JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Into the Dark by Fiona Cummins

THE PLACE: Seawings, a beautiful Art Deco home overlooking the sweep of the bay in Midtown-on-Sea.

THE CRIME: The gilded Holden family – Piper and Gray and their two teenage children, Riva and Artie – has vanished from the house without a trace.

THE DETECTIVE: DS Saul Anguish, brilliant but with a dark past, treads the narrow line between light and shade.

One late autumn morning, Piper’s best friend arrives at Seawings to discover an eerie scene – the kettle is still warm, all the family’s phones are charging on the worktop, the cars are in the garage. But the house is deserted.

In fifteen-year-old Riva Holden’s bedroom, scrawled across the mirror in blood, are three words:

Make 
Them 
Stop.

What happens next?

Fiona Cummins’ Into the Dark is a fast-paced, high-stakes psychological thriller centred around the disappearance of a family. The state of the house suggests that the family did not plan to leave, and that perhaps they did not leave of their own choice. What ensues is a unexpected series of twists as we learn the truth of what happened to the Holden family.

Stylistically, Into the Dark moves between the past and the present — in the past storyline, we come to understand bits and pieces that explain what the Holden family were going through in the days preceding their disappearance. In the present storyline, we come to understand the role that Julieanne plays in this mystery and how she feels about the Holden’s disappearance.

“None of the teachers ever pressed Emelie into taking their subjects because of her natural talent. She was proud of her friend but sometimes it was a little exhausting to bear witness to Riva’s continued brilliance.”

Whilst the book is populated with rather unlikeable characters, Fiona crafts a compelling psychological thriller. The history of the friendship between Julieanne and Piper evolves over the course of the novel — they bonded over motherhood and parenting, but over time we realise how interconnected their lives now are. What is Julieanne willing to do for Piper, and what is Piper prepared to do for herself?

Into the Dark will please fans of psychological thrillers — Fiona maintains consistent pacing and high stakes throughout the novel, keeping readers engaged. Fiona offers surprises and twists with each passing chapter, turning the initial premise on its head and ensuring readers stay absorbed throughout the novel.

“The most pressing question is not the origin of the blood used in that message — she smiled at hime and he was lost — but finding the person who wrote it.”

Into the Dark illustrates quite an unconventional relationship between Julieanne and Piper — a toxic, co-dependent friendship that holds disastrous consequences for all. Whilst the ending of the novel does feel rather farfetched and unbelievable, it still provides entertainment for the reader. I did feel like the detectives in the novel weren’t overly present – their investigation feels like it holds slim presence in the book.

There is a sub-plot that follows Julieanne and Piper’s daughters, as they navigate their friendship at school and how those events intertwine with the disappearance of the Holden family. I did find this particular sub-plot less engaging that Julieanne and Piper’s storyline, although it does serve as a bit of a red herring as we start to piece together the truth behind the mystery.

“DC Williams fired off many questions. What was Piper’s usual routine? What about the rest of the family? How long had they lived here? Did they have other properties elsewhere? What about extended family?”

Punchy and pacy, Into the Dark is recommended for readers of crime, thriller and mysteries. Readership skews 25+

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

Into the Dark
Fiona Cummins
April 2022
Pan Macmillan Publishers Australia

The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

If Avery Chambers can’t fix you in ten sessions, she won’t take you on as a client. She helps people overcome everything, from domineering parents to assault. Her successes almost help her absorb the emptiness she feels since her husband’s death.

Marissa and Mathew Bishop seem like the golden couple, until Marissa cheats. She wants to repair things, both because she loves her husband and for the sake of their 8-year-old son. After a friend forwards an article about Avery, Marissa takes a chance on this maverick therapist, who lost her license due to controversial methods.

When the Bishops glide through Avery’s door and Marissa reveals her infidelity, all three are set on a collision course. Because the biggest secrets in the room are still hidden, and it’s no longer simply a marriage that’s in danger.

The Golden Couple is the latest psychological thriller from writing duo Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen — another intriguing, entertaining tale that crime and thriller readers will enjoy.

Written in third person but moving between two perspectives — disgraced therapist Avery Chambers and polished but deceitful client Marissa Bishop — The Golden Couple felt interesting in that there actually isn’t a crime, or even the hint of a crime, for most of the novel. In the beginning, Avery is merely employed to help Marissa and her husband Matthew process recent betrayal in their marriage. Sure, there are some suspicious elements to the story — Marissa’s assistant is a little clingy and doesn’t quite seem truthful, and Matthew also doesn’t seem to be entirely honest — but other than that, I couldn’t help but wonder where this story was going. And that was what made it so enjoyable. Avery acted as some sort of private investigator, tailing the Bishop family in an effort to help bring them back together. And over the course of the novel, suspicious events arise that give way to criminal elements.

“Avery will be here in less than thirty minutes. Matthew still isn’t home. Marissa desperately wants the half glass of crisp white wine she left on the kitchen counter, which she intended to sip while she finished tidying up.”

Greer and Sarah do well to establish quite a large cast of characters, all of whom seem suspicious. Marissa and Matthew are both withholding secrets, Avery is crossing a lot of ethical lines in an effort to achieve results, Marissa’s assistant Polly is acting suspicious and establishes herself quite early on as a red herring, and there’s also a mystery from Marissa and Matthew’s past that continues to haunt her in the present.

The Golden Couple feels very commercial. Whilst some of the twists feel a little forced and atypical, I think Greer and Sarah know how to craft intriguing premises and engaging characters. This is perfect for a beach or aeroplane read, and a great gift for a reluctant reader.

“Avery already seems to have Natalie’s number. Maybe the marriage consultant knew of Natalie’s existence even before her name came up during the session. Marissa was more than a little unsettled to learn that Avery was skimming through the details of their lives, but if Matthew is okay with it, how can she object?”

The characterisation did seem to waver a bit in the beginning before the story found its groove. Marissa and Matthew’s initial session with Avery felt a bit caricature, and dialogue a little unnatural. But once the suspect built, tensions rose, and the psychological thriller aspect of the novel started to make itself known, the characterisation solidified and it finished on a really strong note.

Additionally, there’s a subplot with Avery and the drug company Acelia which felt a little unnecessary in the book and like it didn’t actually gel within the story. Prior to the events in the novel, Avery acted as whistleblower and divulged to the FDA about Acelia, and now they’re intimidating her into giving up her source. Whilst there is an element of relevance to this at the conclusion of the novel, it feels rather flimsy and far-reaching for most of the book.

“Could this be true? Marissa realizes that in the month or so that Polly has worked for her, Polly has never mentioned a boyfriend or a night out with friends. Her parents live in Milwaukee, and as far as Marissa can tell, they’ve never visited.”

Recommended for readers of psychological thrillers and crime fiction. Readership skews 25+

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

The Golden Couple
Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
March 2022
Pan Macmillan Publishers Australia

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler

From the Booker-shortlisted, million-copy bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves comes an epic novel about the infamous, ill-fated Booth family. Charmers, liars, drinkers and dreamers, they will change history forever.

Junius is the patriarch, a celebrated Shakespearean actor who fled bigamy charges in England, both a mesmerising talent and a man of terrifying instability. As his children grow up in a remote farmstead in 1830s rural Baltimore, the country draws ever closer to the boiling point of secession and civil war.

Of the six Booth siblings who survive to adulthood, each has their own dreams they must fight to realise – but it is Johnny who makes the terrible decision that will change the course of history – the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Karen Joy Fowler’s recent offering Booth pivots around the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, but at its core is about family and loyalty, and the threads that tie us together even during tragedy.

Written in third person but moving perspectives between members of the Booth family, we’re thrust into the theatrical 19th-century setting. Junius Booth is a well-renowned Shakespearean actor, but his children are just as complex and interesting to read as he is. Even after he passes, his legacy tails them wherever they go. Each child grows into a very different person, some plagued with addiction, some a little bit more fortunate.

“Enter Edwin. He’s walking alone, carrying, in secret rebellion, a set of foils that belong to his father. June has been giving him and Johnny both lessons in fencing when he visits, not real fencing, but stage fencing, and Edwin is desperate to be better at this than his athletic little brother.”

Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, Booth is more about the fraught and complex dynamics within a family than it is about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. After all, this novel explores the dysfunctional family responsible for the creation and upbringing of Lincoln’s killer.

With such a large family founded on bigamy, there are bound to be moments of both surprise and humour woven throughout the story. Junius himself offers quite a charming, upbeat element to the novel — I felt like his daughters inherited more of his charm than his sons did. Rosalie, in particular, was my favourite. She’s resilient, determined and observant, and attacks as caretaker for almost everyone except herself.

Karen Joy Fowler’s writing is always strong — taut and clean, with stark observations and notable dialogue. Interspersed throughout the novel are excerpts of Lincoln’s movements — his speeches and actions. It builds tension, allowing the inevitable to bubble away under the surface of the page.

“Rosalie knows about Harriet because Aunty Rogers has told her. Poor Mother couldn’t bake biscuits and she couldn’t manage a slave. Aunty Rogers could have mentioned Harriet during that quarrel they’d almost had about slavery.”

Pacing does lag during the middle of the book. Lincoln’s assassination occurs in the final chapters of the book, and it feels like it comes through too late. I know this novel is more about the people who surround the assassination, and so I would’ve loved more of an exploration into how the assassination ripples through the family in its aftermath, rather than just the era that precedes it.

At first I felt like Johnny’s characterisation in the lead-up to his assassination was thinly developed — there were moments where his murderous intent was being crafted, peppered moments where you could see what he would become. But ultimately, I felt he was too ‘quiet’ in the book, and then I realised that was intentional. Johnny went largely unnoticed in the family, as did most of the Booth children. They were hopeful and hopeless, and no one was going to save them.

“She’s become so attuned to her mother’s moods that there are times when Rosalie can’t be sure what she’s feeling belongs to her. Her mother complains that her back hurts, and Rosalie begins to feel an ache just below her neck, a cramping in her shoulders, a twisting of her spine.”

Recommended for readers of literary fiction. Readership skews 30+

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

Booth
Karen Joy Fowler
March 2022
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers

Careering by Daisy Buchanan

careering (verb)
1. working endlessly for a job you used to love and now resent entirely
2. moving in a way that feels out of control

There’s a fine line between on the right track and coming off the rails.

Imogen has always dreamed of writing for a magazine. Infinite internships later, Imogen dreams of any job. Writing her blog around double shifts at the pub is neither fulfilling her creatively nor paying the bills.

Harri might just be Imogen’s fairy godmother. She’s moving from the glossy pages of Panache magazine to launch a fierce feminist site, The Know. And she thinks Imogen’s most outrageous sexual content will help generate the clicks she needs.

But neither woman is aware of the crucial thing they have in common. Harri, at the other end of her career, has also been bitten and betrayed by the industry she has given herself to. Will she wake up to the way she’s being exploited before her protege realises that not everything is copy? Can either woman reconcile their love for work with the fact that work will never love them back? Or is a chaotic rebellion calling…

Daisy Buchanan’s second novel Careering follows two career-driven women and their unhealthy relationship with their jobs — from toxic environments and underpaid roles, to unrealistic expectations around how many hours to work each day. Most of us will be able to recognise elements of this in our careers.

Careering moves between Harri and Imogen, reflecting opposing sides of the toxicity of a workplace. Harri, in her 40s and boss of the media outlet, feels hurt by management’s decisions to shut her out of Panache. She’s exhausted and perhaps spent too long drinking the company Kool-Aid – maybe now she’ll realise what she really wants.

And Imogen, young and hungry. Desperate for full-time work with the magazine she’s always adored. But perhaps it isn’t what she thought it’d be — mismatched information and feedback, no clear direction, little pay, and no certainty of job security or career progression. Perhaps she’s placed Panache on a pedestal, and it’s time to chase another dream.

“On Monday, Harri was hopeful. By Friday, she’s exhausted. She’s crashing out in the Cafe Cucina — again, terrible, but so handy for the office — and trying to listen to Giles’ long list of woes, complaints and grudges, and how Giles has effectively been left to run Panache single handed.”

Careering presents us with a situation most commonplace — how hard are we willing to work for our ‘dream job’, long after the passion has dissipated? And what is an appropriate sacrifice to make to try and achieve that dream job? How long is it acceptable to work for free, or for minimum wage? What about long hours when we’re still considered junior in the company, with very little chance to progress through the ranks.

The novel also explores the pressures we can feel to fit in at a job, particularly somewhere illustrious like the fashion industry. From changed names to expensive outfits, most of the characters in this novel are presenting a facade very far from who they really are behind closed doors.

“Still, I’m so tired of doing this dance. Sam’s excuses for the lack of this imaginary job have been so creative, inventive and impressively consistent that it’s almost baffling that he’s failed to find any critical acclaim as a novelist.”

Careering heroes female sexuality and empowerment — the novel zeroes in on the importance of media outlets adapting and growing with its readers. Understanding readership is integral to launching something new, something daring, and Imogen’s writing material proves popular and timely.

Over time, Harri grows too desperate to succeed that she starts to lose sight of what she’s actually wanting to achieve. She loses sight of quality, as she hunts down quantity. While Imogen feels like the clear protagonist of the novel, Harri brings a contrasting perspective into the story and opens up the readership to an older demographic.

“To be fair, Tabitha should not have to explain herself when her outfit works as a sort of living CV. There is so much to take in, my brain didn’t fully process it all as she walked through the door. From the waist up, she’s dressed as Gene Kelly in On the Town, in a puffy white sailor blouse, with a navy blue collar.”

Sharp and observant, Careering fits well alongside authors such as Dolly Alderton, Beth O’Leary Emma Jane Unsworth and Anna Hope. Another tale about a woman taking control of her situation, in career and in love. Readership skews female, 20+

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

Careering
Daisy Buchanan
March 2022
Hachette Book Publishers

Loveland by Robert Lukins

Amid the ruins of a fire-ravaged amusement park and destroyed waterfront dwellings, one boarded-up building still stands. May has come from Australia to Loveland, Nebraska, to claim the house on the poisoned lake as part of her grandmother’s will. Escaping the control of her husband, will she find refuge or danger?

As she starts repairing the old house, May is drawn to discover more about her silent, emotionally distant grandmother and unravel the secrets that Casey had moved halfway around the world to keep hidden. How she and Casey’s lives interconnect, and the price they both must pay for their courage, is gradually revealed as this mesmerising and lyrical novel unfolds.

Tender and heartfelt, Robert Lukins’ novel Loveland explores humanity, family, history, and the secrets that bind generations together. Its two main characters, May and Casey, are the vulnerable among the volatile.

After her grandmother dies, May flees her abusive husband and travels from Australia to Nebraska to claim her inheritance — a loved but long-empty house aside a poisoned lake. Written in third person, Loveland moves between perspectives: primarily May and her grandmother Casey, but we’re also privy to one of Casey’s neighbours and once close friend, Jean.

“Casey thought the flower was quite beautiful. She had none of them on her side of the fence. The husband could be watching from the big house but what crime was there in collecting a weed? Without pausing to reconsider, she acted.”

Like other novels that centre around a woman searching the depths of their grandmother’s past, May comes to realise quite quickly that she didn’t really know her grandmother at all. Mystery surrounds her marriage, her youth and her connection to the Nebraska town she once lived in as a young wife and mother. Over the course of the story, we witness what appears to be history repeating itself — a young woman, loyal and trusting, trapped in an abusive marriage with little opportunity to extricate herself from it.

A common thread in each storyline is Jean — when a young teenager, she’s a friend and confidante for Casey, and when older, she’s the caretaker of Casey’s home and the person who helps May reconnect with the grandmother she’s struggling to understand.

May and Casey’s lives seem to parallel in a way that haunts the reader, keeps them engaged as each chapter ends. Both women almost seem tethered to each other, much like the men they’re married to. But whilst those marriages seem to be a detriment — a physical and emotional toll — the connection between May and Casey almost seems necessary for May, and also Jean, to resolve each of their demons.

“Jean’s house was among the final few on the curve before the decline to the lake. Hers was the least well kept. Not a wreck, but certainly not the tamed exhibitions of the others…Tate had made her put her hand to her heart and swear an oath that she understood her debt. The personal, unbreakable contract into which they had entered.”

An underlying theme of the book is intergenerational trauma — do we inherit trauma? Does it plague a family and its descendants, no matter what?

Whilst at times I felt the significance of the land and lake was a little lost on me, perhaps the imagery not quite as perfected as I would’ve liked, I found the characters compelling enough to continue reading. Jean was the necessary element to keep the story progressing and to keep May and Casey connected — as predicted, she held the secrets that explained why Casey liked to keep her connection to Nebraska hidden, even later in her life.

“May had flown six times in her life. To and from Sydney, once. To and from Cairns, twice. Each a family holiday that would be christened with Patrick’s disapproval over the size or state of the hotel room. He had always been the one to book.”

Steady and measured with a haunting undertone, Robert Lukins’ Loveland is recommended for literary readers. Reminiscent of Kristin Hannah, whom I love. Readership skews female, 30+

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

Loveland
Robert Lukins
March 2022
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers