Author: Deb Caletti
Series: Stand Alone
Published By: Bantam (May 14, 2013)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: Adult Contemporary
My Rating: 3 Stars!
Book Description:
“What do you think happened to your husband, Mrs. Keller?”
The Sunday morning starts like any other, aside from the slight hangover. Dani Keller wakes up on her Seattle houseboat, a headache building behind her eyes from the wine she drank at a party the night before. But on this particular Sunday morning, she’s surprised to see that her husband, Ian, is not home. As the hours pass, Dani fills her day with small things. But still, Ian does not return. Irritation shifts to worry, worry slides almost imperceptibly into panic. And then, like a relentless blackness, the terrible realization hits Dani: He’s gone.
As the police work methodically through all the logical explanations—he’s hurt, he’s run off, he’s been killed—Dani searches frantically for a clue as to whether Ian is in fact dead or alive. And, slowly, she unpacks their relationship, holding each moment up to the light: from its intense, adulterous beginning, to the grandeur of their new love, to the difficulties of forever. She examines all the sins she can—and cannot—remember. As the days pass, Dani will plumb the depths of her conscience, turning over and revealing the darkest of her secrets in order to discover the hard truth—about herself, her husband, and their lives together.
My Thoughts and Review:
Most of you know Caletti for her gripping and emotional YA reads, this is her first book in the adult genre and it is one heck of a leap into the genre.
The writing style was completely different from anything I have read by her, heck it is different from most books I read period. It took me a little bit to get use to it and to get into it.
This is a little bit of a psychological thriller, well, maybe not thriller per se but it does mess with you a little and really make you think.
Did something bad happen to Ian? Did he run away? Murdered? Lost? What role did Dani play in his disappearance if she even did at all? What exactly is going on in this story?
Really it felt more like a journal. Almost as if Dani is talking to the reader as well as getting to see the story line of her conversations happening around her in the present as well as in the past. It isn't confusing by any means just....different. Strange if I am being honest.
But really once I got use to it, it wasn't bad at all, just not what I was expecting I guess.
I did enjoy this story but I didn't love it. It wasn't so much a mystery, although the mystery aspect of it is there, it was almost more of a look into the love life of Dani. Her past marriage, her current marriage. The choices she made, the decisions that will forever change her life.
It all lead up to the disappearance of Ian and then when we find out what happened to him, it is all over rather quickly. Sort of anti-climatic really but it did keep me on my toes. I was never sure if Dani was responsible until the very end.
Overall, not a bad story and not a bad first leap into a new genre. Just go into this one expecting something completely different from her other work and have an open mind and I think you will enjoy it.
I'm not familiar with this author. Your reviewed is great, I just may have to check her out.
ReplyDeleteIt's shocking when an author changes her style and it doesn't sound like this completely worked for you. The premises sounds interesting though. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ellen and Kim! I think Kim, if I hadn't already tried one of her YA books then I may have liked this one better.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I'd like this one or not. I like that it messes with your head a bit though. I like kind of not being sure about things.
ReplyDeleteSorry I haven't been around! We're kind of having a vacation this week and have been doing fun things each day, which has made me fall behind on my commenting. I should be back to normal by next week though. :)
Thanks Heidi and Candace!!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Stay, but this does sound completely different. Sorry this wasn't a total hit, but glad you enjoyed it well enough. Great review!
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