I’ve had it all and lost it all. But now I’m finally getting things together. My fiancé seems like the perfect guy. He gave me a job at his landscaping business. He’s on my side. And when he proposed, I couldn’t believe what he saw in someone like me.
But there are red flags.
He says we have to keep the engagement secret. And why does his ex-wife still wear the ring from their ruined marriage?
Now my mom calls me up. She says my fiancé’s on the TV news. In handcuffs. Three charges of first degree murder.
Did he really do what they’re saying he did? And will they come after me next? I’ve been in trouble before. And I’ll do anything to stay out of jail.
This story had a solid premise, but unfortunately the execution completely missed the mark for numerous reasons.
To begin with, the writing style itself made the story difficult to stay invested in. Each chapter had some ridiculous title that may or may not have had anything to do with what actually happened in that chapter. Instead of adding personality, it felt distracting. This was made worse by the constant jumping between past and present timelines. Rather than building tension, it made the story feel disjointed and harder to follow than it needed to be.
A big part of why the timeline shifts didn’t work for me is because by the time they occurred, we already knew that both of the Dixons, as well as Starla, had been taken into custody for the crimes that had taken place. That removed any real sense of mystery. The moments that were clearly meant to function as subtle clues instead became painfully obvious. Where I should have been having those satisfying realizations later on, instead I was watching events unfold and wondering how Starla herself didn’t see what was right in front of her. I honestly think this story would have worked much better if it had been structured in two parts; first the past, allowing the tension and unease to build naturally, and then the present, where everything comes crashing down.
However, that might have been forgivable if not for the plot holes, some of which were large enough to drive a tractor trailer through. Starla is supposed to be an experienced con woman (though admittedly not a very successful one, given her repeated jail time), yet she never seriously questions an opportunity that is obviously too good to be true? A job, a free apartment, a car, and a fresh start, all handed to someone with her background, and she just… accepts it? One minute, she is openly admitting that she doesn’t trust Donald or Alexius, yet somehow she ends up engaged to Donald, with almost no believable development shown on page? Their engagement is kept secret under the excuse that the community needs more time to get to know her, but she had already been living there for months. She was attending bible study and volunteering, both of which were conditions of her employment, yet those details are either glossed over or conveniently forgotten when they should have mattered most. But I guess it doesn't matter when it's so obvious that a blind man could see it that despite having been divorced for a decade, Donald and Alexius are still irrevocably bound together. For heaven's sake Starla even refers to there being a "her house" and a "their house"; their of course referring to the Dixon's.
The twist at the end, which clearly was intended to be shocking, ultimately fell flat because it relied on things that simply didn’t make sense. Even with fake documents, money doesn’t just disappear. It leaves a trail. The idea that everything could be wrapped up so neatly without consequences for some people strained credibility far too much for me within a story that had already gone too far.
Sadly, the characters didn’t help matters either. It has been a while since I’ve read a book where the characters felt this flat and indistinguishable from one another. Starla, in particular, was completely unconvincing as someone who had successfully run cons in the past. She came across less like a manipulative survivor and more like someone who was naïve and easily misled. Detective Kaarn’s was another frustrating example of wasted potential. She could have been a strong, compelling character, but instead became so fixated on proving Starla’s involvement that it clouded her judgment repeatedly. Thankfully, her partner occasionally stepped in as the voice of reason, even if his tendency to speak in vague riddles became irritating in its own way.
In the end, while I can see why the premise itself might draw people in, I genuinely do not understand the hype surrounding this story. That said, I am still willing to give the author another chance, simply because so many readers seem to enjoy her other books. I just hope those are stronger, because this one wasn’t it.
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