Review: Darkly brilliant
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 16, 2014
The author asks the reader to suspend disbelief right from the start. And I did.Olivia is suddenly abandoned by her lover when he disappears. She is carrying his child. Then her parents are killed in a terrible accident. Reeling from despondency and loss, she is rescued by Robert, who is the knight in shining armor who takes care of her.They marry, have children together, but don't live happily ever after. Olivia feels like Robert is always watching and controlling her. Robert insists that his wife is stressed and forgetful. He makes excuses for her to the school when she fails to pick up their children. When he goes out for pizza with the kids, and doesn't return, Olivia calls the police. But it seems it's a false alarm, according to Robert. He told her he was taking them overnight to spend time with them, since they are all too close to their mother.The story is told from 3 POVs, Olivia's, Robert's, and the detective in charge of the case. There is also input from the detective's partner, his would be girlfriend, and Olivia's best friend. As a reader, I wasn't sure if Olivia (done in first person) was an unreliable narrator, or whether Robert was gaslighting his wife.The author grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go. I read it late into the night.This is more of a dark psychological mystery. The fast action doesn't begin until the end of the book. So readers that love a lot of action may not like this. I loved it, and the end was a huge surprise.