Review: Great description and good plot twists, but not my favorite of her books
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 7, 2012
I requested this book from Rebecca Forster, the author, because I loved her novel, Hostile Witness, and she was kind enough to oblige. I give this novel 3.5 stars.Before Her Eyes focuses on two protagonists, Dove, a hard-boiled small town policeman, and Tessa, the beautiful model that has vanished. The setup is interesting--there is a dead man in a convenience store, which is the last place Tessa was seen before she vanished. We see alternating perspectives between Dove in a tight third person, and Tessa in first person. As Dove tries to track down Tessa, he finds himself uncovering mysteries that others hoped to keep hidden.The strengths of this novel include some of the great description and some interesting plot twists. Forster excels at revealing secrets and bringing the unexpected.However, I had some difficulties with this novel. The pacing is a little off-- I found myself uncertain why we were following Tessa at all. The middle drags some as we wander around with Dove trying to figure out what is going on. And although I really enjoyed the twists, particularly at the end, some of them still don't quite make sense to me.That said, I still think Forster is one to watch-- and her Witness series is excellent. This was not my favorite of her books, but still a fun read.