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A review by marilynw
The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman
3.0
The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman
Joan Lurie is the author of a article exposing a famous newspaper tycoon as a sexual predator. She has so much more information that didn't make the article that she plans to write a book to expose even more that she knows. When she is attacked and possibly raped, she is more determined than ever to not be silenced. But the attack leaves her with severe vision, balance, and memory problems and terrified of being attacked again.
It's obvious that Joan needs medical attention immediately but she refuses to seek help. Instead she plugs along, doing research on foot and by computer, handicapped by the symptoms of her head injury. Little does she know that she has more than one enemy, including Melissa, the wife of the newspaper tycoon, who blames Joan for all the problems that befall her family after the expose. An interesting distraction to the bad things going on in Joan's life is her 96 year old neighbor who has her own long story of abuse by men. Could what happened to this woman 80 years ago have some connection to what is happening now?
I felt like the story got bogged down by too many improbable things. It's hard to get past the fact that Joan never seeks help for her severe vision and neurological problems which hamper all areas of her life. On the other hand, angry Melissa is able to accomplish unlikely things due to luck and abilities that are hard to believe. Then there is Lillian, who seems more than a little odd and who takes up so much of the book with her long drawn out story. I know others liked this story much more than I did but it was too much of a stretch for me, in so many ways.
publication: July 6, 2021
Thank you to Scene of the Crime, William Morrow and Custom House, and NetGalley for this ARC.
Joan Lurie is the author of a article exposing a famous newspaper tycoon as a sexual predator. She has so much more information that didn't make the article that she plans to write a book to expose even more that she knows. When she is attacked and possibly raped, she is more determined than ever to not be silenced. But the attack leaves her with severe vision, balance, and memory problems and terrified of being attacked again.
It's obvious that Joan needs medical attention immediately but she refuses to seek help. Instead she plugs along, doing research on foot and by computer, handicapped by the symptoms of her head injury. Little does she know that she has more than one enemy, including Melissa, the wife of the newspaper tycoon, who blames Joan for all the problems that befall her family after the expose. An interesting distraction to the bad things going on in Joan's life is her 96 year old neighbor who has her own long story of abuse by men. Could what happened to this woman 80 years ago have some connection to what is happening now?
I felt like the story got bogged down by too many improbable things. It's hard to get past the fact that Joan never seeks help for her severe vision and neurological problems which hamper all areas of her life. On the other hand, angry Melissa is able to accomplish unlikely things due to luck and abilities that are hard to believe. Then there is Lillian, who seems more than a little odd and who takes up so much of the book with her long drawn out story. I know others liked this story much more than I did but it was too much of a stretch for me, in so many ways.
publication: July 6, 2021
Thank you to Scene of the Crime, William Morrow and Custom House, and NetGalley for this ARC.