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frasersimons 's review for:
The Guilty
by David Baldacci
My god this went off the rails. It was tropey from the start but ones I actually was super into! Return of the prodigal son to get your head straight in rural, southern US. The actual method of his mental health break is prettty hand wavey and throwaway, but I was on board.
Then it got really contrived. I guess the author really wanted more characters involved instead of keeping it intimate and interesting. The “bad guy” was similarly contrived to the previous book; more so even, as I don’t think the seeds of that were sewn in previous books.
If it was just about him navigating his fathers case, and that not being contrived, it could have been pretty fun. Investigating the crime, exonerating the dad, potentially, if guilty, and dealing with the towns’ animosity. That’s a solid enough story.
I don’t think he has the chops to write black characters convincing either, they felt like caricatures for the most part either. Basically as soon as the lawyer was introduced, the Contrivance began. And then it turned into a day time soap. It’s a wild, wild book, friends. I am not surprised the series ends with the next book.
Then it got really contrived. I guess the author really wanted more characters involved instead of keeping it intimate and interesting. The “bad guy” was similarly contrived to the previous book; more so even, as I don’t think the seeds of that were sewn in previous books.
If it was just about him navigating his fathers case, and that not being contrived, it could have been pretty fun. Investigating the crime, exonerating the dad, potentially, if guilty, and dealing with the towns’ animosity. That’s a solid enough story.
I don’t think he has the chops to write black characters convincing either, they felt like caricatures for the most part either. Basically as soon as the lawyer was introduced, the Contrivance began. And then it turned into a day time soap. It’s a wild, wild book, friends. I am not surprised the series ends with the next book.