Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Ruin Falls; Jenny Milchman

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)

12 comments:

  1. 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.

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  2. This sounds like a good mystery. I think I will be picking this one up. Thanks Diane :)

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  3. Missing 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.

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  4. I've been hearing similar thoughts about this book from others, which makes me a little sad as I am curious about this one.

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  5. I 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 :)

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  6. I 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.

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  7. The 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!

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  8. Sounds like it would be a little predictable, but I'm finding that I have that problem with a lot of thrillers.

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  9. I 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.

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  10. Cassandra 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!

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