Sunday, July 08, 2012

2012 book 182

Cornelia Read's Valley of Ashes
I had read another boom by Read a few years ago and remember enjoying it a lot, so was eager to check out her latest. And then a few chapters into this book, the protagonist's backstory started to sound really familiar--it turns out that this is actually the fourth in a series that started with the one I read back in 2007. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as awesome as that one. It starts off with promise, as reporter Madeline Dare and her family have just moved to Denver for her husband's job, only he's being a total jerk and she's overwhelmed with their baby twins. When she starts investigating a string of local arsons for the paper, it seems like she's going to get sucked into some dramatic crime story--only things abruptly devolve into a REALLY BORING and pretty annoying domestic drama. The mystery this book is ostensibly about is never really addressed again. Seriously, I wanted to smack some sense into all of these characters because they were all weak morons. C.

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An e-galley was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in August.

4 comments:

Cornelia Read said...

So sorry you didn't like it, but thanks for giving it a try.

Alicia K. said...

Now I feel all bad about this, I'm sorry! I just really wanted to shake her and be like, leave your husband, he is a JERK, and go solve mysteries like the badass you are!

Cornelia Read said...

I blame the sleep deprivation. Finally dumped him in 2008. So I've got *that* going for me!

Alicia K. said...

I am planning on going back and reading the two I missed, I loved the first in this series. Again, so sorry I wasn't into this one.