Review: Long Gone by Alafair Burke

Opening lines of the book:

“Alice Humphrey knew the kiss would ruin everything.”

Why I read it:

Although I’m generally not a fan of thrillers, the premise of this one sounded very intriguing and I was in the mood for an exciting read.

What it’s about:

After several months of unemployment, Alice Humphrey is offered a job that sounds too good to be true but also too good to resist: manager of a new Manhattan art gallery in the trendy Meatpacking District. Only a few days after the opening of the gallery’s first (and very controversial) show, Alice walks into a nightmare: the gallery has been cleaned out and the man who recruited her for the job is dead on the floor. Alice soon finds herself the prime suspect in a murder investigation.

What worked:

Long Gone by Alafair Burke did come with a warning of sorts, blurbed across the top of the cover, in fairly big letters: “Should come with a warning . . . highly addictive” (according to Karin Slaughter). Except I paid no attention to the warning—not being much of a thriller reader, I’ve never read Slaughter, so didn’t know I should trust her judgement. Instead I innocently started reading this book in the middle of the week, on a day when I needed to eat and work and then sleep. But forget eating, working or sleeping—I needed to know what was going to happen to Alice! Thank goodness I’m a freelancer who can take a “mental health” day without telling anyone it’s because I’m addicted to a book!

Long Gone is more than Alice Humphrey’s story; it’s also the story of Joann and her teenage daughter Becca (who has a secret or two), and of Hank Beckman, who’s obsessed with a man who may have had something to do with his sister’s death. Burke juggles all these well-rounded characters expertly—I was intrigued to see how they would connect (although I did guess one link before it was revealed) and thought the three story lines added to the narrative tension.

What didn’t work:

Unfortunately, the ending to Long Gone didn’t live up to the rest of the book. Up until the pieces started falling into place, I was willing to buy the whole story, but the ending seemed too far-fetched (and kinda came out of left field too). Plus I hated the fact that one of the stories was tied up within another one (we hear what happened to the characters from one of the three narrative strands via another character, rather than directly from them)—it made their story seem lesser somehow, not worthy of having its own separate ending.
 
Final thoughts:

Generally, if I dislike the ending of a movie, it’s a deal breaker, but I tend to be more forgiving when it comes to books (maybe because I’ve spent more time with the characters). Despite my disappointment in the ending of Long Gone, I recommend this one if you’re looking for a day or two of addictive escapist reading!

Thank you to Tina at Bookshipper for giving me this book to read.
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Other reviews:

Bookshipper • Book Twirps • In one eye, out the other • In Real Life • Jen’s Book Thoughts • Lazy Day Books Blog • Linus’s Blanket • Sarah Reads Too Much • Views from the Countryside • Whimpulsive • Zelda’s Reviews

Interview with the author: A Conversation with Alafair Burke @ Mulholland Books • Linus’s Blanket
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Beautiful Lies and A Likeness in Stone: Thoughts on two books outside my comfort zone

I recently read two books that fall outside my usual comfort zone: Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger and A Likeness in Stone by Julia Wallis Martin. For different reasons, both books unfortunately didn’t work for me.

Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger is the story of Ridley Jones, who, after appearing on television for an act of heroism, receives a mysterious package that indicates she may not be who she thinks she is. I don’t usually read thrillers and unfortunately reading this one hasn’t changed my opinion that this genre isn’t for me. While the novel was fast-paced and intriguing enough to keep me reading until the end, there were a few plot points that really bugged me:

How is it possible that a relatively well-adjusted and seemingly normal person like Ridley doesn’t have a single friend in the world except her creepy ex-boyfriend and his strange mother?

Why would her parents, no matter what their issues, not tell her what they knew when it became obvious that by keeping her in the dark they were endangering her life?

I guess the bottom line for me was that I was unable to suspend my disbelief enough to really enjoy this novel. There were too many coincidences, too many things that didn’t make sense and I also found the main character whiny.

To read other reviews of this book, visit these blogs:
Book Chase • Confessions of a Bibliophile • Reading without Restraint • Ticket to Anywhere

Thank you to Donna at BookBound for giving me this book to read.

A Likeness in Stone by Julia Wallis Martin is a mystery, a genre I do read and love; however, as I’ve mentioned before, my taste in mysteries is fairly limited. I picked up this book because the author was recommended by Elizabeth George, one of my favourite mystery writers. (I found her recommendations on the Fantastic Fiction site.*) I completely ignored the fact that this novel was compared to those of Ruth Rendell and Minette Walters, two authors I carefully avoid as they don’t fit my rule of “no psychopaths or serial killers, no terror and no blow-by-blow descriptions of murder or its results.”

In the first chapter, divers find a corpse in a wardrobe in a submerged house—the dead woman turns out to be Helena Warner, an Oxford student who disappeared some 20 years before. This reopens a case that had remained unsolved despite the fact that the homicide detective in charge at the time was sure he knew who did it. There is no question that Martin writes well and if you enjoy Rendell’s or Walters’ mysteries, then you will undoubtedly enjoy this atmospheric (and creepy) novel as well. Despite the small cast of characters, the story kept me guessing until the very end and completely sucked me in—I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it. However, it was too creepy for me (it definitely broke the above-mentioned rule), so unfortunately I’ll be staying away from this author in the future too.

A Likeness in Stone was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1999.

*George actually recommends The Long Close Call, Wallis Martin’s third book, but I wanted to start with her first, which may have been my mistake.