JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The Paper Wasp by Lauren Acampora

Abby Graven is a dreamer. She dreams her way through her small, lonely life – hiding back at her parents, working at the grocery store. At night, she collects tabloid clippings that taunt her with Elise – her best friend, now Hollywood’s hot new starlet.

When a school reunion throws Elise in her path, Abby seizes her chance. With feverish certainty, she boards a one-way flight to LA to become Elise’s assistant and enters her gauzy realm of film sets and glamorous actors.

But behind Elise’s glossy magazine veneer, she is drowning in Hollywood’s vicious social cycle. Ever the devoted friend, Abby conceals her own burning desire for greatness.

For she is smarter than Elise. More talented. A true artist. And as she edges closer to her own ambitions, Abby can see only one way to make her dream come true.

The Paper Wasp by Lauren Acampora is an addictive, seductive psychological thriller about obsession, greed and betrayal. This novel will draw you in from the very first page, keep you hostage until the very end, and then leave you reeling for a long time afterwards.

This book is utterly bizarre, from the storyline to the setting to the characters. But it all works. It’s an addictive read, and one that I highly recommend to others.

Abby Graven was once valedictorian of her high school class and on a path to a successful adult life. But, now, she’s a 28-year-old college dropout who is living at her parents’ home in Michigan and is obsessed with the life that her high school best friend — Elise Van Dijk — now leads.

Elise is on the cusp of fame. She’s living in Hollywood, she’s featured in glossy fashion magazines, and she’s starring in upcoming lead movies. She appears to be leading a glamorous life, and Abby is enraptured by Elise’s ascent to stardom.

Abby and Elise briefly reconnect at their 10-year high school reunion. When Elise makes a throwaway comment that Abby should call her if she’s ever in LA, I’m sure that Elise didn’t actually expect Abby to do just that. But, a couple of months later, Abby buys a ticket to LA and calls her upon arrival at the airport. Elise, stumped, politely offers up her home for Abby while she’s in town.

Already, the reader is feeling the unease. We can see just how obsessive and dangerous Abby is, showing up to LA with no accommodation in mind, and with the singular hope that Elise will let her crash at her fancy mansion.

“A moment later, the cab was gone and I was alone outside the gate, shielding my eyes in the white light. Through the glare I saw there was a call box, a button I needed to push. I looked at it for a long moment and felt myself come slowly awake. My frenzy had been so absorbing, it was almost as if my body had been hijacked.”

Soon, Abby and Elise reconnect and Abby takes on the role of Elise’s personal assistant. But Abby is scheming, desperate to be as close to Elise as she possibly can. Abby is deluded enough to believe that her own fantasies could become real — that they are real. On the surface, she’s helping Elise, but really, she’s collating information in her mind to propel her own career in Hollywood.

There are so many logistical elements that make this novel work. The pacing is flawless — consistent, unwavering. The tension is heightened with each chapter we read, and the stakes are enormous for the main characters.

Elise and Abby are both fantastic characters. They’re intriguing and engaging, and you’re not sure who to root for. Abby, the unreliable narrator who you can’t help but sympathise with and love. Or Elise, the misunderstood, naive woman who has been caught up in the bright lights of Hollywood.

Acampora’s skill lies in her ability to capture the relationship between Elise and Abby in a way that doesn’t come across as just petty jealousy, but something far more extreme and inviting.

“How silly to have never come to California. Already Michigan was a figment, a prolonged, dank dream from which I’d finally woken. I’d left my winter coat behind, and I found myself thinking of it now, trying to recall the weight and feel of the boiled wool, the hide that I’d sloughed and abandoned.”

The Paper Wasp is about female friendship, ambition, and the consequences of obsession — the unwillingness to let go of your childhood, when everything seemed a lot easier and success seemed simpler to achieve.

I highly recommend this read. It’s fiction at its finest, and fans of crime, thrillers and psychological novels will tear through this book.

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

The Paper Wasp
Lauren Acampora
June 2019
Hachette Publishers

Blood River by Tony Cavanaugh

Three women. A city in fear. And a killer who will alter them all.

Brisbane 1999. It’s hot. Stormy. Dangerous. The waters of the Brisbane River are rising. The rains won’t stop. People’s nerves are on edge. And then . . .
A body is found.
And then another.
And another.

A string of seemingly ritualised but gruesome murders. All the victims are men. Affluent. Guys with nice houses, wives and kids at private schools. All have had their throats cut. Tabloid headlines shout, THE VAMPIRE KILLER STRIKES AGAIN!

Detective Constable Lara Ocean knows the look. The ‘my-life-will-never-be-the-same-again look’. She’s seen it too many times on too many faces. Telling a wife her husband won’t be coming home. Ever again. Telling her the brutal way he was murdered. That’s a look you never get used to.

Telling a mother you need her daughter to come to the station for questioning. That’s another look she doesn’t want to see again.

And staring into the eyes of a murderer, yet doubting you’ve got it right. That’s the worst look of all – the one you see in the mirror. Get it right, you’re a hero and the city is a safer place. Get it wrong and you destroy a life. And a killer remains free. Twenty years down the track, Lara Ocean will know the truth.

Blood River by Tony Cavanaugh is a gripping and glorious crime novel set in Brisbane in 1999. This is one of the best crime reads I’ve come across in the last year, and I tore through those pages in one day. I was fascinated by the storyline, the characters, the murders, and the conclusion. What a compelling read.

Three men are gruesomely murdered near the Brisbane River in 1999, and the police suspect high school student Jen. But is she really capable of the heinous crimes they’re accusing her of?

“How could I forgot. Girl after girl after girl, all saying the same: she’s weird, she carries a flick-knife around school, and what’s with the Celtic thing? And Bettany knows she’s into Satan, like worships him and stuff, rituals and stuff, and Olivia saw her in the Queen Street Mall one Sunday and she was, like, so stoned and….and….and…”

The book shifts in timeline and POV a fair bit. It’s written in first person, but switches between a teenage Jen soon after being accused of murdering three men in Brisbane, to Lara Ocean the police officer working on the case, to the unidentified killer who is trying to hide their identity.

A good crime novel is when your guesses — your theories — are wild and unrealistic, and you have no idea if you’re going to pick the twist or not. Tony Cavanaugh manages to capture this incredibly well — he has nailed the balance between revealing enough information to entice readers, but not too much where the reader feels like they’ve ‘solved it’.

“It was the case. Three victims in less than a week. It was the rain, the grey sky, the hammering relentlessness of blood and water, a river rising. It was Damon, it was mum, it was Nils and my stupid decision-making teen years that were coming back to me after I thought I had buried them and started anew.”

Police officer Lara Ocean has a complex past and her teenager years seemed pretty rebellious and disturbing — there are some similarities between her childhood, and Jen’s childhood. As a result, she’s able to look at the case from an unbiased perspective.

She’s calm and more considering of the evidence and she’s more sympathetic towards Jen, but she’s also fairly new to the job and she’s easily influenced by others. Her police partner Billy is dodgy — he doesn’t always obey rules, and he thinks he knows how to get results in a case. Additionally, Lara’s ex-boyfriend resurfaces and he is terrifying. Soon, Lara is conflicted about how to move forward with the case.

“We found her wandering through Missing Persons — how on earth did she get there? Don’t ask; police headquarters is supposed to be secure — but here was our dilemma. Jen’s mother had clearly taken some medication and was on another planet, and while, yes, she could respond and speak to us and give her approval for a record of the interview with her daughter, we had to ask ourselves; would this come back to haunt us if, if, we ever took Jen to court?”

I really enjoyed the atmosphere and setting of the book — Tony has captured the flood and the anxieties of Brisbane residents incredibly well. I could really picture the locations that were mentioned in the book, and I found it comforting to read so many references to so many Brisbane places.

If you love crime fiction, please buy this. You won’t regret it. It’s mesmerising and memorable, taunting and terrific.

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

Blood River
Tony Cavanaugh
May 2019
Hachette Publishers

The Woman in Darkness by Charlie Donlea

As a forensic reconstructionist, Rory Moore sheds light on cold-case homicides by piecing together details others fail to see. And while cleaning out her late father’s law office, she takes a call that plunges her into a forty-year-old mystery. In the summer of 1979, five Chicago women went missing.

The predator, nicknamed The Thief, left no bodies and no clues behind – until police received a package from a mysterious woman named Angela Mitchell, which uncovered his identity. But before police could question her, Angela disappeared.

Forty years later, The Thief is about to be paroled for Angela’s murder – the only killing the DA could pin on him. But a cryptic file found in her father’s office suggests to Rory there is more to the case than anyone knew.

Soon Rory is helplessly entangled in the enigma of Angela Mitchell and what happened to her. Drawing connections between the past and present, she uncovers dark truths about the reclusive woman, her own father, and the man called The Thief.

But not even Rory is prepared for the terrifying secrets about to emerge…

The Woman in Darkness by Charlie Donlea is a suspense thriller about a young woman trying to manage her deceased father’s old case work, and a prisoner who was accused of murdering his wife 40 years earlier. The book is fascinating and compelling and fast-paced — a real page-turner.

The book switches between 1979 and 2019. Angela was a young wife living with her husband Thomas. She’s autistic, although that term wasn’t created back then and so people treated her horribly because they didn’t understand why she was different to everyone else. She is fascinated with the recent disappearances of young women in her area, and starts collecting evidence in an effort to discover who is behind the crimes.

“Angela didn’t need to look into Bill Blackwell’s eyes to see the disgusted look on his face. She sensed it. It was an expression that sent Angela back to her childhood. Most people looked at her this way throughout her adolescence, and today Angela felt much of the confidence she had learned in the last few years slipping away.”

In 2019, we meet forensic reconstructionist Rory. She’s trying to find out what happened to a young woman who was murdered 1 year earlier, but that case is put on hold when her attorney father dies and she goes through all his open case files. One of the prisoners he was defending is set to be released on parole. Forty years earlier, he was jailed for the murder of his wife. He was suspected of murdering dozens of other women, but they could never prove it was him.

There’s a strong connection between Rory and Angela — similarities in their personality and their compulsions, and their manner. They’re both strong protagonists, inviting the reader in and keeping them engaged until the final page. Both of them are incredibly intelligent women with brilliant minds — they’re simply misunderstood by the people around them.

The writing is tight and cohesive, the dialogue realistic and relatable. The characters draw you in, but also keep you guessing. There are so many people who will love this book.

“She’d spent the entire evening suppressing her obsessive-compulsive needs. Angela’s freshly learned self-restraint had done her well. It opened up a new world with Thomas, and had allowed her to forge a friendship with Catherine. But Angela knew she could not completely ignore the needs of her mind and the demands of her central nervous system, which screamed for her to organise and list and break down the things that made no sense.”

A small flaw with the book is that Rory is signed on to solve that case about the murdered woman
one year earlier, and there is no development in it at all in the entire book. And then there’s an
open end about it. Perhaps that’s to allow for a sequel, but it actually just felt really disappointing.
That side storyline didn’t even need to be in the book, and there could’ve been other ways that
Rory was written into the premise.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves crime and thriller novels. The premise draws you in
and the characters keep you there. Angela is a fantastic character, and her story is not only well
written, but evocative and interesting and enthralling. I loved reading about her.

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

The Woman in Darkness
Charlie Donlea
April 2019
Penguin Random House Publishers

The Rip by Mark Brandi

A young woman living on the street has to keep her wits about her. Or her friends. But when the drugs kick in that can be hard.

Anton has been looking out for her. She was safe with him. But then Steve came along.
He had something over Anton. Must have. But he had a flat they could crash in. And gear in his pocket. And she can’t stop thinking about it. A good hit makes everything all right.
But the flat smells weird.

There’s a lock on Steve’s bedroom door. And the guy is intense. The problem is, sometimes you just don’t know you are in too deep, until you are drowning.

The Rip by Mark Brandi is an urban crime novel set in Melbourne.

The plot itself is not overly complex — two friends live homeless on the streets of Melbourne, with the young girl’s dog, Sunny. They’ve both come from troublesome childhoods and adolescent years, but they have learnt how to live as comfortably as they can. They feel safe where they are. Until they meet Steve.

“It’s funny how quick it happens and without you really noticing. Anton said once that it’s like walking out into the sea, and you think everything’s fine and the water’s warm, but when you turn back you’re suddenly miles from shore. I’ve never been much of a swimmer, but I get what he means. Like, being caught in a current or something. A rip.”

This book is raw and emotional, rich and powerful. These characters are troubled and flawed, but they draw the reader in. Mark Brandi is such a wonderful writer. He captures dialogue so well, and even with very little plot, he is able to engage an audience. The Rip is predominantly character-driven, and it’s fantastic.

Truthfully, this was going to be one of my favourite reads of the last 12 months. This was going to be a book that I would shove in people’s faces and demand that they read. This was, by far, one of the best examples of writing I’d come across.

…until I got to the end of the book.

The ending makes no sense to me. It’s almost like Mark wrote a few chapters and then cut them out of the manuscript. There’s a mystery in the book surrounding Steve and his bedroom, and the mysterious barrels. That mystery is never explained. All of a sudden, the plot jumps forward in time with no explanation of what happened in between. Sure, there’s a quick mention of a ‘court case’ but that’s it. What was in the barrels? We can guess, but what really happened?

The first thing I did was look at reviews online, and I found comfort in knowing many many other readers felt the same anger and frustration at the ending as I did. All the brilliant writing and masterful work Mark Brandi put into this book felt completely wasted at the end.

“I take Sunny by the rope and walk quickly up the street. He follows me for a bit, but gives up once I get round the corner. Look, I’m not ungrateful or anything — the food was nice, the apple pie especially — but it seems like everything comes with strings attached. With some people, anyway. Like, they can’t just do you a favour without expecting something in return, you know?”

The Rip is full of beautiful writing, with characters who are fragile, yet incredibly strong. The book is engrossing and riveting and I loved it all, until the end. Many readers will love this. But many readers will not love the ending.

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

The Rip
Mark Brandi
March 2019
Hachette Book Publishers

Half Moon Lake by Kirsten Alexander

‘They said he was their boy. And so he was . . .’


In 1913, on a summer’s day at Half Moon Lake, Louisiana, four-year-old Sonny Davenport walks into the woods and never returns.

The boy’s mysterious disappearance from the family’s lake house makes front-page news in their home town of Opelousas. John Henry and Mary Davenport are wealthy and influential, and will do anything to find their son. For two years, the Davenports search across the South, offer increasingly large rewards and struggle not to give in to despair.

Then, at the moment when all hope seems lost, the boy is found in the company of a tramp.

But is he truly Sonny Davenport? The circumstances of his discovery raise more questions than answers. And when Grace Mill, an unwed farm worker, travels from Alabama to lay claim to the child, newspapers, townsfolk, even the Davenports’ own friends, take sides.

As the tramp’s kidnapping trial begins, and two desperate mothers fight for ownership of the boy, the people of Opelousas discover that truth is more complicated than they’d ever dreamed . . .

Inspired by the real life kidnapping of American boy Bobby Dunbar, Half Moon Lake by Kirsten Alexander is a fascinating crime novel set in the early 20th century.

This book is about many things, not just a missing child. It’s about class and the treatment of black people in southern America in the early 1900s. It’s about reputation and family, and the opinion of others. It’s about making the wrong decision and then being forced to live with it and work with it, because the ramifications of acknowledging your mistake are too damaging to imagine.

“While he hadn’t expected effusive thanks from a man of John Henry’s stature, Tom had thought his kindness to the man’s wife might have elevated him in his eyes.”

The reader is left wanting more. What happened to Sonny? Where is he now? Who took him? What’s going to happen to Mary and John Henry and Grace? The suspense draws the reader in and keeps them turning the page.

The cast of characters all reflect the time and era that the book is set. Mary and her husband John Henry are upper class, wealthy and implement their influence on those lower down. They get away with what they want. Sure, they have their issues — Mary’s mental state has declined since her son went missing and her father treats her horribly and blames her for the disappearance — but they shield their pain from the outside world and put on this act that they’re coping just fine.

Wealth and status can influence justice in this story, and we see it a couple of times. John Henry is on track for a career in politics and is therefore able to manipulate opinion and processes just because of who he is and where he hopes to go. Other people obey him, and are scared of betraying him.

But how far is he willing to go to keep his wife happy? How far is he willing to go to keep his political career on track?

“Esmerelda felt sorry for Mr and Mrs Davenport sometimes. The reunion hadn’t brought them the peace they’d yearned for. She heard their arguments, barely muted by closed doors. And Mrs Davenport’s mood changed at the whim of the child.”

The blurb of this book makes you believe that this boy could be Sonny Davenport, but in actual fact, it’s made clear pretty early on that Sonny’s mother lies. She desperately wants her boy back, so she convinces herself that this little boy — whose real name is Ned — is actually hers.

When the real mother Grace Mill comes forward and the kidnapping trial ensues, the truth starts to seep out.

The book is rich with emotion and pain, as two women fight for the right to claim this young boy. Grace is an unwed mother and very poor, and she is judged because of her appearance and social standing. Mary, Sonny’s mother, is from a wealthy, well-respected family and therefore more people are likely to side with her.

“John Henry decided to stage the viewing after Christmas. If he had to do it – and it seemed he did – he’d not allow it to ruin the Christmas celebrations his wife had put so much effort into.”

I wondered if more attention should’ve been given to the gossipy nature of the town. Given the time this was set, and the crimes that have been committed, the scope of the gossip around town and the number of people trying to insert themselves into the drama felt kind of small. I didn’t get a strong sense of that ‘small town huge news’ atmosphere where everyone is whispering and passing on news and eavesdropping.

Additionally, I was left feeling dissatisfied with the ending, in a way that made me feel like the ending actually weakened the story. It was too abrupt to seem deliberate, too unresolved to be pleasing.

Recommended for fans of crime, thriller and mystery novels.

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

Half Moon Lake
Kirsten Alexander
January 2019
Penguin Random House Publishers