Doesn’t Quite Hit The Mark!

I deliberated for a while over the rating for this book. It is well written, twisty and goes along at a good pace. It kept me interested throughout, but (as another reviewer said on Amazon), there is something missing and I can’t put my finger on what it is! Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and the narration was excellent.

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1 person found this helpful

Not quite great

Almost very good, a little predictable, didn’t quite come together, was hoping for more twists

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Amazing!

The story itself is full of plot twists, and the ending is completely unexpected. Camilla does an amazing job of narrating. Would make a great movie!

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4 people found this helpful

Full of twists and turns, a great listen.

I enjoyed this book throughly. It was narrated very well, the characters are complex and suprising, you never quite know how the story will end. Nice work Jane!

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Overthought

Ok story but in an attempt to be clever, it gets carried away with detail when Id worked out the basic ending by chapter 30. This is why I gave it an average rating

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1 person found this helpful

Whatever love means

After three non-fiction books (two of them historical crime), Jane Robbins has produced a psychological thriller which melds influences most obviously of Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith (Strangers on a Train). It’s intelligent, full of twists and uncomfortable turns and although I guessed the real culprit ‘who dunnit’ amongst all the ‘could have dunnits’, I couldn’t have guessed the complex why.

Callie works in a local bookshop whilst her much loved twin sister Tilda is a successful actress. Callie loves Tilda so much that she has the alarming habit of eating little objects belonging to her twin in order to be closer to her. Tilda takes up with Felix, a wealthy obsessive who keeps plates and cups in cling-film and re-decorates Tilda’s homely flat in cool grey and white. Callie thinks he’s not only over-controlling but that he is harming her after she sees bruises on Tilda’s arm, and after spending hours obsessively researching on the Dangerous Men website, she is ensnared into its web of deeply disturbed women. We know Felix will die because the story opens with his funeral, and he does so - of ‘natural causes’ Or was he murdered as Callie believes?

The narratives hurtle along at a great pace and the listener’s suspicions are aroused only to be dashed over and over again as the complex plot lines becomes more and more entangled and deathly, losing my sympathy along the way. Fans of this genre will be satisfied by the psychological explanation of the killer’s actions in the final resolution, but whereas Patricia Highsmith creates characters who are truly haunting and memorable, these make for addictive and compulsive listening but are utterly forgettable.

Two questions: what is the point of the indulgent naked scene towards the end? (Has the author a film in her sights?) And why is the book called White Bodies which seems to have no relevance at all?

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3 people found this helpful

Great plot, written well but didn’t deliver

I loved what the author set out to do but it was long winded and lacked drama. I kept expecting a change of pace but it never came.

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Wasn't for me

Didn't enjoy this. Found the story and plot thin and the narration irritating. Just wasn't for me.

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