Went on a thriller binge this past weekend......well, what else would we do, since we've not one ounce of interest in the Olympics?
And what a duo to read back-to-back. Spankin' new twin thrillers from two established purveyors of the genre, Megan Miranda and B.A. Paris.
......with both of their books set in a small cluster of houses beset by murder and a collection of neighbors with secrets, suspicions......and possibly more murderous intent in mind.
Sounds like fun, no? Hmmmm.......yes and no.
Let's deal first with Megan Miranda's Such A Quiet Place (2021).
Back in 7/7/19 we reviewed Miranda's previous effort "The Last House Guest", and it left us less than thrilled. The same problems that afflicted that book remain present here......a complete lack of even one sympathetic character to latch on to.
The residents of 'Hollow's Edge', a little semi-circle of homes in a picturesque college community, are a fairly unlikeable lot. And that includes the book's narrator Harper Nash, whose former housemate Ruby was convicted of murdering a couple of their fellow neighbors by gassing them with carbon monoxide.
To make matters interesting, as they say, Ruby's been sprung due to legal technicalities and promptly parks herself back in Harper's house with payback revenge on her agenda, since she believes the neighbors conspired to frame her for a crime she claims she didn't commit.
Which would mean, if Ruby's on the level, there's still a killer loose among them......
Here's where we'll stop on the plot stuff, since the book delivers a whammy of new development halfway through, which then leads to the BIG TWIST waiting in the final pages.
In thrillers like this that promises all sorts of surprises, we're willing to tolerate the pile-up of obnoxious characters if the pacing zips along and the BIG TWIST is clever enough to make it worth our while.
As in her last book, Megan Miranda's pacing is so-so. But we kind of liked the twist on this one, a worthy stunner dripping with irony, with that extra sting you'd find in an old episode of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV show.
If the author had cared enough to make a reader care about these characters, the book's finish might have delivered a modicum of sadness and tragedy, but the book never rises above the mechanics of its mystery. 2 and 1/2 stars (** 1/2) at best.
Speaking of shifty neighbors, one of whom was murdered , let's move on to B.A. Paris's The Therapist (2021.
For this one, we hop across the pond to Merrie Olde London, where Alice and Leo, a co-habiting but unmarried couple move into a gated little cluster of houses dubbed "The Circle".
To Alice's everlasting dismay, she learns that Nina, a therapist and previous occupant of the house, was brutally murdered, supposedly by her husband who later committed suicide while in prison.
........begging the question, of course,....did the hubby do it? Or is the real killer still lurking among one of the neighbors?
Alice, who's carrying some heavy past emotional baggage of her own, unwisely launches her own haphazard amateur investigation into the murder......which, as we thriller readers well know, will eventually lead to the BIG TWIST..
Once again, we're presented with a cast of uninteresting usual suspects, most of whom should wear a 'HELLO, I'M AN OFFICIAL RED HERRING' badge on their clothing....(but you'll notice we used the phrase 'most of whom'....) And Alice herself serves as a whiny, neurotic, pain-in-the-ass would be sleuth, whose endless ruminations about who did what and why become wearisome in a hurry.
And we know your next question. What about the BIG TWIST?
It's a corker of a twist, alright, leading to the expected violent showdown. And it takes author Paris practically an entire follow-up chapter to explain all the details of its disturbing, but rather far-fetched backstory.
The problem here........ we're just not sure the twist, clever and outrageous as it is, was worth slogging through the long, long series of Alice's tedious interactions with the neighbors.......so we've no choice but to hand this one the same 2 and 1/2 star (** 1/2) rating.
But if you're like us and gravitate toward thrillers that offer a less than beautiful day in the neighborhood, chances are you'll want to check these out.......
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