M. J. Ford

It had the makings of a good book, and the story had a promising plot, but there was just too much going on at once. It read like stories within stories. You would have thought the author was never going to get a chance to write another book "so let's get it all in here". I did begin to understand though, why I hate clowns. The beginning and about 30% of the book was the best parts. The story covers a span of roughly 30 years. Starting with the kidnapping of a little boy at a carnival, which happened to be witnessed by a little girl. Thirty years down the road; that little girl is now a detective assigned to another case of a kidnapped little boy. Many pages later we come to the ending. It needed...well, something more believable. The "big reveal" was over the top. It felt as if the author wanted to come up with something that was so bizarre and so out in left field that the reader would be overly, even shockingly, surprised. I know this was this author's first book...heaven knows I have never had a first book or any book for that matter...but there was so much that really "bothered" me and didn't fit well together about the entire layout of the story. I gave it 3 stars...because first of all, I DID NOT HATE THE BOOK. Those stars are also for the author's first efforts, she is a good writer...for the idea of the plot...and for the first part of the story which really was very good...but someone in charge of the editing or the finished product, really let this author down somewhere along the way. Of course, I have probably done more with this review to get people to read it than the editor ever could have hoped to have accomplished:)… (mehr)