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The Answer To Your Question
How well can you really know the people you love, even your own son? Four young women are murdered, and he's the suspect . . .
After raising her son, Ben, as a single parent, librarian Inga Daudelin is blindsided when he is accused of the murders of four young women. At the same time, Jean, a young, pregnant waif who seems both simple and wise, "imprints" on Inga at work, drawing her into an unusual friendship. When Ben kidnaps Jean, Inga and lead detective Ron O'Loughlin, with whom she is falling in love, search for the two, who along with Jean's baby, have formed a strange but human family.
"This wonderful novel is a success at every level--an engrossing thriller and a nuanced examination of love--written with artful directness. I loved every word and could not put it down." -- Scott Turow
After raising her son, Ben, as a single parent, librarian Inga Daudelin is blindsided when he is accused of the murders of four young women. At the same time, Jean, a young, pregnant waif who seems both simple and wise, "imprints" on Inga at work, drawing her into an unusual friendship. When Ben kidnaps Jean, Inga and lead detective Ron O'Loughlin, with whom she is falling in love, search for the two, who along with Jean's baby, have formed a strange but human family.
"This wonderful novel is a success at every level--an engrossing thriller and a nuanced examination of love--written with artful directness. I loved every word and could not put it down." -- Scott Turow
252 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 10, 2013
110 people are currently reading
849 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
February 7, 2015
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2016
Bold and compelling - this is the heartfelt story of Inga & Jean, and how their lives became intertwined. This novel pulls the reader into the intense scrutiny of two characters' psyche. Each protagonist has a voice that grows stronger, as they each reach out for their own emotional survival. An intriguing tale, told with an original voice. Paulette Alden has done well to reveal the story of the two unfortunate souls who imprinted on each other while on the path of their own journeys. Both are confronted with unimaginable loss. Inga deals with her fate and choses life after mayhem. Jean, a simple woman, learns about the world and copes with the immeasurable heartache. Our humanity is often tested by tragedy. Questions arise... How we answer is the way we each define ourselves. Inga and Jean replied with decency and loyalty in this wonderful story. They asked the hard questions, and faced the answers. I highly recommend this book for all those who appreciate the human struggle and are not afraid to hear a voice seeking an answer to their question.
February 5, 2013
The answer to your question is: YES, do read this book! It's beautifully written in a clear, natural style. The suspenseful, surprising (& sometimes shocking) story is told by the two main characters -- middle-aged, middle-class Inga and teen-aged Jean, a country girl making her way alone in the absence of her soldier husband. These women are skillfully revealed through their distinctive voices. As they tell their stories, the reader comes to care for them and want to know what they'll do next and how events will unfold. Much of the dramatic action is driven by Inga's son Ben, the dark and dangerous force in the book. His threatening (serpent-like) presence and violent misdeeds place Inga and Jean in extreme situations that force them to ask painful questions and make hard choices. This novel successfully draws the reader into its mysterious world of darkness and light. Once you start reading, you won't want to put the book down.
July 12, 2013
I loved the premise of this book and the first 1/3 was very intriguing. I was sucked into the characters, I had trouble sleeping thinking about nutty psychopaths and serial killers out there (which I kind of get a kick out of). I really enjoyed getting to know Inga and Jean and watching their relationship develop. But then very suddenly the tone of the book changed completely. From being incredibly detailed and moving day by day to being very distanced from the characters and moving weeks and months at a time, it totally threw me off and really became a book I wanted to get through to be done. I found everything that happened after the kidnapping to be incredibly unrealistic. There's suddenly a romance between Inga and the cop? The partial effort of a love scene just makes me wonder why the author bothered to go there. At the end I can see how the relationship should have created a more heart-wrenching conclusion, but it was developed so haphazardly that I really didn't care. I also really didn't like that Ben, the serial killer that chokes and bites women to death, starts to "like" Jean? That he wants to be a family and be a father to her son? That doesn't add up for me. I also can't believe the sudden change in power from Ben running the show to suddenly hijacking a car to go visit her grandma. How convenient that Inga was so suddenly struck by a memory of Jean telling the snake story about her Ganny over a year into the kidnapping. I was shocked by her reaction after the kidnapping as well; she and her police officer boyfriend get a good night's sleep and head home the next day?
This book had the potential to be so much more but I really think the author was excited to write a novel, got a third of the way through and realized that it was more than she bargained for so she slopped some half-thought story together. Thank goodness this was free on Amazon.
This book had the potential to be so much more but I really think the author was excited to write a novel, got a third of the way through and realized that it was more than she bargained for so she slopped some half-thought story together. Thank goodness this was free on Amazon.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2013
It's hard, as a writer, to evaluate your readers' experience. You have a different relationship with the book than a reader does. Paulette obviously had some great readers, and her own ability to look into her writing and use some great techniques to bring us right there with her.
My favorite part was the characters. I felt for all of them, even the ones - Jimmy, Ganny - who were off the page most of the time. They were all sympathetic, but not in a squeaky clean way. They were real, human. And I rooted for them because of that.
I love the dual point of view. Inga and Jean were so different, but I think their two points of view combined to give an entire picture. I felt for Inga, I felt the true impossibility in her situation. And I thought Jean was so unique and tough and just so sharply drawn. They balanced each other and I trusted the narration more for that.
I also love how place was used. It wasn't visual so much as a feeling - the feeling of Tacoma, the Haight, Walter's resort, Ganny's mountain house. They were like additional characters rather than places, and I loved that.
And of course, stories are when things happen to people. This was the ultimate something happening - when a child does something unthinkable (maybe?) and the parent has to deal with the act just as much, if not more, than the person who did it. All of the action threads - trying to catch Ben, Walter dying, Inga traveling, Inga and Ron's romance, Jean and Buster - built such a layered, rich story. I simply couldn't put it down. Literally. I started reading it about 8 pm Sunday and finished today at 2 pm today. It was all I could do to force myself to sleep last night!
My favorite part was the characters. I felt for all of them, even the ones - Jimmy, Ganny - who were off the page most of the time. They were all sympathetic, but not in a squeaky clean way. They were real, human. And I rooted for them because of that.
I love the dual point of view. Inga and Jean were so different, but I think their two points of view combined to give an entire picture. I felt for Inga, I felt the true impossibility in her situation. And I thought Jean was so unique and tough and just so sharply drawn. They balanced each other and I trusted the narration more for that.
I also love how place was used. It wasn't visual so much as a feeling - the feeling of Tacoma, the Haight, Walter's resort, Ganny's mountain house. They were like additional characters rather than places, and I loved that.
And of course, stories are when things happen to people. This was the ultimate something happening - when a child does something unthinkable (maybe?) and the parent has to deal with the act just as much, if not more, than the person who did it. All of the action threads - trying to catch Ben, Walter dying, Inga traveling, Inga and Ron's romance, Jean and Buster - built such a layered, rich story. I simply couldn't put it down. Literally. I started reading it about 8 pm Sunday and finished today at 2 pm today. It was all I could do to force myself to sleep last night!
September 9, 2013
One of the best books I've read this summer.
January 30, 2013
This is a fascinating novel. The tension never goes slack. I read it in three sittings, unwilling to drag myself away. At first I read slowly, savoring each sentence because of the marvelous images and sentences. Towards the end, I just raced headlong, wanting only to know what happened next. Jean, Inga, and Ben had become characters I cared about. I wanted to know who would live and who would die, and if those who remained alive would be okay or forever devastated.
The novel, about the nature of evil and how unknowable one’s own child may be, seems especially relevant in the wake of the killings in Newtown, Conn. Alden’s criminal has a “crooked ironic smile,” and says things like, “I know you are, afraid, and you have a right to be, but I want to assure you that I won’t harm you in any way. You have my word.”
The Answer to Your Question is told in first person by Inga and by Jean, both engaging and winsome. Inga is a middle-class librarian, often bewildered. Jean is a young hillbilly who shelves the books. Each voice rings true, but it was Jean’s, that of the hillbilly naïf, who stole my heart. I know nothing about her world, but her every word and gesture felt at once natural and yet foreign. After all her granny cooks on an iron stove and sleeps with her shotgun.
Another character I particularly liked was Inga’s dying father, with his “absolute belief in Ben’s goodness until there was irrefutable proof, and after that a different kind of loyalty. The standing-by kind, no matter what.”
Wry details felt true —Inga worries whether she’s left a bad smell in the bathroom; after Jean’s husband dies in the Vietnam War, the silver lining is her relief that she won’t have to tell him she’s sold off his prized truck.
Here are a couple of quotes that give a feel for the beauty and precision of Alden’s language:
Jean: “I squinch my eyes shut and try to bring him into my mind. But all I can see is his arm between his wrist and elbow, how strong it was and smooth, the skin a nice caramel color, almost hairless. I picture his dead black toenail, the one he dropped the concrete block on.…I try saying out loud, “he’s dead, Jimmy’s dead,” but I don’t feel a thing. It’s no more real to me than that foreign country where they say he died.”
Inga: “Then I realize he’s crying, his shoulders shaking. I start to go to him but something stops me. He looks like the most alone person in the world. My heart aches for him, but it also stands back. I try out the word “murderer” in my mind. It’s hard to attach that word to my son, who is crying softly beside my father’s body.
I hope you will like this novel as much as I did.
August 27, 2013
The Answer to Your Question was a surprise. When I requested it from NetGalley, I wasn't at all sure what it was about, and after reading it, I'm not sure I could have been prepared for this one.
Calm and kind, Inga could never have imagined opening the door to policemen wanting to know where her son Ben was. Or that he is the suspect in the murders of four young women. She is stunned and disbelieving, but she hasn't heard from Ben in quite a while and has no idea where he is.
The story switches pov from Inga to Jean, a young woman who works shelving books at Inga's library. Inga took a risk in hiring the young woman, and Jean feels a great loyalty as a result.
Jean is far from her Appalachian home and alone, as her husband is in Viet Nam. When the sixteen-year-old discovers that she is pregnant, she is initially horrified and intends to end the pregnancy. She turns to Inga in her crisis, but Inga is too preoccupied with the manhunt of her son to be much help.
Nevertheless, the friendship continues to develop, Jean decides not to end her pregnancy and then is notified that her husband has been killed in Viet Nam. Inga, too, faces another crisis when she must travel to Minnesota because her beloved father is dying.
Is Ben guilty? Inga originally refuses to believe it, but circumstances give her doubts. Jean believes him guilty, but has no fear of him.
A fascinating glimpse into a mother's desire to believe the best of her son, her fear for his safety, and her own questions about his guilt or innocence.
While there is a section that is less believable and that perhaps goes on a little too long, I found this book riveting, and not at all what I might have expected from beginning to end. So many layers, like peeling an onion...
Is there an answer to the question? Yes. No.
Recommended.
NetGalley/Radiator Press.
Fiction. 2013. Print version: 250 pages.
Calm and kind, Inga could never have imagined opening the door to policemen wanting to know where her son Ben was. Or that he is the suspect in the murders of four young women. She is stunned and disbelieving, but she hasn't heard from Ben in quite a while and has no idea where he is.
The story switches pov from Inga to Jean, a young woman who works shelving books at Inga's library. Inga took a risk in hiring the young woman, and Jean feels a great loyalty as a result.
Jean is far from her Appalachian home and alone, as her husband is in Viet Nam. When the sixteen-year-old discovers that she is pregnant, she is initially horrified and intends to end the pregnancy. She turns to Inga in her crisis, but Inga is too preoccupied with the manhunt of her son to be much help.
Nevertheless, the friendship continues to develop, Jean decides not to end her pregnancy and then is notified that her husband has been killed in Viet Nam. Inga, too, faces another crisis when she must travel to Minnesota because her beloved father is dying.
Is Ben guilty? Inga originally refuses to believe it, but circumstances give her doubts. Jean believes him guilty, but has no fear of him.
A fascinating glimpse into a mother's desire to believe the best of her son, her fear for his safety, and her own questions about his guilt or innocence.
While there is a section that is less believable and that perhaps goes on a little too long, I found this book riveting, and not at all what I might have expected from beginning to end. So many layers, like peeling an onion...
Is there an answer to the question? Yes. No.
Recommended.
NetGalley/Radiator Press.
Fiction. 2013. Print version: 250 pages.
May 5, 2014
I had the feeling that the idea of the story was beyond the writer's powers to develop. Many of the possibilities were never examined and the depth of the characterization was too shallow to get to the emotional core. It might have been written as a straightforward dramatic action piece but it promised more. Exciting scenes are relatively easy; understanding and insight into complex characters requires a rare talent to get across convincingly. We ought to have deeply reviewed Ben and Inga's relationship and their mental turmoil, with pointers as to how and why their lives developed as they did.
The Jean/Inga tale telling was a good idea and would have worked if both had been more clearly individual, and most of Ben's actions, especially later on were inconsistent. Overall, the writing lacked freshness and a decent editor would have snipped out oft-repeated phrases and recurring identical reactions to a variety of events.
I suspect a more down-to-earth, closer-to-home tale might serve the writer better because there seems to be potential for something a little less ambitious.
The Jean/Inga tale telling was a good idea and would have worked if both had been more clearly individual, and most of Ben's actions, especially later on were inconsistent. Overall, the writing lacked freshness and a decent editor would have snipped out oft-repeated phrases and recurring identical reactions to a variety of events.
I suspect a more down-to-earth, closer-to-home tale might serve the writer better because there seems to be potential for something a little less ambitious.
March 30, 2013
The novel is a page-turner and I highly recommend it (for those of you who can stand a slightly creepy thriller...Mom, I don't know if you'd get past the fact the son is accused of brutally murdering four women). I read it in two days and now I feel a little disoriented because it's over. The characters were satisfactorily complicated and yet I was cheering for them. The Vietnam-era setting was important, but not heavy-handed. If you liked Gone Girl, I think you'd like this even better. In addition, it's very reasonably priced for Kindle right now!
November 26, 2014
This isn't the sort of fiction I normally read, and for the life of me I can't remember why I grabbed a kindle copy, if it was a personal recommendation or something about the description. However, it did draw me in, and while I can't say it was a book that I couldn't put down, it did have me keep going, though it felt a bit like the reading equivalent of watching a telenovela, where you don't really want to watch, but you find yourself just curious enough about the characters to watch the next episode.
February 21, 2014
I got this for free on Amazon for a limited time and I can't say I enjoyed it. I want to be fair to the author and point out some things I appreciated.
The story was told in the 2nd person point of view and it's thru Inga and Jean. The story was not as intense cause the author didn't delve into the killer's mind, but thru Jean, we see a glimpse of how a killer charms his prey.
The ending was unexpected and I'm still thinking about what the answer to your question is.
The story was told in the 2nd person point of view and it's thru Inga and Jean. The story was not as intense cause the author didn't delve into the killer's mind, but thru Jean, we see a glimpse of how a killer charms his prey.
The ending was unexpected and I'm still thinking about what the answer to your question is.
June 2, 2014
Something is missing in this novel. I really didn't care about the characters until the very end when Armageddon happens. Snooze, snooze, snooze....BAM!
I don't like being forced to care about a character at the very end of the novel. It's like realizing the last day of high school that that shy girl you never spoke to is actually very funny and likeable. Too little, too late.
I don't like being forced to care about a character at the very end of the novel. It's like realizing the last day of high school that that shy girl you never spoke to is actually very funny and likeable. Too little, too late.
June 9, 2014
This book held great promise until about half-way through. The style reminded me of Ruth Rendell (Barbara Vine) who writes intense psychological fiction. However, the ending was quite obvious, which led to some disappointment. Maybe the similarity to Rendell led to some missed expectations; hence my 3-star rating.
January 27, 2013
This book is a marvelous combination of suspense and character development. I couldn't put it down - stayed up til the wee hours of the morning to finish it. The ending is complex, yet satisfying. I highly recommend it.
March 18, 2013
i thought it was boring, depressing and slow.
April 10, 2013
A beautifully written exploration of the power of love, longing and loneliness and the impact of unspeakable crimes. Highly recommended.
April 12, 2013
Slow and hard to become engaged in the story. Was over half through it before it picked up.
June 6, 2013
I loved this book. After the first half especially, I couldn't put it down. However, the ending was way too abrupt for me. I would have given it 5 stars but for the ending.
September 3, 2016
A riveting, unstoppable suspense thriller superbly drenched in heartwrenching emotion, familial bonds, and abnormal psychology,this is a novel that begs to be read again and again and again.
May 17, 2024
If rating are based on how drawn you are to keep reading then this book is a 5. The storyline was intriguing and had some unexpected twists. The characters, while not exactly likable, were well developed and fascinating. I gave it a four star rating simply because it’s a difficult theme that doesn’t appeal to everyone. But for those who do decide to delve into the dark topic, you will be left to reach your own conclusions. The author did not seem to be trying to sway the readers opinion on the “correct” way to parent an adult child accused of murder. Instead she presented the various angles and conflicting emotions and left the reader to draw their own conclusion. She did a great job of showing how the action of one affects many without being preachy or judgmental.
Life is messy and throws us into scenarios we never dreamed we would face. This book is about that messiness and doesn’t offer trite answers or a happily ever after ending. If the topic is one you’re willing to venture into, I highly recommend this book. It will give you much to think about as your read and even after you’ve finished reading the book.
Life is messy and throws us into scenarios we never dreamed we would face. This book is about that messiness and doesn’t offer trite answers or a happily ever after ending. If the topic is one you’re willing to venture into, I highly recommend this book. It will give you much to think about as your read and even after you’ve finished reading the book.
January 26, 2023
Kept me coming back to read more. Added interest was that I am from Tacoma and worked two blocks from that library, had many meetings there and know exactly each setting, even ate at that Mcdonalds. The author is from there or researched in great detail. Have also driven up lake superior and stayed in a small rustic cabin and hiked in the blue ridge mtns. I could easily visualize each area and they were all right on.
The story was an interesting approach and I found myself thinking "I saw that coming" followed by "I didn't see that coming".
The story was an interesting approach and I found myself thinking "I saw that coming" followed by "I didn't see that coming".
September 16, 2017
A really excellent book nearly ruined by a sad and pointless ending -- sort of a James Clavellian "let's kill everyone off so I can stop writing" wrap-up. I really enjoyed the alternating points of view of Jean and Inga, the craftswomanship of the prose, and the scenes the author created in my mind.
March 4, 2022
A review to The Answer to Your Question
I really enjoyed this book. I liked the way she tells the story through the eyes of the two main characters. Her words made me feel as I was actually at the location she wrote about. It gave me understanding as to the mind of a psychopath (hopefully that was his diagnosis). I hope to read more of her books.
I really enjoyed this book. I liked the way she tells the story through the eyes of the two main characters. Her words made me feel as I was actually at the location she wrote about. It gave me understanding as to the mind of a psychopath (hopefully that was his diagnosis). I hope to read more of her books.
December 20, 2023
No happy ending here
I’m still trying to figure out what the title has to do with the book as I don’t think there were any answers. An intriguing read about the making of a serial killer from the point of view of his mother and a woman he kidnapped. It was at times a bit wordy but generally held one’s interest throughout.
I’m still trying to figure out what the title has to do with the book as I don’t think there were any answers. An intriguing read about the making of a serial killer from the point of view of his mother and a woman he kidnapped. It was at times a bit wordy but generally held one’s interest throughout.
May 29, 2017
Good book
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so . Shelley MA
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so . Shelley MA
January 24, 2018
A Fine and Engaging Read
This book grabbed me from the first page. Now that I’m finished, I wish there were more from these characters.
This book grabbed me from the first page. Now that I’m finished, I wish there were more from these characters.
August 28, 2019
Good characters and plot
I must admit, I would have preferred a different ending but getting there was entertaining. I loved the characters and cared about what happened to them.
I must admit, I would have preferred a different ending but getting there was entertaining. I loved the characters and cared about what happened to them.
November 22, 2022
My rating is 3.5 * I would describe this book as a "mystery/thriller".
May 28, 2025
couldn't put it down.really good
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews