Picador | July 2017 | 368 pgs
Source: Library
High school student Lucinda Haynes is found murdered in the suburb Colorado on a wintry morning. Her death shakes the community in Jefferson High and while some guessed she was sexually assaulted, no one really knew the truth of her death; not even the police.
Surrounding Lucinda's mysterious death is our three protagonists with their narratives written alternatively. Cameron Whitley, a boy who is both fascinated and obsessed with her to the point that he would watch her secretly. Jade Dixon-Burns, a girl who hated her openly and practised witchcraft (more like basic voodoo) hoping that she would be gone from her life and never expecting that what she'd wished had turned up something sinister. And then, there is Russ Fletcher, a cop assigned to look into Lucinda's death. He knew Cameron's father back when the latter was a cop but an incident had sent him leaving home. Russ also finds himself having problems with his wife and his brother-in-law.
Although this is classified as a suspense, it is more like a case of characters study with murder as the backdrop. While the mystery element is still there, this story is navigating towards more of the inner thoughts and struggles of the three narratives who are more or less related to Lucinda. Each of these characters is flawed and appear as somewhat unreliable. Truth be told, it took me a while to get into the story. The slow setting, the characterisations and not to mention there wasn't much intensity and police insights relating to Lucinda's death. However, the author's writing is beautiful and lyrical and I think it is fitting to the story, which I came to realise later that this is more on the reflections of the three characters before and especially after the tragedy surrounding Lucinda's death. A different read from your typical psychological thriller and if you don't mind the slower pace and more on characters study then this is the book for you.
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If the writing is good and the characters are well-developed, even if flawed/unreliable, I don't mind a slower pace. This sounds interesting, Melody!
Jenclair - I went into this book expecting an intense psychological thriller but it turned out to be something different. Took me some time to adjust to the tone and direction but ultimately I'm glad I read it. :)
Nothing wrong with a slower story. You just have to be in the mood for it.
A slower pace isn't always bad; it's good to be warned, though. :)
Jenny - Yes, our mood definitely decides our reading choices at times.
Lark - Yes, I suppose it all depends on the story and where the direction is going.
I don't mind a slower pace with psychological thrillers as long as there's a good story. This one sounds good so another for the list!
Iliana - Yes, sometimes a slower pace fits the tone of a story. I hope you'll enjoy it if you get to it. :)