The Woman Before Me by Ruth Dugdall
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I found this an uncomfortable read. In many ways because it is not easy to read about the death of babies, but also because the main character was so unlikeable. Reminiscent of Gone Girl, The Good Girl and The Girl on the Train, she was just a little too unhinged to ever really feel any interest in her story.
Considering this is meant to the the first book in the "Cate Austin" series, we really learn very little about Cate and I didn't feel her character was well developed.
Add into this a scene where a female gets drunk at a party, goes back to her male colleagues' house to "sleep it off" where he tries to have sex with her despite her repeated drunken attempts to remove him and say "no"... and this was never accepted as attempted rape, but just another funny story about how the new girl in the office was 'easy', led someone on, and embarrassed him. Made me sick actually and the book loses a star for that.
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Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
As I started reading this, I decided that the authors had decided to make a parody of a Thriller, because surely such experienced and well known writers wouldn't write something like this seriously. Would they?
As a parody it is lots of fun. There are the evil henchmen that can't die, the evil family plot to take over the world (bwaaa-haaa-haaa), "top secret government installations", and amateur detectives who figure everything out and are the only ones who can save us from "the new world order".
So for a book I could laugh with (or is that at?) I gave it 3 stars. If you are after an actual thriller, then you may be best to move on.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
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Quick by Steve Worland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Steve Worland is predominantly a screenwriter, and that is clearly evident by reading this book. From the start it is full of action and adventure and reads like a movie playing in front of your eyes.
I read that one of Worland's goals is to get more men, and boys, reading and therefore he appeals to their sense of adventure. He is happy to be seen as "another" Matthew Reilly and wants to write blokey adventure stories with an Australian hero.
He definitely hits his goals with this book. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it, and quickly told my husband he needs to read it too!
I won the audiobook from Bolinda (thank you), and the narrator was good, but not great. A few little things, like he has an American accent which is a little off-putting with a story that has an Australian main character, and initially is based in Australia. He can't do an Australian accent and his attempts at European accents (French, German, Russian) all sounded like a strange Russian to me. I found it such a shame that for an author who really wanted to have an Australian hero, the audio narrator was not Australian.
And while I'm on the nationalistic theme, there were just a few things that the MC said that are American-isms. I know that Worland works in the US and he probably doesn't even realise he did it, but his editor should have. Especially when the MC is meant to have never left Australia before (they called his annual leave "vacation time" and McDonalds "Mickey Dees" which Australians call "Maccas"). I know they are only small things, but they always stick out at me as an indication of the quality of the writing and editing.
Anyhow, don't let that stop you. Go and read this book! :)
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