Ruin Falls; Jenny Milchman
Random House - 2014
In Ruin Falls, Liz Daniels is not thrilled about the
prospect of visiting her husband Paul’s parents, Matthew and
Mary Daniels, who Paul has had a strained relationship with for some
time. She agrees to go along with their
two children, Reid, 8 and Ally 6, but has an unsettling feeling about doing so.
On the way to Paul’s parents the family stops at a hotel for
the night and in the morning when Liz checks in on the kids, she finds them missing. Horrible as
this may seem, her husband, a well-respected professor of agriculture, soon
disappears as well. Could Paul have
planned to take the children all along or is there something more sinister at play?
Without her children and the police not yet in panic mode,
Liz returns to her home in upstate New York, and begins to look for clues as to
whether Paul had been planning this for some time. She is desperate to find
answers, but runs into several dead ends. An old friend who is now the police
chief agrees to help Liz. It isn’t long before she realizes that some of the
people she felt she could trust perhaps aren’t been looking out for her best
interests after all.
I loved the beginning of this mystery, but then the
middle slowed for me. There were several threads going in this story, which I
felt made the story confusing at times, but in the end most of my suspicions turned
out to be correct. Liz, at times, seemed clueless, but then her fighting spirit
eventually kicked in. In her defense, I had to ask myself how I might have acted
in a similar situation.
Overall, this mystery was just okay for me, as there were
some plot elements which just did not ring true for me. I must say Cassandra
Campbell as the audio book narrator made the listening experience itself a treat.
Rating - 3/5 stars
(book was provided by the publisher)
Cassandra Campbell is one of my favorite narrators. I do want to know if she found the kids and what she did with the husband.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a good mystery. I think I will be picking this one up. Thanks Diane :)
ReplyDeleteMissing kids again. So many stories about missing kids or women. Sounds like this one sort of fell apart in the middle. I hate when that happens.
ReplyDeleteThat could have been a good one.
ReplyDeleteI've been hearing similar thoughts about this book from others, which makes me a little sad as I am curious about this one.
ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from, but I gave it 5/5, in my opinion. Yes, the middle did slow down for me also, but I enjoyed Ms. Milchman's writing so much that I kept turning the pages. Thanks for another opinion about it. Helps the others make an informed decision :)
ReplyDeleteGreat review Diane.
ReplyDeleteI just started this one while working in the garden this morning - the kids just went missing and so far I'm enjoying it. I choose audio because Cassandra Campbell is the narrator. I can listen to her even if the plot does slow down.
ReplyDeleteThe police didn't start a manhunt right away? Because they assumed it was the dad? I hope reality is more in tune with a mother's terror!
ReplyDeleteSounds like it would be a little predictable, but I'm finding that I have that problem with a lot of thrillers.
ReplyDeleteI read Cover of Snow by the same author and liked it, though I had a bit of the same feeling you did with this one halfway through.
ReplyDeleteCassandra Campbell is a favorite of mine. She did a fantastic job with Milchman's first book. I'll have to give this one a listen too!
ReplyDelete