Goodnight Beautiful; Aimee Molloy
Harper Audio-2020
Sam Statler and Annie Potter are newly married and leave New York City for a great opportunity to live a quieter life in a large Victorian home in upstate New York. Sam's mother has dementia, she's living in a retirement home nearby. Even better, Sam, a psychologist can set up his therapist practice in their home. Annie is a Woman's Studies professor at a local college. The couple, who married rather quickly, haven't shared everything about themselves to their partners. As we read, we see these secrets closing in. One day as Sam's patients appear for their therapy sessions, Annie realizes that she can hear the conversations through the vents; it's hard to resist not listening in. Then one day Sam disappears during a snowstorm. Annie is frantic, calling police and hospitals to see whether there has been an accident. Or, could Sam, have left his new wife for one of the attractive women who have confided in him their most intimate thoughts during their therapy sessions?
I love psychological fiction but, perhaps I'm on overload. This book started out interesting enough, it has the trademark unreliable narrators, family secrets and some unexpected twists. I liked Annie's wry sense of humor. The narration is both first and third person and the audio is narrated by four different individuals. While I thought this would work well, I sometimes found myself questioning who the narrator was, which proved a bit confusing. In this psych thriller, I quickly learned that nothing is as it appears. There was also a famous scenario from a Stephen King book used to have this story play out, to me that just felt wrong.
Rating - 3.5/5
I do think the narration would be confusing.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm ready for a break from thrillers. I can only read so many each year and then they all start to feel the same. I think I'll skip this one.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, borrowing a scenario from another author doesn't sound good. Maybe this needed a little more careful editing.
ReplyDeleteI've not overloaded on this kind of read, so I think this one is for me. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteNot sure this is for me but I appreciate your thoughts, Diane!
ReplyDeleteThe idea of listening to the therapy sessions through the vents caught my attention. I wonder if this is one of those books more suited to reading physically than listening to.
ReplyDeleteYou are doing better at keeping up with your reviews than I am. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading the same genre too. Seems to be what I am willing, or able to digest while terribly distracted. I read one other book by this author and liked it enough but didn't love it. Interesting to read your comment about King. A lot of these authors mention him or try to pay homage in some way but for a scenario or plot point to be almost lifted? Not good.
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