This book scared me from the start, then it tied me in knots before leaving me a tad adrift by the end.
I didn’t like the way the book came to a close. Like so many other books, the author seemed to be in a rush to get to the end. So much to say, so little time taken to say it. Indeed, all I took from the end was that wine is a panacea.
The characters were well presented. I did not like Pearson or Emory, but perhaps I wasn’t meant to?
Wade is the only character I really liked and the one I thought of as more recognisable as a real person. His actions and reactions were the ones that mattered to me most, but he was also the one we saw the least of.
Quite frankly, Lucy put me in mind of the Hitler Youth, adding another level of fear.
I don’t understand why we needed to know so much about Jehovah’s Witnesses but I confess that I was rather taken with that segment. It was so much more ‘readable’ than the rest. The narrative got highfalutin in places, sluggish in others – was this ironical? Who knows? It was a bit too inconsistent for me.
What I did appreciate was the utter stupidity of the human race, and that, for me, is the core of this horror story.
I had no prior knowledge of Lionel Shriver before being given this book. I rarely read blurb in the covers before reading an unknown (to me) author, so I had no expectancies. Will I read more of this author's work? Actually, despite feeling let down by the ending of this one, I probably will.
Thank you to Readers First, The Borough Press and Lionel Shriver for the ARC in return for my honest review.