Survive the Night

 

I have read other Riley Sager books in the past and they were enjoyable sadly Survive the Night was the worst book I have read this year. I did finish it but only because power was out. 

The main character Charlie was majorly annoying. She constantly rode the self pity train and did not seem to value anything about her life. Clearly she needed therapy and a lot of it. Due to this the story was super repetitive and boring. I saw no growth in Charlie nor did I care if she survived. The "movies" were the worst part, any normal person would be highly concerned they were having hallucinations and not joke about them being movies in their head.

Despite not enjoying the overall story line I will say the writing was consistent. Chapters flowed well, the length of each chapter was around the same, side characters surprised me, and the story did have a clear conclusion to the mystery. However I do not recommend Survive the Night to anyone. 

Do Not Disturb

 

I am not sure where I read it but I saw Do Not Disturb was Mrs. McFadden's best novel. I went in with really high expectations and I think that soured the experience for me. 

Quinn was a typical Mary Jane, perfect life, perfect job, perfect husband, and perfect sister. However is not all as it seems. Quinn is hiding a deadly secret and has no clue how to deal with it or present herself to the world. 

I was not a fan of the story changing perspective three times. Just as the story got good the perspective changed which drove me crazy. The writing was smooth and flowed until the story changed perspectives. Once it got to the second person I kept reading for a couple chapters then lost interest. I had to force myself to pick up the book and keep reading. The twist at the end was not something I saw coming and I did not figure it out because the twist did not fit the story. 

14 Ways to Die

 

I had a gift card for Barnes and Noble so after an hour or so of browsing a store while out of town I was intrigued by the title and cover of 14 Ways to Die.

Jess has clearly never gotten over the loss of her mother to a madman whom her father nicknamed The Magpie Man. Interesting serial killer name choice but it fit the scenario. Wanting to help capture the killer Jess signs up to have her life filmed on reality tv in an attempt to draw views to the case. It works and soon the whole town is following Jess and her escapades to capture the magpie man before it is too late and he kills again. 

What I liked is Jess's passion at getting justice for her mother. I liked that the chapters were consistent and all were short with no outliers.

What I did not like was how Jess did not care for her safety or the safety of anyone else around her. This is a man who has killed numerous adult women and she is just daring him to come try to kill her. 

The plot was okay, it had too much filler. Even though the chapter were short some felt unnecessary and I did end up skimming large parts of the story. This was a debut novel so I could see the author learning from this and growing. Cutting the story down, making it a better reading pace, and adding more action. 

Alibi's Collection

 I looked at the library for Death Row since I am a fan of Freida McFadden but it seems it is an amazon exclusive. Since I had to have surgery I figured I would treat myself. The complete set of short stories was around 6 dollars. None of the authors were familiar to me except for Mrs. McFadden so I had hopes I would enjoy all 6 short stories and find more authors to explore in the future. 

I did not like three of the stories at all. I tolerated two and enjoyed one. Good Neighbors was the only story I liked. It was a full story with great pacing. 

Overall the stories felt like they were rushed, more of an outline, some impossible to solve, had a character(s) I did not care about or even disliked reading about. 

Hopefully I wont fall for a well written email with a catchy book banner again. 

The Tenant

 

The Tenant is the first book I have read by Mrs. McFadden that had a male as the main characters point of view and I loved how it was a different twist from what I am used to in that regard. 

Blake is a well rounded character, one who has it all going for him, his dream job, a great personal life, a new home, and enough money to make life comfortable. However that soon all comes crashing down when he looses his job and is forced to take in a tenant. 

Nothing is as it seems with the hidden twists and turns that await. Despite having read several of Mrs. McFadden's books I did not see all the mysteries, catch all the hints, or figure out the major thoughts Blake had until revealed. 

I was glad for a book that held my attention. I am still dealing with a lot. I finally finished moving. Hooray for that. Now I need to focus on my physical health and mental health. Reading has always been my favorite hobby so it is so hard to admit I am struggling to want to read.