'BEHIND HER EYES' (BOOK & SERIES)......UNRELIABLE NARRATORS IN THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT

         

             We're going to spend as little time as we can on this book and the Netflix series adapted  from it. 

             We've already regretted the hours we wasted reading it and then watching the show. 

             To put it simply, it's a con job by the publisher, designed to put one over on unsuspecting readers who swallow the false claim that the book is a....."suspenseful psychological thriller".

               It's absolutely none of those things.......and neither is the 6 episode limited series based on it. 

               We don't mind when we're duped and hoodwinked by outrageous twists of plot in thrillers.......after all, it's the primary reason that people read and love them. 

               What's not okay with us:    hyping the book  as a mystery thriller when it turns out it falls into an entirely different genre altogether.  Memo to publisher of "Behind Her Eyes"......you suck.

               Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough (2018)  does indeed start out as a dread-laden, nothing-good-will-come-from-this romantic quartet. 

                The four players:  Louise, a medical secretary, David, a psychiatrist who much to Louise's surprise after a drunken kiss with him, is her new boss, Adele, David's ethereal, troubled wife, and in flashbacks, Rob, a young Sottish drug addict who bonded with Adele while in rehab.....and who has mysteriously disappeared. 

                Somebody's playing somebody like a piano......and yes, there's more than few deaths involved, along with a twisted, sardonic finale. 

                The problem is how the book chooses to get there. We'll only say that Pinborough shifts the story into a genre that you may find utterly ridiculous, annoying and stupidly far-fetched even if you're willing to accept it on its own terms. 

                  We weren't.

               Behind Her Eyes the Netflix Series slowly unfolds as a dutifully faithful adaptation of the book, even using much of its dialogue.

                The series even goes so far as to duplicate the book's slow pacing, which gives you plenty of time to roll your eyes over the foolish choices made by the characters. 

                 And the widely discussed WTF twists are replicated here as well, in all their oh-you-gotta-be-shiitin'-me' glory. 

                 We've now officially wasted more time than we ever wanted to on either of these entities. For both the book and the series, Zero stars (0)  

                 BQ recommends giving both a wide pass.