charge of Leigh’s fourteen-year-old daughter Chrissy at their home.
Driving back on a rainy Friday night, their cell phones start ringing. After a raucous party celebrating his college acceptance to Duke and his upcoming birthday, Kip was arrested for drunk driving after his truck crashed into a tree. And he was not alone—Chrissy was with him.
Twelve hours later, Chrissy is dead and Kip is charged with manslaughter. Kip has always been a notorious troublemaker, but he is also a star student with a dazzling future ahead of him. At first, Leigh does her best to rally behind Pete and help Kip through his ordeal. Until he changes his story, and claims that he was not driving after all—Chrissy was.
Leigh is stunned that he would lie about such a thing, while Pete clutches onto the story as the last, best hope to save his son, throwing his energy and money into finding this elusive witness. As they hurtle toward Kip’s trial date, husband and wife are torn between loyalty to their children and to each other, while the mystery of what really happened that night intensifies.
House on Fire had so much potential but unfortunately, I was left feeling underwhelmed with it. This is a domestic fiction read that touches on some big familial issues but not with the depth or emotion that I expected. The subplots really took away from the main plot. It was a little strange. It all wrapped up nicely, but still - the author could have done without the subplots all together and still conveyed the same core story. The story ends with the conclusion of Kip's trial, but we do not see how any of the other storylines are finished, which sucks. This whole book was just way too rushed. It did have potential. If only it would have focused more on the core story. I would have enjoyed it more if it had.
Driving back on a rainy Friday night, their cell phones start ringing. After a raucous party celebrating his college acceptance to Duke and his upcoming birthday, Kip was arrested for drunk driving after his truck crashed into a tree. And he was not alone—Chrissy was with him.
Twelve hours later, Chrissy is dead and Kip is charged with manslaughter. Kip has always been a notorious troublemaker, but he is also a star student with a dazzling future ahead of him. At first, Leigh does her best to rally behind Pete and help Kip through his ordeal. Until he changes his story, and claims that he was not driving after all—Chrissy was.
Leigh is stunned that he would lie about such a thing, while Pete clutches onto the story as the last, best hope to save his son, throwing his energy and money into finding this elusive witness. As they hurtle toward Kip’s trial date, husband and wife are torn between loyalty to their children and to each other, while the mystery of what really happened that night intensifies.
House on Fire had so much potential but unfortunately, I was left feeling underwhelmed with it. This is a domestic fiction read that touches on some big familial issues but not with the depth or emotion that I expected. The subplots really took away from the main plot. It was a little strange. It all wrapped up nicely, but still - the author could have done without the subplots all together and still conveyed the same core story. The story ends with the conclusion of Kip's trial, but we do not see how any of the other storylines are finished, which sucks. This whole book was just way too rushed. It did have potential. If only it would have focused more on the core story. I would have enjoyed it more if it had.