Run Away by Harlan Coben

It's been a while since I last enjoyed a Harlan Coben book, but I have always enjoyed anything Coben writes (Fool Me Once, for example). Run Away was an absolute thrill to read - exactly what I expect from a gripping mystery to provide.

Title: Run Away

Author: Harlan Coben

Pages: 371

Published: 2019

My Rating: 4/5

Simon has been looking for his estranged (more like lost) daughter Paige, who had a fairly decent childhood until she left for college and got herself an abusive boyfriend Aaron. When a neighbour lets Simon know he "might" have spotted Paige at Central Park busking for money, Simon is pained and stunned to find out that the frail, poor girl he sees is indeed his daughter. But right before he can confidently get her away to safety, Aaron steps in and Paige runs away with him.

The story follows Simon's hunt for his daughter as he tracks down her old classmates and tries to piece together things he never knew about Paige. I found Run Away having a mix of murder-mystery and family relationships - the recipe for a compelling read that makes you feel things. I could understand Simon's frustration and helplessness as we learn more about the family, Paige's nature and the little details that shape our relationships and personalities. 

Simon's wife Ingrid is a strong woman with a mind of her own, and I quite liked her from the beginning, even though to Simon she seems to have let Paige run away. There's an air of mystery around her which intensifies when a drug dealer shoots her when they both go looking for Paige in the drug den she was supposed to frequent. We also meet other characters in a side-storyline - paid assassins whose targets make no sense until towards the end. Now that I think about it, the alternative stories going back and forth somewhat broke a momentum as they didn't seem to be linked that much in the beginning. Nevertheless, the writing was gripping and fast-paced, and both storylines were pacing well.  

I'm also not sure what I feel about the supporting character Cornelius - he was there and served a strong purpose but he was also very conveniently coming and going when Simon or us, the readers, needed useful information about Paige. The ending, though!! I liked how the suspense builds up and unravels slowly, not in a rush, putting the pieces of the puzzle together and leads to a shocking ending! It made me whoop and suffer a shock at the same time. I am very happy with the ending, indeed.

I would surely recommend giving this a read if you're looking for something fast-paced and relatively light. It's not too heavy on the head like some of the recent psychological thrillers I've read lately. It can get quite fun, too. If you've read this already, share your thoughts! What do you think?

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Another Goodreads choice awards pick! The Silent Patient follows the story of Alicia Berenson, an artist accused of her husband's murder. Alicia did not speak a single word since she was found with the murder weapon and her husband's body. A psychotherapist, Theo, has been following Alicia's story since the event and feels the need to dig deeper as the years pass, because of his fascination and curiosity about what happened.

Title: The Silent Patient

Author: Alex Michaelides

Pages: 325

Published: 2019

The book is narrated from two perspectives, one is Alicia's diary and the other is Theo's point of view. Alicia's diary narrates the story from when her husband gets her the diary to encourage her to write her feelings when she's overwhelmed. We get snapshots of her life and build up of the story along with Theo's POV narrating the current time - Theo finding a job at the institution Alicia stays at, and doing his best to try and get Alicia to talk.

I found the storyline and writing very engaging. The mystery about Alicia's silence unravels slowly while providing readers a complete backdrop of the past - Alicia's own personal troubles, her relationship with her husband as well as other characters who are linked in her life. As Theo continues trying to elicit a response from his patient, he shares with us his discoveries about things that seem to make Alicia respond, things that matter to her. 

Overall, I found myself flipping through the pages to get to the end and unravel the mystery. I did get a hint of the twist and the killer mid-way through the book, even though I found it exciting and wanted to read to understand how it could be! It was a fresh idea, it wasn't too predictable, and the setting was more contemporary than I've been reading lately. The suspense was built up throughout the book, so I didn't get bored. The little snippets and perspectives from Alicia's art was also something new to be found in this book - references to Greek myths, exploring storytelling through art and reading meanings through painted images. 

As for characterization, I felt like Alicia was the only character the author seemed to focus most on - perhaps because the story demanded it, but a couple of characters didn't seem to add much to the story other than being red herrings, I suppose. Otherwise, the plot and the narration was on-point for me. Also, a well-rounded and well-explained ending is a rarity these days in thrillers, so I was very happy with this one.

I would definitely say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it - it was one of my fastest reads this year, and would surely recommend it for today's psychological thriller recommendations. I do feel it's now a bit over-rated, but highly delicious to read anyway!

PS - The book cover totally drew me in. 5/5 to this cover idea.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Title: Sharp Objects

Author: Gillian Flynn

Pages: 254

Published: 2006

My Rating: 4/5

This was my second book by Gillian Flynn after Gone Girl. Flynn's characters seem to have some things in common - a disturbing past that has influenced these women in deep, unnerving ways that turn them into unreliable narrators. 

Camille Preaker is a reporter based in Chicago. She's sent to cover a murder and disappearance of  young girls, aged 9 and 10 respectively, in the small town of Wind Gap. She dreads returning to the town she grew up in and seeing her family after eight years - sure enough, as soon as we start reading about Wind Gap, a whole gothic, creepy vibe takes over the book and doesn't go away till the end.

Reading this story was highly uncomfortable. Everything made me uneasy - the dialogues, the people in Wind Gap, the kids, the police officers. It gives the air of something sinister hiding deep within the town, although to be fair, I can understand that Flynn made this deliberate to create a certain atmosphere, and it works. Right from the beginning as Camille enters her home town, you get the feeling that something is wrong. Camille's mother Adora behaves and talks in a strangely controlling way, her younger sister Amma feels unreliable and scary with her discordant personality, stories of how young kids behave and what they talk about in the town also have a dark tone to them.

Despite being disturbing, this book absorbed me. It was compulsive and I found myself reading this every free minute, reading late into the night till my eyes screamed shut in protest. I dreamed about it and kept thinking about this strange story where two young girls get murdered and have their teeth removed. As Camille learns more and we get a glimpse of her past, dots begin to join a little. Commonalities in both murders are discovered, leading to the possibility of a serial killer, possibly someone local. 

As we gain different perspectives, including a great (yet dark) view of small town gossip and interactions, things seem to get more sinister. And when we realise we have reached a satisfactory (and disturbing) conclusion, we read on to find there's more. That's what I liked best - tricking me into believing something only to find out there's a lot more to it! Lately I've been finding thrillers to have unsatisfactory endings because there's little explanation, however with Sharp Objects I have no such complaint! It lives true to its promise as a thriller. I would recommend this as a mysterious, fast read. However, it does have gory details related to self-harm (cutting) and psychological issues due to an unconventional and disturbed childhood.

Did this book have an impact on me? YES

Did I enjoy reading this book? Hell YES

Will I recommend it to you? Absolutely!

Enjoy!

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Lately I’ve been “curating” my reading list straight from Goodreads choice awards (reduction in reading time, folks. Thank you, life). That’s how I found The Family Upstairs - a creepy thriller disguised as family drama. Libby Jones receives a letter after her 25th birthday stating she has inherited a grand house, which makes her search deeper into her past, revealing mysterious happenings, strange people and sinister occurrences. Going back and forth in the past and the present, this book is a take on dysfunctional dynamics in a family that can alter the way of life for generations to come. 

Admittedly, it was my first Lisa Jewell book, despite her being known for popular thrillers for quite some time (read Then She Was Gone, Watching You, etc). Before delving into details I can say for sure I would look out and proactively read more books by this author, because this gothic psychological thriller did not disappoint me when I needed my quick-read fix. 

The one thing that struck me as different about this story is that it’s not your typical fast-paced thriller in the traditional sense. It delves deep into family dynamics, psychology, uncomfortable but very real consequences of the tiniest emotions and actions. Perhaps that’s what makes it feel slightly unnerving - we’ve all been helpless in our relationships at some point in our lives, and reading this book can make you feel, “This could have happened to me.” 

The pacing and storyline was slow, keeping in with developments that happened over the years. The narrative takes on from different POVs which was a bit confusing at first because we don't know how all these people (Libby, Henry and Lucy) are related, but hold your breath... it starts coming together towards the later end and becomes exciting when you start realising how it makes sense. I also found character development to be decent, especially for Henry, who was a child witnessing the gradual change that came in when some strangers entered their home, and their lives. The story seemed to be focused more from Henry's perspective so he was the only one I could really connect with. The others went along with the events from a secondary viewpoint. 

As for the actual plot, I actually was surprised at one point with a major revelation, but that seemed to be the only part mildly ‘shocking’. The rest reads like a slow, unnerving development, so that when you’re at the end and look back, it’s when you see all that has changed. It’s not really fast-paced in that sense. It's enjoyable for its unique narration and pace. 

Overall, albeit all the emotions, I enjoyed the thrill from this book. The revelation of the mystery wraps up nicely enough. It gives a satisfying ending and closure, and stays thrilling even towards the end with mysterious occurrences and behaviours. I would rate it a 4/5 and would recommend to readers looking for a mystery recommendation. 

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

I remembered having seen this book in the library I used to visit a few years ago. I also remembered that I had wanted to read it back then--just look at the cover! (What? Book covers rule.) Back then, and even now when I finally got around to reading it, I thought it would be a bitter-sweet high school romance, which is something I could totally handle.

But what actually happened was this:

Me: Ooh... Hudson (the lead female protagonist) isn't just a damsel in distress. She has dreams and she has guts and she's gonna break through barriers to achieve her goals. The romance part is just going to be a part of it.

*a few pages into the book* Me: Hudson bakes such amazing cupcakes. I took 2 years to learn how to bake a basic sponge cake. She's a cupcake pro already! Must learn to bake cupcakes.

*reads some more* Me: Y'know... What happened to Hudson and her family doesn't really seem fair. Why isn't her mom cooperating at all? AND how can she be okay when ill-behaved customers at her diner are teasing Hudson and the other waitress (what's her name?). Ugh.

Me: Wait... why's Hudson behaving like such a selfish and silly brat when it comes to cute guys? Wh- what is she even doing?!

Me: Oh-kay. This Hudson is not the one I began the book with. Plus, everyone speaks the same kind of Oh-I'm-cool lingo. What happened to plain ol' English? This is too fast and too boring and doesn't make me FEEL anything. Bye-bye book.

I don't know what happened in the second half of the book. The premise was so promising. It totally should have been a young girl's rise from the ashes and kicking ass in ice-hockey, but it was too long a story to hold interest and the said young girl started behaving so unlike herself and so much like a typical high school book-girl (who, I don't know why, resembles someone from Mean Girls and the like).

You could give it a try though. Perhaps I got too influenced by cupcake descriptions at the beginning of each chapter and expected too much out of a young girl. Maybe you have the patience and perspective to understand whatever was happening. Have you read this book? How did you find it? Tell me!