Living Lies by Natalie Walters
From back cover:
In the little town of Walton, Georgia, everybody knows your name - but no one knows your secret.
At least that's what Lane Kent is counting on when she returns to her hometown with her five-year-old son. Dangerously depressed after the death of her husband, Lane is looking for hope. What she finds instead is a dead body.
Lane must work with Walton's newest deputy, Charlie Lynch, to uncover the truth behind the murder. But when that truth hits too close to home, she'll have to decide if saving the life of another is worth the cost of revealing her darkest secret.
I thought the beginning of the book started out strong but then about a third of the way in the plot got a bit confusing. And not really in a good, mysterious kind of way. I don't think complex would be the right word, but it was a bit difficult to follow along with and didn't seem to make sense at times. I guess it seemed more like the story pieces were being forced together instead of naturally falling into place.
I appreciated the fact the author took the time to write a character with depression since it's not commonly talked about in Christian circles. And while I wanted to connect with Lane because of that (and at times I did, I'm not downplaying it totally.) she was just hard to like or connect with.
Lane's depression just came across as her only trait. It's all we really know about her. She has a son, but it's almost an afterthought to her as a person. Noah is just there but doesn't really add anything to her or the story. Depression isn't all-consuming. You have good days and bad ones but people with depression still have a personality. There is more to a person than just a label or a stigma. And I just didn't get that from Lane.
Yes, I know that her situation is not going to make her come across as a super outgoing type of person. Trust me. I get that as I am an introvert myself and I know I don't come across as bubbly and outgoing. But I could have done with some internal dialogue or something from her.
I did like Charlie though. He was a better character and I found him to be much more likable than Lane. He was just a very smart, kind, and compassionate person. I thought him, as well as Sheriff Huggins, kind of carried the story. Charlie and the Sheriff were definitely my favorite characters of this book.
I guess I just felt like the author was trying to tackle so many different topics and issues that it ended up being hard to keep up with. I got to the end of the book and was kind of like, Huh. Okay then. Instead of that sense of satisfaction you get at the end of a great book. Maybe like when you finish a TV series that ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, but then you find out the series was cancelled so then it's just weird. (I'm looking at you Whiskey Cavalier. You can't just have a main character kidnapped and then end the series. But I digress.)
I hope this review doesn't come across like I didn't like the book or hated the characters or anything because that's not the case. I thought the book was very well written. I could picture the town and the setting, and with a few tweaks the plot would have been a lot easier to follow. But the characters were just lacking for me.
I will say that I think the author has a lot of promise and I will look forward to her next book!
I received a complementary copy of this book from Revell. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment