Publishing Date: November 8, 2016
Publisher: Little, Brown and Co
Pages: 528
Fiction / Thriller
The Premise from the Publisher: "She used to work for the U.S. government, but very few people ever knew that. An expert in her field, she was one of the darkest secrets of an agency so clandestine it doesn't even have a name. And when they decided she was a liability, they came for her without warning. Now she rarely stays in the same place or uses the same name for long. They've killed the only other person she trusted, but something she knows still poses a threat. They want her dead, and soon. When her former handler offers her a way out, she realizes it's her only chance to erase the giant target on her back. But it means taking one last job for her ex-employers. To her horror, the information she acquires only makes her situation more dangerous. Resolving to meet the threat head-on, she prepares for the toughest fight of her life but finds herself falling for a man who can only complicate her likelihood of survival. As she sees her choices being rapidly whittled down, she must apply her unique talents in ways she never dreamed of" (LBC).
My overall thoughts and review: With my long commute to campus some days of the week, I always depend on my trusty audible app to keep me sane and awake. I subscribe to their system where you get a credit a month, and it usually takes me about a few days to finish a book or sometimes a week. I did not know that Meyer was writing another book, let alone it being a thriller. I remember going into work and suddenly seeing it on display. I decided to purchase this book as an audiobook on audible because I wanted something thriller-esque to keep my attention during the commute. The last time I read something by Meyer was a few years ago and it was The Host. I was not exactly taken with that book, but similar to her other novels, she writes in a very addictive way that makes you constantly want to read more. She definitely writes character heavy which I really appreciate. I loved how much of an internal voice we got from the main protagonist Alex. I also quite liked the secondary characters like Daniel, Kevin and Val too. I also loved how much of a role the dogs had in the story. But where does the book fall short for me? I found it hard at times to suspend my disbelief. Things had a way of being so predictable that there wasn't really a big twist for me or many surprises and I expect that when reading thrillers. I also found it hard to believe things being resolved so easily and maybe because I'm jaded a bit with reading other books, but I expected some collateral damage. Also the biggest thing that bugged me was the lack of world building. The giant house that they spend most of their time in is described but I felt like we barely got enough of that area. I know Meyer is known for being character-driven but in a novel this big, I really expected an even-hand when it came to character and world building. Overall, I think if you are a fan of her other books, you will enjoy this. It is a nice change from her other supernatural stuff and she does write character dialogue really well. However, compared to other thriller books out there, this one simply did not "thrill" me and I did not see it as gripping-on-the-edge-of-my-seat kind of narrative. I would definitely recommend the audiobook version however since Ellen Archer does an amazing job narrating it (I loved when she narrated the parts of Kevin especially!)
My rating of the book: ✮✮✮ (3.5/5 stars)
Available for purchase at:
Audible, Chapters/Indigo, Kobo Books, Amazon and Book Depository (Free Worldwide Shipping)
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