I ended up enjoying Charlie Donlea's The Suicide House for the most part. It's a quick read for being so dense, and it kept my attention throughout. I had worried at first that I'd be a little lost in the plot as I realized only after I had committed to reading that it's technically a book two, after his Some Choose Darkness.
Fortunately, and expanded upon in an author's note, that wasn't the case. Apparently he writes his novels with connections to each other, but they can also stand alone.
I liked the premise of this one: Students at an elite prep school get caught up in a grisly murder mystery that involves a secret club and a possible murderous teacher. The backbones of the story are Lane, an FBI profiler, Rory, a cold case expert, and Ryder, a reporter/podcaster.
The voice and the writing were good, and as main characters, I liked Lane and Rory.
But there were a couple things that held me back from bumping my rating higher. There were details that bogged things down. I skimmed every time there was mention of Rory's dolls. None of it advanced the plot and didn't help me connect to her any more than I already did. Likewise, how many times did we need mention of her taking swigs of a very specific beer? These were just a couple examples of some of the repetitive language throughout.
Other things bugged me in terms of plausibility. The big thing that struck me was that the killer supposedly murders someone by hiding under the bed and--unless I misread the scene, which I read more than once to make sure I wasn't--chokes him by draping a rope over his neck and then pulling both ends...while hiding under the bed and bringing their knees up and pushing against the mattress with their legs. How high was this bed? I've never seen one that a toddler could manage such a feat as that. Not to mention, how does one choke someone in that fashion? Surely you can easily escape that? Maybe I'm overthinking it, and it's a bit nitpicky, but...
And finally--there are so many tangents this goes on. So many side characters and plots and points of view. I don't even understand how the subplot of the missing husband was relevant. To highlight the guilt of the students? I'd think there was enough going on with the night of the murders to carry the story. The extra stuff was a little distracting, so by the time we get to the big reveal at the very end of the story, I felt a little "meh" about it.
I know this sounds pretty negative, but as I said, overall I enjoyed this. I'd definitely check out Donlea's other novels as well.
Thank you to BookishFirst and Kensington Books for providing this copy in exchange for a review.
Fortunately, and expanded upon in an author's note, that wasn't the case. Apparently he writes his novels with connections to each other, but they can also stand alone.
I liked the premise of this one: Students at an elite prep school get caught up in a grisly murder mystery that involves a secret club and a possible murderous teacher. The backbones of the story are Lane, an FBI profiler, Rory, a cold case expert, and Ryder, a reporter/podcaster.
The voice and the writing were good, and as main characters, I liked Lane and Rory.
But there were a couple things that held me back from bumping my rating higher. There were details that bogged things down. I skimmed every time there was mention of Rory's dolls. None of it advanced the plot and didn't help me connect to her any more than I already did. Likewise, how many times did we need mention of her taking swigs of a very specific beer? These were just a couple examples of some of the repetitive language throughout.
Other things bugged me in terms of plausibility. The big thing that struck me was that the killer supposedly murders someone by hiding under the bed and--unless I misread the scene, which I read more than once to make sure I wasn't--chokes him by draping a rope over his neck and then pulling both ends...while hiding under the bed and bringing their knees up and pushing against the mattress with their legs. How high was this bed? I've never seen one that a toddler could manage such a feat as that. Not to mention, how does one choke someone in that fashion? Surely you can easily escape that? Maybe I'm overthinking it, and it's a bit nitpicky, but...
And finally--there are so many tangents this goes on. So many side characters and plots and points of view. I don't even understand how the subplot of the missing husband was relevant. To highlight the guilt of the students? I'd think there was enough going on with the night of the murders to carry the story. The extra stuff was a little distracting, so by the time we get to the big reveal at the very end of the story, I felt a little "meh" about it.
I know this sounds pretty negative, but as I said, overall I enjoyed this. I'd definitely check out Donlea's other novels as well.
Thank you to BookishFirst and Kensington Books for providing this copy in exchange for a review.