Review: Strong opening, tails off a little, but some dark irony by the close
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 17, 2013
I thought the opening part of this novella was very strong, a very good character portrait. Sure, the thing suffers from a little show-not-tell, but that's OK. It's only a novella and has a lot to cram in. I felt that later on, in the second and third parts, the narrative lost a little conviction, as if the rich detail with which it opened had been sacrificed for the story's meat and bones. But then the last part redeemed it, with a nice irony by the close that reminded me of the arch crime fiction of Ruth Rendell. I look forward to more from Ryker.