My Life Next Door
by Huntley Fitzpatrick
It starts out slowly, a teenage version of a "cozy" without the mystery. (Other than the usual teen mystery: does he like me? Do I make the first move? Will he see me again? When? Where?
That part was fun, but you knew it wouldn't be all. The author introduced a cast of characters including "the mom", a bigoted, frustrated woman approaching middle age without ever accomplishing anything except winning public office more-or-less by default. "Clay," a smooth as snake political adviser who decides, "your Mama has got what it takes; she's gonna go far." "Best friend," a girl with an even more messed up family than Samantha's. "Best friend's brother," druggie alcoholic determined to ruin his life one small step after another. And "the Garretts," the family next door that just didn't fit in the neighborhood.
At the end this got so tense I had to steal an hour of precious reading time to keep on listening to it. If I had a paper copy, I'd be re-reading those parts right now; instead, I'll just cue them up to listen to them later in the car.
I hate the author for making me care so much that it hurt. A little over half-way through, she tossed in a "little did I know" line that sets your heart on edge. Wondering...worrying....
Was the painful twist anything I imagined? Not, not in my wildest. Was it as bad as I expected?
Not telling.
No comments:
Post a Comment