Friday, February 12, 2016

River Road; Carol Goodman

River Road; Carol Goodman
Touchdown - 2016

In this fast paced thriller Nan Lewis, is a creative writing instructor at a college in upstate New York who has had more than her share of bad days.   Years earlier Nan's young daughter Emma was killed by a hit and run drive on River Road. Although the woman at the wheel was eventually caught and prosecuted, Nan continues to by haunted by the incident and often drowns her sadness in alcohol.

Now on the evening of Nan's Christmas party with coworkers she learns that she has not been granted tenure. She's visibly upset and has had several glasses of wine as she heads home after dark in foggy weather.  As she rounds the corner on River Road at same location where her daughter was killed, Nan hits something herself and drives off the road.  She thinks she's hit a deer, but when she get out to check the area she doesn't see anything.  The following day the police are at her door asking questions as one of Nan's promising students, Leia Dawson, had been hit and killed by a hit and run driver on River Road around the same time and in the area where Nan thought she hit the deer.  When the police check out Nan's car she becomes a suspect.

In an effort to prove her innocence she sets out talking to various people to hopefully get clues to Leia's killer.  She gets herself into more hot water than she bargained for in the process.

Nan is her own worst enemy. Yes, she's had some rough patches in her life, but she drinks too much and doesn't listen to the police either. At times she really bugged me, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of this thriller.  There are lots of possible suspects, and I found myself changing my mind a few times as I read, and I was still wrong in the end.  Mystery lovers who enjoy well drawn characters, twists and turns along the way will enjoy this one. There were a few slow spots as I read but,  overall a very good story. I loved the cold, snowy environment the author created; this one chilled me to the bones at times.

4/5 stars
(finished copy sent by publisher)

15 comments:

  1. This sounds like something I'd like.

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    1. It was fun guessing who the hit and run driver was as I read.

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  3. I really enjoyed this one too. What a dilemma she got into!

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  4. I've got this one on my Kindle. Sounds like one I'll enjoy and I keep meaning to read a book by Carol Goodman. Thanks for sharing!

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  5. I find that snowy and wintery settings can add so much atmosphere to a book.


    For me, Characters who do self defeating things such as thee one you described give a sense of realism to a book. Folks seem to do so much of that in real life.

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    1. I agree with you atmosphere statement Brian. Isn't that true about people, sometimes are their own worst enemies.

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  6. I have loved all of Carol Goodman's books and have this one on my Kindle and just haven't gotten to it. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!

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  7. I started reading this and put it aside when I started disliking the MC and her poor choices about 30% in, but I do intend to return to it. Thanks for a good and spoiler-free review :)

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