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Grace Falco
When successful architect Philip Ross first meets Grace Falco, his best friend Mitch`s fiancée, he thinks `trashy Manhattan trophy wife`. Grace is everything he dislikes in a woman -- overdressed, under-fed and out of control. But when Mitch commits suicide, leaving Grace impoverished, Philip`s feelings towards her start to change -- much to the dismay of his girlfriend, Poppy Adams. Angry and hurt at being pushed out of Philip`s life, Poppy acts on a growing suspicion that Grace Falco is not who she says she is. Aided by P. T. Marvel, a sympathetic private investigator who has his own personal reasons for getting involved, Poppy begins a dark journey into Grace Falco`s past and unearths a treacherous secret that someone is prepared to kill to protect. The more she finds out about Grace the more Poppy becomes afraid for Philip`s safety. But is it her ex-boyfriend`s life she should be worrying about -- or her own?
384 pages, Paperback
First published February 3, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 19, 2017
This book is within a genre which I adore: crime meets stalker meets a little bit of chick-flick drama. However, I was seemingly disappointed by Niles' take.
The story begins with Grace Falco, a money-grabbing socialite with a taste for the high life, driving with her new husband Mitch to his "funeral". As the story unfolds, Mitch commits suicide by gassing his car, found by his sister Francesca. His best friend Phillip detests Grace as she possesses all the characteristics he finds revolting, ones which his girlfriend Poppy does not possess. Unfortunately for Poppy, who is helplessly in love with Phillip, his feelings towards her are friendly rather than romantic.
When Phillip becomes Grace's confidant and supporter after Mitch's suicide, his feelings change from hatred to adoration for Grace. Poppy becomes suspicious of this, and when herself and Francesca (that become best friends) find a vague diary that Mitch wrote questioning Grace's intentions, Poppy sets out to warn Phillip and ultimately breaks up with him. Phillip falls into the arms of Grace, over the moon that the two of them can finally be together without him cheating. However, much to Francesca's dismay, Poppy can't shake the feeling that there's more to Grace and Mitch's suicide than what meets the eye. Remembering Marvel, a private investigator attempting to find some stolen money from the company Mitch worked for, Poppy gives him a call with the suspicion that Grace knows more than she's letting on.
Phillip and Grace get married, whilst Marvel grows a crush towards Poppy. Poppy and Marvel work together to piece together Grace's past, whilst Phillip notices small things fail to add up in his wife's stories. Finally, Phillip visits the scene of Mitch's suicide at Mitch's family home, and is greeted with a hand written note from Mitch by the caretaker. The note reveals further into Mitch's suspicions, and Phillip begins to agree that Grace isn't who she seems. Joining forces with Marvel and Poppy, the 3 set out to follow Grace after she points a gun to Phillip's head and disappears to sort out some issues. Throughout the whole plot, Grace has been meeting with a man called Whitney who has seemingly been blackmailing her, withholding information in return for money that Grace has been taking from Mitch, Phillip and Francesca.
As Poppy follows up some clues, she follows Grace's former teenage boyfriend, Bill, adamant that she will find Grace. Poppy is then beaten and held hostage by Whitney until Grace rescues her, revealing Grace's look-a-like cousin Sarah. Marvel and Phillip find Poppy with Grace, Sarah, Bill and Whitney. The mystery unfolds as Whitney is shot by Bill, and Grace is accidentally shot by either Phillip, Bill or Whitney (unclear). The ultimate revelation is that Grace and Sarah murdered someone and at some point swapped lives, and Whitney knew and was blackmailing them both. This is where it got incredibly confusing. Niles clearly had a clever idea of an identity swap as his plot twist, but he twisted it so much that I'm unsure who was originally Grace and originally Sarah, and what each persons role in the murder of ONE OF THEIR boyfriends. It became awfully complicated, and just when one of them is revealing the plot twist, he changes it again and swaps it all over again. So, it's still unclear by who was who and who did what?
The book had a really good idea. I was slightly uncomfortable with how each chapter switched from different perspectives (all narrated by the author but one section would be about how Marvel felt, the next about Phillip) as it was difficult to follow on who knew what about who. I really enjoyed the developing relationships, but I always enjoy a book with a bad character. I don't want to see the nice side and perspective of the bad character. It makes them harder to hate. Ultimately, it was Francesca who had murdered an innocent man and pretended it was Mitch, so that Mitch could run off with the company's money. This was very clever; Francesca's grief over her dead brother was really heartbreaking, only for it to turn out that she was in on it all along. And to be far to Niles, Francesca didn't have a perspective.
However, the book became tedious just before the climax, which is dangerous as some may give up before it gets good. It seemed Marvel was interviewing people for it to end up going no where. It would be clever to understand the real route of an investigation, not all leads lead to somewhere. But in a book- it just doesn't work. However, each interview did give a clue, but nothing of a revelation. At one point I thought it was going nowhere. Poppy and Marvel would wind up being wrong and Grace and Phillip would ride off into the sunset. The ending was clever, and when it unfolds you realise how silly you've been for not picking up on it. Sarah and Bill are mentioned frequently throughout, as well as the unsolved murder.
Grace's murder was overlooked and under told dramatically. It was literally mentioned in a sentence. There was no emotion or dramatic description. Just, she died. That's it. It felt as if the ending was rushed. Niles was so eager to get to the big plot twist that it was Mitch and Francesca all along, that Grace's investigation was completely unnecessary and she was a good person after all, that he just got bored with the other characters. He just killed them off and that was it.
Overall, it's a good book, but just a bit fuzzy and not very well explained. Good, descriptive ideas but a very point blank, vague ending.
A chick flick gone wrong.
The story begins with Grace Falco, a money-grabbing socialite with a taste for the high life, driving with her new husband Mitch to his "funeral". As the story unfolds, Mitch commits suicide by gassing his car, found by his sister Francesca. His best friend Phillip detests Grace as she possesses all the characteristics he finds revolting, ones which his girlfriend Poppy does not possess. Unfortunately for Poppy, who is helplessly in love with Phillip, his feelings towards her are friendly rather than romantic.
When Phillip becomes Grace's confidant and supporter after Mitch's suicide, his feelings change from hatred to adoration for Grace. Poppy becomes suspicious of this, and when herself and Francesca (that become best friends) find a vague diary that Mitch wrote questioning Grace's intentions, Poppy sets out to warn Phillip and ultimately breaks up with him. Phillip falls into the arms of Grace, over the moon that the two of them can finally be together without him cheating. However, much to Francesca's dismay, Poppy can't shake the feeling that there's more to Grace and Mitch's suicide than what meets the eye. Remembering Marvel, a private investigator attempting to find some stolen money from the company Mitch worked for, Poppy gives him a call with the suspicion that Grace knows more than she's letting on.
Phillip and Grace get married, whilst Marvel grows a crush towards Poppy. Poppy and Marvel work together to piece together Grace's past, whilst Phillip notices small things fail to add up in his wife's stories. Finally, Phillip visits the scene of Mitch's suicide at Mitch's family home, and is greeted with a hand written note from Mitch by the caretaker. The note reveals further into Mitch's suspicions, and Phillip begins to agree that Grace isn't who she seems. Joining forces with Marvel and Poppy, the 3 set out to follow Grace after she points a gun to Phillip's head and disappears to sort out some issues. Throughout the whole plot, Grace has been meeting with a man called Whitney who has seemingly been blackmailing her, withholding information in return for money that Grace has been taking from Mitch, Phillip and Francesca.
As Poppy follows up some clues, she follows Grace's former teenage boyfriend, Bill, adamant that she will find Grace. Poppy is then beaten and held hostage by Whitney until Grace rescues her, revealing Grace's look-a-like cousin Sarah. Marvel and Phillip find Poppy with Grace, Sarah, Bill and Whitney. The mystery unfolds as Whitney is shot by Bill, and Grace is accidentally shot by either Phillip, Bill or Whitney (unclear). The ultimate revelation is that Grace and Sarah murdered someone and at some point swapped lives, and Whitney knew and was blackmailing them both. This is where it got incredibly confusing. Niles clearly had a clever idea of an identity swap as his plot twist, but he twisted it so much that I'm unsure who was originally Grace and originally Sarah, and what each persons role in the murder of ONE OF THEIR boyfriends. It became awfully complicated, and just when one of them is revealing the plot twist, he changes it again and swaps it all over again. So, it's still unclear by who was who and who did what?
The book had a really good idea. I was slightly uncomfortable with how each chapter switched from different perspectives (all narrated by the author but one section would be about how Marvel felt, the next about Phillip) as it was difficult to follow on who knew what about who. I really enjoyed the developing relationships, but I always enjoy a book with a bad character. I don't want to see the nice side and perspective of the bad character. It makes them harder to hate. Ultimately, it was Francesca who had murdered an innocent man and pretended it was Mitch, so that Mitch could run off with the company's money. This was very clever; Francesca's grief over her dead brother was really heartbreaking, only for it to turn out that she was in on it all along. And to be far to Niles, Francesca didn't have a perspective.
However, the book became tedious just before the climax, which is dangerous as some may give up before it gets good. It seemed Marvel was interviewing people for it to end up going no where. It would be clever to understand the real route of an investigation, not all leads lead to somewhere. But in a book- it just doesn't work. However, each interview did give a clue, but nothing of a revelation. At one point I thought it was going nowhere. Poppy and Marvel would wind up being wrong and Grace and Phillip would ride off into the sunset. The ending was clever, and when it unfolds you realise how silly you've been for not picking up on it. Sarah and Bill are mentioned frequently throughout, as well as the unsolved murder.
Grace's murder was overlooked and under told dramatically. It was literally mentioned in a sentence. There was no emotion or dramatic description. Just, she died. That's it. It felt as if the ending was rushed. Niles was so eager to get to the big plot twist that it was Mitch and Francesca all along, that Grace's investigation was completely unnecessary and she was a good person after all, that he just got bored with the other characters. He just killed them off and that was it.
Overall, it's a good book, but just a bit fuzzy and not very well explained. Good, descriptive ideas but a very point blank, vague ending.
A chick flick gone wrong.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2012
Having already enjoyed "Hell's Kitchen" and "Vanished" I was by no means a stranger to Chris Niles' intriguing style. I do, however, consider this novel to be her best (out of the three) - with a difference.
A fantastic, breezy read that kept me on my toes throughout & totally threw me for a loop with its twist of a finale.
Now, judging by the year this was published, it looks like it's about time for another intricate little tale by Mrs. Niles -and I, for one, cannot wait! Meanwhile I think I'll just keep myself entertained by picking up her earlier, Sam Ridley, work -starting with "Spike it".
A fantastic, breezy read that kept me on my toes throughout & totally threw me for a loop with its twist of a finale.
Now, judging by the year this was published, it looks like it's about time for another intricate little tale by Mrs. Niles -and I, for one, cannot wait! Meanwhile I think I'll just keep myself entertained by picking up her earlier, Sam Ridley, work -starting with "Spike it".
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews