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A review by mrsbooknerd
The Stolen Ones by Richard Montanari
3.0
I spent many a minute floating my cursor between the 2 star and 3 star. I came down on the 3-star because I am a pleasant person. Joking, I'm definitelynot. I weighed it up and though I wasn't crazy about the book it was well-written, fairly enjoyable and honestly, there weren't any major issues. Can you really give two stars to a book with no major issues?!
If there were no major issues then what is my beef with this book?
Excitement. Drama. Tension. Frustration. Fear.
These are all emotions that I did not feel as I read this novel. I just floated through it, appreciating the characters and the pace of plot, but never falling into the novel like Alice through the looking glass. If I had to summarise this novel in a word then I would say, “Distant”.
I never felt out-right bored, but neither did I feel the thrill of the investigation, the creepiness of the killer or the shock of the big twist toward the end. Whether this is because the narrative voices chopped and changed frequently, whether the flashbacks to years passed disrupted the flow… I can’t quite put my finger on it. But the novel never excited me.
I did really enjoy the relationship between Jess and Kevin. There was a well-crafted balance and respect there that made the novel enjoyable. Often in these novels there is a detective who can pick a murderer out of a crowd like ‘Where’s Wally?’. Skipping alongside him, and usually just happy to be involved, you have a slower, has-to-have-everything-explained-to-them partner.
While Kevin did seem to have more of the investigator instincts, Jess was the organised and practical one. She felt more grounded, which allowed Kevin to be a tad more liberal with the hunches and realisations without falling into the ridiculous.
I enjoyed the novel. I have certainly and absolutely read worse but this one just bumbled along. Maybe my expectations were just too high?
If there were no major issues then what is my beef with this book?
Excitement. Drama. Tension. Frustration. Fear.
These are all emotions that I did not feel as I read this novel. I just floated through it, appreciating the characters and the pace of plot, but never falling into the novel like Alice through the looking glass. If I had to summarise this novel in a word then I would say, “Distant”.
I never felt out-right bored, but neither did I feel the thrill of the investigation, the creepiness of the killer or the shock of the big twist toward the end. Whether this is because the narrative voices chopped and changed frequently, whether the flashbacks to years passed disrupted the flow… I can’t quite put my finger on it. But the novel never excited me.
I did really enjoy the relationship between Jess and Kevin. There was a well-crafted balance and respect there that made the novel enjoyable. Often in these novels there is a detective who can pick a murderer out of a crowd like ‘Where’s Wally?’. Skipping alongside him, and usually just happy to be involved, you have a slower, has-to-have-everything-explained-to-them partner.
While Kevin did seem to have more of the investigator instincts, Jess was the organised and practical one. She felt more grounded, which allowed Kevin to be a tad more liberal with the hunches and realisations without falling into the ridiculous.
I enjoyed the novel. I have certainly and absolutely read worse but this one just bumbled along. Maybe my expectations were just too high?