I started to think, ‘yes, I can get into this‘ and then – everything was settled right after it started. Torre just hands you the resolutions one after another – no twists, surprises, or red herrings.

The male characters and their perspectives were a lot less developed – every Sam or Mike chapter was very self-explanatory with ‘okay, let me tell you exactly what I did and why.’ Instead of allowing the reader to be an observer and try to discover answers for themselves, all of the secrets are instantly revealed. So much more telling than showing. Lenny was a little better, but for an alcoholic caretaker, he miraculously returned to his rockstar detective roots with no problems and solved everything within a few chapters. But the police couldn’t?

Too much time was wasted on relationships that barely came into play later on, and not enough was spent on the suspense. I don’t even want to classify this as a thriller, though I know it’s supposed to be. It almost feels like an attempt at a psychological thriller but not enough effort was made to give Lillian that dissolving sense of reality that you would expect to see. Instead, she’s a pretty typical, bored, unhappy housewife. There are hints at a history of mental illness and alcoholism, but these are more offhand comments than anything that was explored in depth.

I honestly went into this review with a 3.5-star rating. But, unfortunately, once you break things down, I can’t justify going above 2.5 stars.