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tonstantweader 's review for:

The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson
adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
 
The Girl with a Clock for a Heart is the sort of thriller I can picture as a movie with Jimmy Stewart or Tom Hanks in the lead role. George Foss is at a local tavern with a long-time friend/lover when he sees a woman who looks just like his long-long college freshman love. After he and his friend leave, to go to their respective homes, he heads back to talk to her. It is her! Liana Dector, heartbreaker and suspected murderer.

She is also a woman in distress and in need of help. Of course, he has to help and thus falls into a complex and multi-layered scheme with more than one set of bad guys. He knows what she did back in his freshman year, but he understands how it happened and has sympathy for her and her decisions.

Do not start this before you fall asleep because you won’t get to sleep until 2 AM when you finish. I read this straight through from start to finish and yes, I was that silly one who thought I will read just one chapter so I am primed when I pick it up tomorrow. Nope, that is a bad idea.

Peter Swanson is one of those writers that grabs you and does not let you go. The plot never lets up and you end up caring about the characters. I liked George Foss. I understand his fascination with Liana and his chivalrous and perhaps, lecherous, need to help her. And wow, the complexity of the story. Now, some might think we need to be told how one of the great illusions was carried out, but no one explains a magic trick. And of course, whether that illusion was an illusion or reality, that is up to us, dear reader.