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Annabel Kantaria – The One That Got Away | Review

Title: The One That Got Away

Author: Annabel Kantaria

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 462

Rating: 4*/5

Annabel Kantaria – The One That Got Away

Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.

This one left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it’s well-written, well-edited and well-presented, and it does feature a story line that basically forces the reader to keep on turning page after page to see what happens next. But on the other hand, it’s nothing new. In fact, it’s basically Gone Girl, repackaged to fit a British audience. So it’ll probably sell a lot of copies and become a critical success, and my own feelings as a reader are effectively moot. Still, I’ll have a go.

Basically, this book follows the story of what happens when a successful businesswoman goes to her high school reunion and bumps into her old flame, who now happens to be a wealthy businessman and successful philanthropist. He still likes her and he makes a move, even though he’s married, and you’ll have to read the book to find out the rest because I don’t want to spoil it for you.

The reason it’s like Gone Girl is that the male and female leads are both manipulative, and that brings me on to the same problem with this book that I also had with Gone Girl – neither of the main characters are likeable, which makes it hard for me to care what happens to them. I mean, they do some awful things to each other – which people have a habit of doing – but I found it difficult to feel sorry for anyone. They all deserved what they got.

Annabel Kantaria

I also thought that the ending was a little rushed, and while it does wrap the story up, it comes almost out of nowhere. It felt a bit like I’d powered through the book only to get to the end and find out that the whole thing was a dream. It was just too quick, too neat and too unbelievable, although I can also understand why the author did it in the way that she did.

But despite all this, I can’t award it anything less than a 4/5, and the reason for that is simple. Whether it’s derivative or not, it’s still well-written, well-paced and plenty easy to read. I got through it in a day, and it’s simply that kind of book – the kind that you might read once and then forget about. If you asked me about it in a week’s time, I wouldn’t be able to tell you what the characters were called. But if you’re looking for a book to read on the beach or while on holiday, it’ll do nicely.

Annabel Kantaria

Click here to buy The One That Got Away.

Peter James – You Are Dead | Review

Title: You Are Dead

Author: Peter James

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 520

Rating: 4*/5

Peter James – You Are Dead

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ve probably already noticed that I’ve been getting heavily into Peter James of late. Interestingly enough, I didn’t actually start with one of his crime novels – I started with The House On Cold Hill, an excerpt of which is included at the end of this novel to give potential readers a chance to preview it before buying it. Which you should do, of course – it’s a good book, just like all of James’ releases.

This book, though, is one of his Roy Grace detective novels, and it follows the story of the first serial killer to operate in Brighton in several decades. Grace and his team must track down the killer before he strikes again, but with no real leads and a huge pool of suspects – plus a number of known kidnap victims who may or may not still be alive – it’s one hell of a challenge for the Sussex police force. And then there’s the simultaneous story line about Grace’s missing ex-wife, Sandy, who may or may not have turned up alive (just!) in a hospital in Germany.

To some extent, you know exactly what you’re getting when you pick up a Peter James book; like Stephen King, he’s one of the rare breed of writers that maintains a constant high standard throughout everything he works on. This book isn’t my favourite of the Roy Grace books, but it is one of the better ones, mainly because the serial killer gives him a new angle to work with. The media gets involved, there’s widespread panic on the streets, and the killer is even given his own nickname – the Brighton Brander, because each of his victims is found with a brand on their body. A brand that says: U R Dead.

Peter James

That brings me on to one of the few negative aspects that I picked up on – the significance of the brand was never really explained, and that was one of the main things that I was hoping to have resolved by the end of the book. I think more could have been done with that, but then James left it reasonably open ended so it’s entirely possible that this will be referred to again in a future release. I also found that certain elements of this were spoiled by the fact that I read the series out of order – it can be done, and it won’t hamper your overall enjoyment, but while each book in the series is a standalone, there’s also the recurring story line of Grace’s personal life, as well as the lives of his colleagues.

Overall, though, I have a lot of time for You Are Dead. The tension – and the evil – is palpable, and James’ characters are at their best here. I even found myself feeling sorry for DS Norman Potting, which I didn’t think was actually possible. But ultimately, it was the victims that I found to be relatable, which added to the story.