Denise

"Life is life, Matthew. We all play God in whatever way we can."

I was drawn in by the book description of this book and felt like this would be an awesomely creepy read but what it turned out to be was a frustrating and predictable book. This book follows Matt Shank, a successful restaurant owner, who finds some items regarding the famous case of a serial killer his grandfather solved back in the 1980s. Matt must now struggle to deal with what those items reveal to him. Matt's girlfriend Sam is struggling to find the truth about her mother's murder, that happened when Sam was just a baby, and her research leads her startlingly close to what Matt uncovers.

It is hard to read a book and enjoy it when you think the main character is an absolute jerk. I hated Matt and quite frankly I don't know why anyone, especially his girlfriend Sam, put up with him. He was an arrogant jerk who thought that he deserved everything he wanted and at times it just seemed way over-the-top. I spent the book alternating between feeling sorry for Sam because he was treating her horribly and being angry that she hadn't just broken up with him already.

The plot seemed pretty slow for me. I spent most of the time that I read this book dying for someone to connect the dots and figure out what we the readers and Matt knew. The big twist towards the end could pretty much be seen from a mile away. I don't know if it is because I have a twisted mind but it seemed like I always knew what was going to happen in this book. I do admit that I did like the action at the end; it was probably the part that I liked most of the book. I really liked the premise of this book but felt like there was nothing really special about this book that makes it stand out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the galley.