This is the type of book you want your friends to read because you just know everyone's opinions are going to be all over the place and you can't wait to hear what they think. The things I enjoyed about the book could easily be someone else's least favorite parts. Some heavy subjects are tackled and certainly the chapters towards the end would provide material for a lively book club discussion.
Near the beginning of the story you know a 911 call has been placed and a police officer arrives at a home in suburban Kansas. The plot alternates between this which is referred to as "The Day of the Killing", and events in the past. Maddie and Ian meet at a party in Macedonia years ago and they are now married and raising their young son, Charlie. While Ian is away in Iraq doing security work, Maddie begins attending therapy sessions in which she slowly reveals the sources of her anxiety. Obviously you have to read the book if you want to find out how everything is connected.
I honestly think the length of this book could have been trimmed by about 50 pages as it felt very slow moving at times. But despite that, I really was caught up in the story and seeing how everything pieced together. I loved how some of the story took place in the Balkans as the social climate there added to the tension plus it's it's not a setting I typically get to read about in fiction.
This book is already being compared to other recent best selling psychological thrillers which I don't really agree with. I feel like when a book is promoted like that you just automatically expect all of these dramatic twists and turns and end up feeling disappointed if you are able to predict things before they happen. I think if you just watch this story of a married couple unfold naturally and as more of a general fiction book, you will have a better reading experience.
Thank you to Bookish First and the publisher for providing me with an advance reader's copy.
Near the beginning of the story you know a 911 call has been placed and a police officer arrives at a home in suburban Kansas. The plot alternates between this which is referred to as "The Day of the Killing", and events in the past. Maddie and Ian meet at a party in Macedonia years ago and they are now married and raising their young son, Charlie. While Ian is away in Iraq doing security work, Maddie begins attending therapy sessions in which she slowly reveals the sources of her anxiety. Obviously you have to read the book if you want to find out how everything is connected.
I honestly think the length of this book could have been trimmed by about 50 pages as it felt very slow moving at times. But despite that, I really was caught up in the story and seeing how everything pieced together. I loved how some of the story took place in the Balkans as the social climate there added to the tension plus it's it's not a setting I typically get to read about in fiction.
This book is already being compared to other recent best selling psychological thrillers which I don't really agree with. I feel like when a book is promoted like that you just automatically expect all of these dramatic twists and turns and end up feeling disappointed if you are able to predict things before they happen. I think if you just watch this story of a married couple unfold naturally and as more of a general fiction book, you will have a better reading experience.
Thank you to Bookish First and the publisher for providing me with an advance reader's copy.