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Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Review: Black-Eyed Susans

Title Black-Eyed Susans
By Julia Heaberlin
Genre Adult mystery/suspense
Rating ⭐️⭐️

Synopsis
Tessa, is the sole survivor of a serial killer. Left for dead with several other victims in a shallow grave surrounded by black-eyed susan flowers, the victims become know as the Black-Eyes Susans. Years later the killer is on death row, his execution just months away, when someone starts planting black-eyed susans outside Tessa's house. Is the man on death row really the killer? Is the real killer still out there? Is Tessa and her daughter safe?

First Sentence
For better or worse, I am walking the crooked path to my childhood.   


I saw this book being talked about on Susan's blog awhile back. She hadn't read it but was mentioning she thought it looked good. Well, I concurred. It sounded very good. So, my radar for this book was on but I wasn't finding it for a price I liked. Enter my new foray into Overdrive and online library rentals. I placed this one on hold and a day or two later it was ready for me. I stopped everything I was doing and proceeded to read.

This book is more of a quiet suspense than a mystery. And by quiet I mean it was slower than I had anticipated. I read it in two days but wasn't nearly as riveted as I'd hoped. The story jumps back and forth from right after Tessa was found alive in the shallow grave to the present where she's helping a law firm try to save the man on death row for the murders. There's a lot of doubt that he's the actual killer and Tessa is quite sure it's not him.

But Tessa remembered nothing about what happened and she felt like a very unreliable narrator. I didn't know if she really didn't remember or was lying and it drove me a bit crazy. There was a lot of forensic details that, quite frankly, bored me to tears. The "romance" was unbelievable and unnecessary. The mystery, while it kept me guessing, was completely unbelievable as well. There's just no way! I can't say more. I don't want to ruin it but I was raising a skeptical eyebrow through the roof.

Still, I stayed up late into the night to finish it and I thought the writing was lovely. While I didn't outright hate the book I didn't love it either. Normally I'd chalk it up to my expectations being too high but, no, the story just didn't do it for me.

 Should you read it? 
I feel like I'm the last person who should decide that. If you're a fan of the TV show Bones you might find it fascinating enough but I still couldn't say if you'd like it.

14 comments:

  1. I <3 Bones! So, I'd probably like this, lol.

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    1. You might. It's hard to say. There's no witty banter between MCs

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  2. Hmmmm ... I like forensic detail as long as it's presented in an interesting way (Kathy Reichs, author of the books Bones is based on is a master at this), but I don't usually like slow "thrillers." I think I'll still read this based on the premise. I'm not rushing, though. I've had this on my Kindle for awhile now and haven't gotten to it, so I guess I'm not all that eager anyway ...

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    1. I'm not sure this was very interesting. I've never read Reichs books so I can't compare.

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  3. So would that make it a 3-star book on Goodreads? Or a 2?

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    1. 2 star. I rate on my blog based on Goodreads rating system.

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  4. Don't think that this book would suit me as I prefer a fast-paced plot and don't care for an overload of forensic details. But you're right about the synopsis sounding good! Too bad it didn't live up to its potential.

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  5. I've noticed this one around too, and I was very interested. I'm sorry it was mostly a disappointment for you. I tend to like these atmospheric, well written books, and I don't mind them being slow at all.

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    1. It wasn't just the slowness. I can't say what else bugged me without being spoilery.

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  6. Oh no, don't say it's so. I have this one on my TBR list and it did sound exciting. I do not enjoy quiet thrillers so now I am unsure. Thanks for the review.

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    1. You should still read it. I usually have the opposite opinion of everyone else.

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  7. I'll probably read this book someday, but it's going to have to be an audible daily deal or through the library. Although that cover is to die for! Maybe if I listed to it at 2x speed it will be more riveting... ;)

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