The Accomplice by Lisa LutzMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I received an ARC of this book.
This book was just a miss for me. It is NOT a tense, chilling, suspense-filled thriller. It is a novel about friendship and what people will do for each other when those people truly care about you. It was an interesting book, but there were just too many things that I really didn't like to allow me to rate it any higher.
Owen and Luna meet in college and develop an incredibly strong friendship that most people don't understand. When Owen's on-again-off-again girlfriend ends up dead, Luna is one of the few people who stands by him, maybe because she has things in her past that she would rather stay that way. Many years later both Owen and Luna are married--to different people--but are still best friends. One morning Owen's wife is found shot. The police aren't sure who should be a suspect, but everyone knows that Owen and Luna definitely act like they have things to hide.
While there was a mystery (several, in fact) in this book, the author didn't really create a feeling of gripping tension throughout the book. One of the aspects that really took away from any feelings of a suspense-thriller was the fact that the book was written in an omniscient third-person point of view that bounces back and forth from one character to another multiple times on one page. The reader can see what is going on in any person's head at any point in the book. Any feeling of questioning motives or wondering what someone is thinking at any time is gone, and so most of the mystery is gone, as well. The tone comes across as very matter-of-fact, impersonal, and maybe a bit robotic. And for me, the ending wasn't great. I didn't really get much of a sense of personal resolution or character growth.
This was not a bad book--if you go into it knowing it is a literary mystery focused on the deep friendship between Luna and Owen. If you are wanting a tension-filled psychological thriller, then I'd look elsewhere.
View all my reviews
Owen and Luna meet in college and develop an incredibly strong friendship that most people don't understand. When Owen's on-again-off-again girlfriend ends up dead, Luna is one of the few people who stands by him, maybe because she has things in her past that she would rather stay that way. Many years later both Owen and Luna are married--to different people--but are still best friends. One morning Owen's wife is found shot. The police aren't sure who should be a suspect, but everyone knows that Owen and Luna definitely act like they have things to hide.
While there was a mystery (several, in fact) in this book, the author didn't really create a feeling of gripping tension throughout the book. One of the aspects that really took away from any feelings of a suspense-thriller was the fact that the book was written in an omniscient third-person point of view that bounces back and forth from one character to another multiple times on one page. The reader can see what is going on in any person's head at any point in the book. Any feeling of questioning motives or wondering what someone is thinking at any time is gone, and so most of the mystery is gone, as well. The tone comes across as very matter-of-fact, impersonal, and maybe a bit robotic. And for me, the ending wasn't great. I didn't really get much of a sense of personal resolution or character growth.
This was not a bad book--if you go into it knowing it is a literary mystery focused on the deep friendship between Luna and Owen. If you are wanting a tension-filled psychological thriller, then I'd look elsewhere.
View all my reviews
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