Saturday, June 6, 2020

All The Broken People Review

Author: Leah Konen
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons of Penguin Random House
Release Date: June 30, 2020
Purchase Link: Amazon

My Rating:  4 Twisted Hearts

*With special thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons for an arc of this book via Netgalley.

Book Synopsis & Author Bio following review.

A woman in search of a fresh start is about to get more than she bargained for in this twisty and addictive domestic thriller for fans of The Couple Next Door.
Review:
Lucy King flees Brooklyn to escape an abusive ex-boyfriend.  She tells no one where's she's headed as she attempts to vanish without a trace.  Lucy moves into a house in Woodstock hoping to settle into an unobtrusive, quiet, invisible life, but when her irresistible neighbor Vera invites her over to dinner Lucy can't seem to say no.  Soon Lucy, Vera, and her husband John are inseparable - an odd but tight-knit threesome dining and hiking together almost daily.  As Lucy remains diligent about her own security, she never stops looking over her shoulder for her ex and soon comes to realize that she's grown dependent on her neighbors.  As time passes, Lucy's surprised at how hostile the people in Woodstock are toward John.  When the couple confides in Lucy and ask for her help in staging a "Van Gogh" disappearance for John, she's hesitant but how can she say No?  When the staged accident goes awry and what was supposed to be an unsolved disappearance turns into a murder investigation, tensions rise, secrets are spilled, and Lucy finds herself on the hot seat.  What happened?

All The Broken People is one wild, crazy, delusive trip! From beginning to end, I read at a furious pace trying to keep up with everything going down in this island town.  Accusations fly, threats are hurled, betrayals uncovered, secrets kept . . . until they're not.  The setting is picture perfect and the pace is like flames chasing a fresh trail of gasoline.  The fire is hot and furious and you just know there's going  to be a big, shocking explosion when it all comes together in the end.  Konen created a unique cast of characters led by an unreliable narrator that tempts readers into a complex maize of events and possibilities - and then abandons them with the dilemma of figuring out "who done it".  It's been awhile since I've maneuvered such a curvy, twisted plotline, and I can tell you I changed directions several times before I escaped that maize by figuring out what was going on.  I was right in the end, but that fact in no way diminished the intensity of this anxiety inducing thriller.  This author's writing will keep you entranced and searching for answers until the very end.  All The Broken People is a tense, gripping, all-consuming Domestic Thriller that I highly recommend.  Fans of mystery, suspense, and thrillers (especially Domestic Thrillers) are going to love this one!

My Rating:  4 Twisted Hearts
Cross My Heart . . . xxx
Sandra

Synopsis:
Lucy King is desperate for escape: from a dangerous relationship, a city she can no longer call home, and a past she just wants to forget. Fleeing Brooklyn with little more than a suitcase and her trusty dog, she heads to rustic, charming Woodstock, New York, eager to lose herself in a quiet, anonymous life where her ex can never find her. But when she meets Vera and John, the alluring couple next door, their friendship proves impossible to resist. Just as Lucy starts to think the worst is behind her, the couple delivers a staggering bombshell: they, too, need to escape their troubles--and the only way they can begin their new life is if Lucy helps them fake John's death.Afraid to lose her newfound support system--and still panicked about her ex--Lucy reluctantly conspires with them to stage an "accidental" death on a hike nearby. It's just one little lie to the police, after all, and she knows a thing or two about the importance of fresh starts. But what begins as an elaborate ruse turns all too real when John turns up dead in the woods the morning after their hike. Now, Lucy must figure out who she can trust and who's pulling the strings of her tenuous new life . . . before she takes the fall for murder.
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