Grayson (Gray) Sykes is a private investigator hired to find Isabel Lincoln, the missing girlfriend of a cardiologist. It doesn’t take her long to question whether Isabel wants to be found and if she’s trying to escape her boyfriend. The more progress Gray makes with the case, the more it intersects with her own past and present.
This was one of the more complex stories I’ve read in a long time. Chock full of quirky and sketchy characters, it seems to shift with every new revelation. At the center of it is Isabel who emerges as the enigmatic character of them all, which unleashes Gray’s own disturbing and heartbreaking past. She’s the most interesting of them all who works tirelessly on this her first real case while she recovers from recent emergency surgery. Gray also is grappling with her own identity issues, struggling to not let them overlay into Isabel’s reality.
I really liked this story, a lot, but reading it was made more difficult to get through by the endless bizarre metaphors and outlandish product placements. I’m not offended by them (after all, I’m obsessed with a series that shamelessly drops them) but they began to overpower a challenging mystery and bogged down the story so much that I kept putting the book away. When I decided to just skim over all that “stuff,” I flew through the pages and was highly intrigued.
This needs to be a series and, indeed, if it becomes one, I’ll definitely sign on. I’m hoping, however, the author decides to write more nimbly and eliminate all that product name dropping and ease up on the metaphors. Her characters are brilliantly designed and don’t need them and the bones of her story are iron strong and shouldn’t have to compete with distractions. I do recommend this book but be forewarned that its vernacular will need to be dealt with.
Book Info
- Release Date: September 22, 2020
- Page Numbers: 369
- Publisher: Forge Books
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(Thanks to Macmillan for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)
Blue Mood Café 
I love when the characters are so different and quirky that they take the story in different directions. I don’t think I have read a lot of product placement in books, but I am definitely going to watch for it now. Great review Jonetta.
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Thank you, Carla💜 Nothing at all predictable about this story!
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Product placements? Yeah that would really annoy me too! Fab review I’m glad you could enjoy it anyway Jo!
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Thanks, Nicki💜 I’m used to seeing them but it was over the top here…cars, watches, water, clothes, spirits…you name it it was represented. Once I skipped over that stuff, I started enjoying the book.
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A shame about the product placements, but I do love the sound of the story in general! Fab review. xx
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Thank you, Yvo💜 The story is exceptionally sound. But I couldn’t ignore all the other stuff.
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That would definitely get under my reading skin as I think any kind of filler like product placements is a severe detriment to the story. Terrific review, Jonetta!
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Thank you, Marialyce💜 Her product placements first had a point but once I got it, I didn’t need to continue seeing it over and over again.
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Great honest review Jonetta! I get a little frustrated myself when books are too wordy, and you’re right how it can bog a story down. I can see how product placements would be a bit much as well. Oh well, it does sound like an interesting story though!
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Thank you, DG💜 It’s really a story well worth reading.
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