Review: A long-winded but intriguing mystery with a confusion of characters
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 25, 2013
At 526 pages, the sheer length of this book is daunting. But once I started reading, I became intrigued with the mystery and decided to persevere. By the time I'd gotten through 20% of the story, I was confused by the plethora of characters, many of whom seemed to have the same or very similar names. I went back to the beginning and took notes on the characters, something I have never done before. (Usually my memory for names and characters is good.) There is a Laura, a Linda, and a Lisa. Worse than that, I found two Joes, a Joseph, and Jo. One of the police officers is Joe Collins, and one of the victims is Harry Collins. Even after going back and re-reading these parts, I could not figure out the relationship between the two. If they were not related, why did no one on the police force point out this coincidence? Why would the author give two characters the same last name if they are not related? Checking into the hospital emergency is a little boy named Rory with a rock stuck in his ear. On the same page, the nurse hands a registration form to Tom. What happened to Rory, and who is Tom? It isn't explained. Police officer Seaton's wife or girlfriend is named Sarah, as we learn when he is called away from her on Christmas day. In the same chapter, Frankie also winds up with a new girlfriend named Sarah. At first I believed these to be the same person. But since there was no rivalry between the two men over Sarah, I had to conclude there must be two Sarahs. Neither Seaton nor Frankie commented on this coincidence. During the tense climactic scene where people are held at gunpoint,the villain is captured, and he confesses, a woman named Jan is suddenly in the room with the others. The author never explains who Jan is, how or when she entered the room, why no one notices she's there, or why Seaton decides to put his arm around her.Besides the confusion of names, there are a number of sudden and confusing shifts in point of view. There are many, many typos. There are misplaced words and rogue punctuation marks. I found one paragraph that appeared in two different places, word for word. While the mystery itself has merit, this book needs some serious editing. If it were trimmed to half its length, with half as many characters (each with their own unique name, please) it would be worth five stars. As it is, I can only give it three.