JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The Holdout by Graham Moore

One juror changed the verdict. What if she was wrong? ‘Ten years ago we made a decision together…’

Fifteen-year-old Jessica Silver, heiress to a billion-dollar fortune, vanishes on her way home from school. Her teacher, Bobby Nock, is the prime suspect. It’s an open and shut case for the prosecution, and a quick conviction seems all but guaranteed.

Until Maya Seale, a young woman on the jury, persuades the rest of the jurors to vote not guilty: a controversial decision that will change all of their lives forever.

Ten years later, one of the jurors is found dead, and Maya is the prime suspect.

The real killer could be any of the other ten jurors. Is Maya being forced to pay the price for her decision all those years ago?

The Holdout by Graham Moore is a legal thriller that moves between two storylines and two different time periods — present day, and 2009.

Eleven years ago, Maya Seale convinced the rest of the people on her jury that the man accused of killing fifteen-year-old Jessica Silver — African-American high school teacher Bobby Nock — was actually innocent. When they let him go free, what resulted was ten years of targeted hate, disbelief and shock from the public.

In the present day storyline, one of the jurors — Rick — brings all of the jurors back together for a Netflix true crime television show. He says he has new evidence that will prove the man they thought was innocent actually did kill Jessica Silver. Maya starts to doubt the decisions she made in 2009.

“Nineteen years old at the time of the trial, Lila Rosales had been the youngest member of the jury. She had been in beauty school back then, and Maya had once marvelled at how much effort it must have taken to prepare her immaculately made-up face every morning. Now, Lila looked worn.”

Wrapped in legal investigations, The Holdout is gripping and keeps hold of its reader until the very end. It explores the U.S justice system and racism in America, building tension with each passing chapter.

Structurally, the book soars above its competition. The flashbacks are placed at opportune moments to ensure the pacing or the tension never wavers, and the plotting allows for an engaged and entertained reader. The Holdout will please all readers.

The chapters move between different characters, allowing readers to get a full glimpse at the past events that defined them all, and how their ‘not guilty’ verdict changed the course of each of their futures.

“She knew that he was looking for anything in her appearance — an unexplained bruise, a tear in her blouse — that could be of use later. There wasn’t much for him to work with. Maya was disappointingly presentable.”

Media scrutiny is a huge element to this book. After Maya and her fellow jurors help release Bobby Nock, they’re subjected to the wrath of the disbelieving public and media. Some of them struggle to find work, and even one decade later, Maya’s name is recognisable to strangers.

The characterisation for each of the core cast is multi-layered and complex. Maya, who is now a criminal defence lawyer, has moments of doubt over her decisions a decade earlier, but ultimately, she still feels confident that Bobby Nock is an innocent man and somebody else is responsible for the disappearance of Jessica Silver.

Each character is flawed, so when Rick ends up dead in Maya’s hotel room, all of them could’ve done it. Quite a few of the jury had things to gain from Rick’s death.

“Lined by tall bushes and lit only by infrequent street-lamps, the hidden staircase to the next hill provided decent cover. She could see a bigger, better-lit street up ahead, at the top. She wasn’t being followed. What roaming camera crew had found her car, they could stake it out for weeks.”

With sharp, unexpected twists and unforeseen secrets revealed throughout the book, The Holdout is unique enough to entertain even the most disinterested of audiences.

Recommended for readers of crime, thriller and mystery novels. The premise is unique and the characters three-dimensional — the crimes themselves will have you guessing until the final chapter.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Holdout
Graham Moore
March 2020
Hachette Book Publishers

Charlotte Pass by Lee Christine

When ski patroller Vanessa Bell discovers human bones high on Mount Stillwell at Charlotte Pass ski resort, Detective Sergeant Pierce Ryder of the Sydney Homicide Squad is called in to lead the investigative team.

Arriving in the isolated, snowed-in village with Winterfest celebrations underway, Ryder soon determines that the bones are those of Celia Delaney, a young woman who disappeared from the ski resort in 1964 during the biggest winter storm in Australian alpine history.

When a second murder takes place, Ryder suspects that the deaths are related, and that the person responsible is still in the village. Amid the escalating tension, Ryder is desperate to make an arrest before the stakes rise even higher.

Set within the stunning Snowy Mountains, this intriguing mystery uncovers deadly, long-buried secrets in the valleys and mountains of this iconic area.

After publishing six romantic suspense novels, Charlotte Pass is Lee Christine’s first crime novel, set deep within the Snowy Mountains and spanning 55 years from 1964 to 2019.

In 1964, the young Celia Delaney goes missing on Mount Stillwell and in 2019, local ski patroller Vanessa Bell discovers her bones. The Sydney-based Detective Pierce Ryder arrives to investigate and what results is a fast-paced, break-neck search to discover who murdered Celia Delaney 55 years ago.

Setting is a strong character in the book, taking readers on a journey through the isolated Snowy Mountains region of Mount Stillwell. You could feel the cold, secluded atmosphere as you read each page. Lee Christine is really skilled at capturing a setting and making the reader feel like they’re really there. What a nice escape this book has been, away from the extreme weather conditions we’ve been experiencing here in Australia.

“The estimate Vanessa had given Ryder turned out to be spot on. In the daylight, he could see where the groomer had worked the day before, smoothing out the snow for the tube run some fifty metres from where she had discovered the bones, down the slope from the snow fences.”

Charlotte Pass is a fascinating read, a truly fabulous crime novel that had me guessing until the final page.

Lee builds tension and suspense with an intriguing premise and engaging characters. Clues are given sparingly and subtly, so by the end of the novel you feel like there are multiple people who could’ve possibly killed Celia five decades earlier. The resolution is not as foreseeable as some crime novels.

Vanessa and Ryder are strong protagonists — gutsy, brash, but also compassionate and understanding, sympathetic and empathetic. Ryder has never really recovered from a family tragedy years earlier, and until now, Vanessa has been functioning on her own without any real need for a significant other.

Both of these characters find something in the other that they didn’t even realise they needed.

“Libby and Detective Ryder were of the same mind when it came to the snow. Libby wasn’t here because of her love of the mountains. She’d followed a boyfriend to Charlotte Pass. A week after she’d taken the job at the kids’ club, he’d broken up with her. Libby now spent most of her time trying to avoid him.”

Romance builds between Vanessa and Detective Ryder, adding another layer of complication to the ensuing investigation. Readers will love the crime and thriller elements of the book, but there are moments of romance injected into Charlotte Pass at intermittent moments and so Lee Christine’s fans will be pleased to know she hasn’t completely strayed from her previous works.

Charlotte Pass features a large cast of dynamic characters — including the setting — but Lee crafts them all with such vivid detail and description that readers will have no issue following the story and engaging with the plot.

The conclusion of the novel is satisfying and realistic, and not predictable. Lee wrapped up the story really well, and I think her existing fanbase will rather enjoy this new direction she’s taking with her work.

“A Tiffany cigarette case wouldn’t have been an easy thing to get your hands on back in 1964, especially for a young dental nurse from Newcastle and her musician husband. They hadn’t exactly been rolling in money, according to a statement Lewicki had taken from Nigel. If not for his gigs, they wouldn’t have even been at Charlotte Pass.”

I think the cover does the book a disservice — it’s designed similar to a lot of historical fiction and romance fiction books. And whilst this may have been a deliberate choice to maintain interest from Lee’s existing fans, I think it may deter crime fiction readers from picking up the book because they won’t realise that it falls within the crime genre.

Atmospheric, suspenseful, and a really enticing read for all ages. Charlotte Pass is recommended for fans of crime fiction, mysteries, and psychological thrillers.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Charlotte Pass
Lee Christine
February 2020
Allen & Unwin Publishers

The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman

ONE WILD PARTY. FOUR COUNTS OF MURDER.

A mansion in Beverly Hills is leased out to host an event wild enough to herald the end of days.

The next day there isn’t a living soul to be seen.

But in the driveway sits a super-stretch limo, unlocked, with four bodies inside it. Nothing links the victims together. Each has been killed in a different way.

Now it’s up to brilliant psychologist Alex Delware and LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis to begin their grisliest and most baffling case yet.

As they struggle to make sense of the mass slaying, they will be forced to confront a level of evil that nothing can prepare them for.

The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman is complex crime fiction that investigates five victims found in a chauffeur car in the backyard of a rental mansion, with no solid connection between any of them.

Jonathan Kellerman is skilled at presenting a unique premise and crime scene, and drawing the reader in without giving too much away. I was swept up in the misery and truly couldn’t guess the killer; I found myself surprised by the twists of the novel. There are enough clues laid down that make the killer plausible, but not too many that you can guess the character. That’s really hard to accomplish in crime fiction.

There were many layers to the crime — the five victims who, in the first instance, don’t seem to have a connection with each other, and also the significance of the Beverley Hills rental property where their bodies were found. Kellerman weaves through each complexity with appropriate pacing and attention, so the reader doesn’t feel too overwhelmed with how quickly the plot is moving.

“Mary Jane Huralnik, fifty-nine years old. Much younger than I’d thought. She’d looked elderly for a decade of progressively sadder mug shots. No felony arrests but plenty of misdemeanours up and down the state over a thirty-year period.”

Whilst the premise and the crime are intriguing and will interest readers, there are too many players involved for the storyline to be succinct and easy to follow.

Firstly, there are two main detectives and five victims. After the first few chapters, I started mistaking the victims for each other and couldn’t keep track of who was who. And for each victim, there was a family member or two being interviewed, a suspect or two, and then eventually we get to a convoluted conclusion regarding the culprit.

Whilst I found the conclusion surprising and satisfying, it was also very complex and messy and hard to understand, even for a seasoned crime reader.

“Nothing remotely nasty in either woman’s background. Perfect driving record for McGann’s five-year-old Nissan Sentra, Bauer had gotten a few speeding tickets in her Porsche Panamera GTS. The 101 North. Heading home in a hurry.”

What lets this book down is its complete lack of prose or internal monologue. The book is 99% dialogue, and even in a crime book that’s too much. I got no real sense of the detectives’ personalities or their state of mind, particularly the protagonist Alex Delaware.

The book is written in first person, and yet, there was no voice. There were no emotions or thoughts, it was just dialogue and action and when there are five victims, even that gets confusing at times. Truthfully, I felt the writing was really weak. The crime is interesting, and the pacing is well down, but the writing lacks any voice or characterisation. Kellerman just moves through the motions of a crime story without any real depth or care for the characters and their development.

“Nothing on knife-attack victim Contessa Welles but the computer was more than happy to tell me who owned the house on Clearwater.”

People who read crime novels and only crime novels? They’ll love this. It’s all about the plot and procedure and plot and procedure, and, more plot. But people who dip in and out of crime like me? People who are also looking for some depth to the characters? Maybe skip this one.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Museum of Desire
Jonathan Kellerman
February 2020
Penguin Random House Publishers

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

The unforgettable story of a mother and son fleeing a drug-cartel to cross the US-Mexico border.

Vivid, visceral, utterly compelling, AMERICAN DIRT is the first novel to explore the experience of attempting to illegally cross the US-Mexico border.

Yesterday, Lydia had a bookshop.
Yesterday, Lydia was married to a journalist.
Yesterday, she was with everyone she loved most in the world.

Today, her eight-year-old son Luca is all she has left.

For him, she will carry a machete strapped to her leg.
For him, she will leap onto the roof of a high speed train.
For him, she will find the strength to keep running.

In Jeanine Cummins’ American Dirt, a mother and son embark on a treacherous journey through Mexico to escape a dangerous drug cartel. The fictitious story follows these characters — and a few others we meet along the way — as they attempt to illegally cross the US-Mexico border.

We meet Lydia and her eight-year-old son Luca in Acapulco, Mexico. They’re cowering in the bathroom as armed men murder their family and extended family in the backyard during a family barbecue. It’s an absolute massacre, and it’s sheer luck that Lydia and Luca survive. But they don’t have time to grieve their loved ones because now they’re on the run, desperate to escape the clutches of the drug cartel responsible for the mass murder.

“One of the very first bullets comes in through the open window above the toilet where Luca is standing. He doesn’t immediately understand that it’s a bullet at all, and it’s only luck that it doesn’t strike him between the eyes…but the wash of bullets that follows is loud, booming and thudding, clack-clacking with helicopter speed.”

Told through intimate third person perspective, the break-neck pacing never wavers from that first sentence, and Jeanine brings succinct, sharp prose to the novel with every passing page.

Jeanine evokes emotion and empathy through her prose, allowing the reader to sympathise for Lydia and Luca as they continue on their journey. The mother and son suffer many mishaps along the treacherous route to freedom, and Jeanine captures their characterisation and their personalities through their actions, not just their dialogue.

“Luca thinks of the men running alongside the train in the clearing outside Lecheria, the way they ascended, one by one, and disappeared, while he and Mama watched, unable to move.”

Tension is heightened throughout the novel because Lydia and Luca are never safe — there are moments where the cartel are right on their heels, sometimes taunting them.

There is also a stark contrast in the book between the horrors around Lydia, and the love between her and her son. Lydia will do everything to keep her son safe, and there are some really tender moments between the two of them, often when they’re alone, that will really resonate with readers.

“Lydia doesn’t stare at the boy at the other end of the freight car, but she’s hyperaware now of his attention. He sits with his legs outstretched and his weight leaned back on his propped hands, and he’s watching them. Lydia does recognise him now, but only because Luca mentioned it.”

Over the course of the novel, Lydia and Luca meet and befriend other migrants, and these friendships keep readers on the edge of their seat. The cartel has many spies, and everyone who works for the cartel knows to be on the lookout for Lydia and Luca. Who can be trusted? Who will sell them out?

Unsettling and moving, American Dirt is highly recommended reading.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

American Dirt
Jeanine Cummins
February 2020
Hachette Publishers

Our Dark Secret by Jenny Quintana

From the author of The Missing Girl, Jenny Quintana’s gripping novel, Our Dark Secret, tells the story of two girls, two deaths and two decades of silence . . .

The crazy girls, they called them – or at least, Elizabeth liked to think they did. As a teenager in the late 1970s, she was clever, overweight and a perfect victim for the bullies. Then Rachel and her family arrived in town and, for Elizabeth, it was as if a light had been switched on. She was drawn to the bright and beautiful Rachel like a moth to a flame.

Rachel had her own reasons for wanting Elizabeth as a friend, and although their relationship was far from equal, Elizabeth would do anything for Rachel.

Then the first body was discovered.

Twenty years on, Elizabeth wants nothing more than to keep the secrets of her teenage years where they belong: in the past. But another body has been found, and she can’t keep running from what happened.

Can she?

Our Dark Secret is a psychological thriller about buried secrets, hidden pasts, and the bond between two girls who are hiding a dark secret.

The story follows a dual timeline and switches between 1978 and 1999, slowly revealing the story behind Elizabeth and Rachel’s friendship. From Elizabeth’s point of view, we understand that in 1978 she was lonely, overweight and in desperate need of friendship and companionship.

When she meets Rachel, she grows obsessive — watching her, following her, and desperately trying to find common ground with her. The two do become friends, over time, but it’s not out of loyalty. It’s out of shared trauma and eventually, a terrible crime that ties them both together forever.

In 1999, Elizabeth is similar to how we knew her before. She’s still overweight, lonely and anxious. She receives a phone call from an old neighbour. A body has been found in her old town, and the police suspect foul play. Elizabeth is terrified.

“People around me narrow their eyes as though I’ve done something terribly wrong. Usually it’s my size that affronts them. Sometimes it’s my clothes: mid-calf skirts and buttoned-up blouses. (I’ve never known how to dress).”

Elizabeth is an unreliable narrator — she lies a lot, twisting the truth to capture the attention of her father. And Rachel feels like a mythical character. We never really feel that we understand her because we only meet her through Elizabeth’s POV. Rachel seems to keep to herself, both in the physical sense and also in the social sense. She functions alone, and she doesn’t need companionship like Elizabeth does.

Elizabeth’s characterisation has the most depth, but she’s also the most flawed character. Her parents split up, her dad runs off with another woman, but Elizabeth only seems to care about herself and her non-existent friendship with Rachel. She’s not a great person, and not one that you’d want to be friends with, but I did enjoy reading about her in the book.

The mysteries within the book are enough to keep you engaged and interested in the story. A body has been found in Elizabeth’s hometown and slowly, we find out how Elizabeth and Rachel are connected to that character. Do I think this is the best crime/thriller novel I’ve read in this past year? No. I thought it was fine, but it wasn’t amazing. This is the kind of book you’d pick up at an airport and read on a flight.

“I was still angry with Melissa — the way she’d insulted me. She was only nine. Who did she think she was? It was bad enough at school when people my own age called me names, and then there was the stuff about Mum. Dad would be furious if he knew Mrs Wright had called her prissy.”

Personally, I felt that the 1999 storyline was unnecessary and didn’t add any value to the story. The majority of the book takes place in 1978 and if anything, the 1999 storyline (when it did happen) just detracted from the tense, fast-paced action of the other timeline.

Recommended for fans of thriller, crime and mystery novels.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Our Dark Secret
Jenny Quintana
February 2020
Pan Macmillan Publishers