crafalsk264 's review for:

Cul-De-Sac by Joy Fielding

4.0

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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In a hot July night, a shot rings out in the quiet, peaceful cul-de-sac, and somebody is dead.

There are five houses on a cul-de-sac. The residents have been there for years, but do not really know each other well until this sultry summer.  But something is different this year. Maggie and Craig have been recently separated and are trying to adjust to a new reality along with their teenage daughter, Erin, and son, Leo. Nick, a respected oncologist, and Dani, his dentist wife, and their two sons have the house on the corner. Julia is an 84 year old whose son is trying to encourage her to sell and move to a senior community facility. Olivia has recently reinterred the workforce while her husband, Sean, is an unemployed, 50 year old advertising executive. Aiden and Heidi are relative newlyweds struggling to separate themselves from his overpowering mother who is providing most of their financial support.

Secrets, fears, and and pain begin to seep in and each house is soon sitting on a powder keg. I liked most of the characters, especially Julia and Maggie. The younger boys likable and grew on me. The two teenagers were annoying and troublesome.  There were a lot of characters in this story and so some of them were not as in depth as I usually want. But it all came together in the end.

This is a fascinating read that begins a little slow but quickly picks momentum and then continues to escalate to a breaking point and kept me engaged the whole time.