Oh Man! Was my mystery loving teen daughter excited to see this one arrive on our doorstep. Fortunately I read it first because she's not. No it isn't gruesome. No it isn't smutty. But it does deal with sexual child abuse and, for better or for worse, I don't want my 13 year old to have to deal with that any more than necessary.
In truth, I thought author Dee Henderson did a good job of dealing with the subject without going into detail. However, I didn't like how it was stated over and over that the victim (who is now an adult) needed other people protecting them - as though they can't think for themselves. Victims of abuse have often been told what to think and how to act - against their will. They don't need us to continue on making their decisions. What they need is for us to support them in their decision making, not treat them like a porcelain doll.
I must say "Bravo!" to Ms. Henderson for writing a mystery with many false starts and mis-turns. This book kept me guessing and I didn't see the ending coming. The characters were believable and the plot moved along nicely.
Unfortunately, there is one aspect of Ms. Henderson's writing that grates my nerves. The characters say each other's names too often. No one talks like that in real life and it makes for every conversation sound harsh - like they are being taught or reprimanded all the time. (Ha, I bet if you didn't notice it before, it'll annoy you now.) My daughter asked how I was liking the book and I mentioned this to her and for fun we spoke to each other, throwing in each other's first name as often as the book does. Hilariously rude sounding. It sounded like we were ordering each other around.
All in all I enjoyed this mystery.
Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
No comments:
Post a Comment