I’ve heard and seen this book everywhere so I had to read it.  Shooting your spouse five times in the face and then, pulling the silent treatment, now that is a good defense.  What would cause someone to commit such a crime? I had to know.

I didn’t know if I really trusted Alicia throughout the book, although I didn’t know who I trusted really. Theo and Alicia both seemed sketchy to me.  In parts of this books, I felt that I was secretly doing one of those sinister laughs as I read it.  So who was getting the raw end of the deal now?

Alicia was admitted to the Grove, six years ago for a crime that she committed against her husband.  Theo, feels that he’s qualified for the available position of forensic psychotherapist at the Grove, which will also provide him the opportunity to work with Alicia.  Oh Theo, right off the bat, you feel that you are uniquely qualified to help the unresponsive Alicia and that myself, has me questioning your motive.  

As I learned more about the two of them, both what is presently occurring and their past, it’s no wonder things are a mess.  What I thought for one of them, I ended up thinking for the other one eventually.  While I was reading, I was trying to figure out which one of them was clever and which one of them was smart.  What was their motive?  What did they really want?  I never saw that ending coming nor did I suspect it. 

I thought the book was a fun, entertaining read.  I can see why some individuals really loved the book, I enjoyed it but I didn’t love it.  I’m glad that I read it and I look forward to reading what this author writes in the future. 

Very engrossing. This is my second audiobook and the listening experience was much better than my first one. The female and male narrators were great, both of them very natural and dynamic. The story is so absorbing I stayed up late a few nights as I couldn't resist listening just a little more, just another short chapter. I've realized lately how mystery is one of my most-read genres and it's books like these, with a great twist at the end, which makes reading them so enjoyable for me.

  I Picked Up This Book Because: Tonight Show Summer Reads contestant. It wasn’t the winner but it was the one I wanted to read the most.

The Characters:

Theo Faber:
Alicia Berenson:
Prof Diametes, Indira, Yuri

The Story:

Nothing is as it seems here. NOTHING. I’m left somewhat in a state of shock and I feel like it’s somewhat un-concluded. I expected this to be much more about Alicia and though it is a lot about her it’s a lot about Theo too and that threw me for the majority of the book. I will admit (view spoiler) But maybe that’s the point. As I said nothing is as it seems here from top to bottom.

Overall I suppose I liked the book even though it has left me feeling conflicted.

The Random Thoughts:



The Score Card:



4 Stars

I don’t quite understand what the whole hype is with this book. 

It did go off to a good start and kept me interested in the story, but then it started taking a rather bland and dry turn. It started focusing on Theo’s obsession with Alicia and although it builds up to what happens to be a really good twist at the end, I didn’t think it was a great read.

Theo is just so unlikable and boring. There was nothing about him that really made the story stand out, he started getting annoying afterwards and as mentioned before, it wasn’t until literally the last few pages where the story blows up. 

Yet as the plot progressed, you’re left wondering with what was going to happen next and it’s slowly drawn out and wasn’t grabbing my interest at all. The pace was slow, the plot was rather flat and coupled with an uninteresting main character definitely left the story lacking. 

There seems to be a lot of positive reviews on this, but it’s just not for me. There’s much better suspense novels out there that held my interest more than this one. 

So... I might have gone a bit overboard with my new purchases but hey I just recovered from a reading drought - imagine how 'thirsty' I am =P 

Besides, it's not that I just pile them up like my old self: I already read some of them. Ha! Imagine that!