Dear Daughter (Elizabeth Little)

I was excited to devour Elizabeth Little's Dear Daughter, as before-publication reviews were calling it the next Gone Girl. Um...not quite. There are a multitude of reasons why I just didn't care for this book, but I'm only going to mention a few of them.

Dear Daughter is narrated by Janie Jenkins, a woman convicted of murdering her mother but released from prison on a technicality.  Since Janie was considered a socialite and an IT girl, the trial transfixed the country.  Janie is determined to find her mother's "real" killer, and in so doing, finds herself in a small town in the middle of nowhere.  The American media is just as determined to keep tabs on her since they are convinced she got away with murder.

A.) I pretty much hated every character in this book.  None are likable, and it is extremely hard to feel any sympathy for any of them.  From Janie herself to her horrible mother to Leo the cop, I would not give any one of them the time of day in real life.

B.) Since Dear Daughter is narrated by Janie, the reader is forced to see the unfolding mystery through her eyes. Therefore, we are treated to such doozies as Janie getting shot in the shoulder and saying that red is just not her color. What???? What about screaming? Crying? Passing out? Which is what 99.9% of people would do if they were shot in the shoulder.

C.) The mystery is just plain boring, and the ending (when we finally find out who the killer really is) borders on a Scooby Doo revelation.

So Gone Girl this is not, but I'm going to give it a 2. Read it if it's the only book in the house.

MY RATING - 2

The Last Winter of Dani Lancing (P.D. Viner)

P.D. Viner’s The Last Winter of Dani Lancing is a thought-provoking novel, asking the reader how far they would go to protect someone they love.  At times, it kept me on the edge of my seat, as all great books should do; at other times, I was left scratching my head at the author’s easy cop-outs.  However, all in all it’s a worthwhile read and one that I’m going to furnish with a rare in-between rating.

I’m not giving anything away by saying that the title character is dead, hence the title.  From the get-go, you know that Dani has died years ago, and her killer has never been found.  Her mother (Patti), father (Jim), and lovestruck friend (Tom) each are working for justice in their own way.  Patti is taking matters into her own hands, even if that means doing it in vigilante style.  Jim sometimes sees his daughter’s ghost but is trying to move forward as best he can.  Tom loves/loved Dani, but the feelings were not really reciprocated.  He is now working with the police force, who are reopening the case.

As is the norm now in books, the reader is jolted back and forth between time periods, eventually getting the whole cohesive story.  Viner does a wonderful job at making sure it’s a seamless transition, so the reader is not too jarred.  I talked before about easy cop-outs; I just feel that the author’s “coincidences” throughout the novel are borderline ridiculous.  That moved my rating from a 4 to a 3.5.  However, The Last Winter of Dani Lancing is a mostly well-written mystery that’s ideal for any time of year.

MY RATING – 3.5

Book Review: The Execution of Noa P. Singleton (Elizabeth L. Silver)

In Elizabeth L. Silver’s debut novel The Execution of Noa. P. Singleton, the reader counts down the months until the title character is put to death for her murder crime.  As is often the case with books nowadays, Silver switches back and forth between time periods…very effectively I might add. 

As Noa is waiting for her November execution date for the murder of Sara, she gets a prison visit from two people: Oliver, a new lawyer eager to look into her case and surprisingly, Sara’s mother, Marlene.  Marlene has had a change of heart since Noa’s trial, and even though she still believes Noa killed her daughter, she does not want her to die for it.  Noa does not want any part of clemency because of the guilt she feels over a twist I guarantee you won’t see coming. With the narrative told in present day, by Noa herself, and through Marlene’s letters to a deceased Sara, the reader is in for a treat with a multidimensional, layered tale that’s filled with suspense.

That being said, the ending was disappointing and was left way too open-ended for my liking. With the exception of one or two characters, none of them were very likeable or entirely innocent for that matter.  However, for a debut novel, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton is fascinating and Silver definitely kept me reading into the night…until she left me hanging at the end.

MY RATING - 4