Author: Leigh Russell
Release Date: February 9, 2016
Series: Lucy Hall Mystery
Genre: Mystery | Thriller
Edition: E-Book (mobi)
Pages: 324
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon
Rating: ★ – DNF
Blurb:
Lucy Hall arrives in the Seychelles determined to leave her worries behind. The tropical paradise looks sun-soaked and picture-perfect—but as Lucy soon discovers, appearances can be very deceptive. A deadly secret lurks in the island’s history, buried deep but not forgotten. And it is about to come to light.
As black clouds begin to gather over what promised to be a relaxing family break, Lucy realises that her father stands in the eye of the coming storm. A shadow from his past is threatening to destroy all that he holds dear—including the lives of his loved ones.
A dark truth is about to explode into their lives, and that truth is going to hit them right between the eyes.
Review
DNF’ed at 28%
The initial plot build up of this book felt promising but after 15% of the story, it started to feel a little scattered. I enjoyed the part of the vacation and the descriptions of the island, but I felt that after a few pages, the author went a bit onboard with the descriptions. I mean considering the book is a thriller and not a travel guide, the descriptions were too much for my taste. It was distracting me from the basic storyline and kept me thinking, “when the hell will the story start.” – Which is, of course, not a good thing.
Secondly, I thought that the concept of the “angel of death” was quite a bit exaggerated, considering she abducted a female at the 25% mark. I really lost the patience after slogging through the 28% of the book and hence, gave up.
The female lead, Lucy, failed to impress me in any way and the book fell short of characterization in a really bad way.
If you’re a patient reader and don’t mind tons of descriptions, then maybe you’ll like this book. Or maybe if you like light mysteries then this book will be an ideal match for you. But not for psychological thriller fans.
You can also read this review at Goodreads, Amazon and NetGalley.
The Reading Bud 
I like your honesty in the review. You’re not nasty, just factual about what you didn’t like. I agree; it’s a balance between writing scenes that bring the reader there, but not getting so detailed that the writer bores the reader. I teach my writing students (and remind myself daily) that each sentence and paragraph and dialogue must move the story along.
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