I feel like my reviews as a whole have been more negative than my actual opinion of books would indicate. I liked this book, but I would’ve cut about 150 pages from it as the “big reveal” 2/3 of the way through was fairly predictable and I loved what came after.
But ooohhhhh that stalling to get to the big secret telegraphed early on hurt, you guys. We know. Something happens to the kid, the one the author conspicuously avoids discussing after THE BARBECUE. If Moriarty had just dispensed with all the tension and secret keeping about the events of THE BARBECUE I’d’ve liked this a hell of a lot better.
I wanted something fluffy to read after a rough week at work – I work for a pediatric hospital and sometimes people are fucking awful – and boy howdy was this not the distraction i was hoping for. I also left the kid alone for twenty seconds with the baby gate unlocked right as I was getting to the climax of the book, which is all about how you can be a hyper vigilant parent but IT ONLY TAKES A SECOND TO LOSE IT ALL and I gave myself a day long sad.
That said, moriarty is gifted with character ambiguity and I’ll totally read more. Even with all the YOU CRY NOW bits I was prepared for, I found myself tearing up at exactly how the bitter old neighbor died. I liked a lot of the book, but it loses a half star easily for all the unnecessary wheel spinning distracting from a catalyst that was really predictable.