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Troy Chance #1
Learning to Swim
"If I'd blinked, I would have missed it. But I didn't, and I saw something fall from the rear deck of the opposite ferry: a small, wide-eyed human face, in one tiny frozen moment, as it plummeted toward the water."
When she witnesses a small child tumbling from a ferry into Lake Champlain, Troy Chance dives in without thinking. Harrowing moments later, she bobs to the surface, pulling a terrified little boy with her. As the ferry disappears into the distance, she begins a bone-chilling swim nearly a mile to shore towing a tiny passenger.
Surprisingly, he speaks only French. He'll acknowledge that his name is Paul; otherwise, he's resolutely mute.
Troy assumes that Paul's frantic parents will be in touch with the police or the press. But what follows is a shocking and deafening silence. And Troy, a freelance writer, finds herself as fiercely determined to protect Paul as she is to find out what happened to him. She'll need skill and courage to survive and protect her charge and herself.
Sara J. Henry's powerful and compelling Learning to Swim will move and disturb readers right up to its shattering conclusion.
When she witnesses a small child tumbling from a ferry into Lake Champlain, Troy Chance dives in without thinking. Harrowing moments later, she bobs to the surface, pulling a terrified little boy with her. As the ferry disappears into the distance, she begins a bone-chilling swim nearly a mile to shore towing a tiny passenger.
Surprisingly, he speaks only French. He'll acknowledge that his name is Paul; otherwise, he's resolutely mute.
Troy assumes that Paul's frantic parents will be in touch with the police or the press. But what follows is a shocking and deafening silence. And Troy, a freelance writer, finds herself as fiercely determined to protect Paul as she is to find out what happened to him. She'll need skill and courage to survive and protect her charge and herself.
Sara J. Henry's powerful and compelling Learning to Swim will move and disturb readers right up to its shattering conclusion.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published February 22, 2011
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6354 people want to read
About the author
Sara J. Henry
14 books326 followersYou can read the first chapters of my novel LEARNING TO SWIM here. You can read chapters of the sequel here. (Don't have to read them in order.)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,355 reviews
April 30, 2013
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: “If I’d blinked, I would have missed it. But I didn’t, and I saw something fall from the rear deck of the opposite ferry: a small, wide-eyed human face, in one tiny frozen moment, as it plummeted toward the water.”
When she sees what looks like a child tumbling from a ferry into frigid Lake Champlain, Troy Chance dives in without thinking. When she gets the child to shore she discovers that his name is Paul, he speaks only French—and no one seems to be looking for him.
Her determination to protect Paul pulls Troy from her quiet life in a small Adirondack town into an unfamiliar world of wealth and privilege in Canada and then in Vermont. Her attachment to him—and the danger she faces when she tries to unravel the mystery of his abandonment—force her to evaluate everything she thought true about herself.
Sara J. Henry's riveting, award-winning debut will keep readers engrossed right up to its shattering conclusion.
My Review: This book is not oversold by its jacket copy. I was indeed riveted. The melodramatic ending wasn't a surprise, but it was *intensely* satisfying. Shattering, well...ya know, in a very basic sense, yes. I cannot in any part of me comprehend the actions of the perp in this story. I was so outraged and so lividly furiously angry at the perp for doing what was done, that the Big Reveal Moment (while not a surprise) had me hopping from foot to foot with a desire to hurt and kill and then resurrect and hurt and kill the perp some more.
Any more would be spoilering.
Sara Henry did a fine job making the book an intense emotional experience. That is a LOT to say of a debut novelist. But she also made me feel about six hundred years old...in a late chapter, she mentions "the OLD TV show Sliders and goes on to explain the premise of the "old" show.
Old. The Nineties are old? They were yester-goddam-day! OLD is when my late mother was young! The Twenties! That's OLD.
I'm gonna go rock in my chair and eat Farina for supper now.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Publisher Says: “If I’d blinked, I would have missed it. But I didn’t, and I saw something fall from the rear deck of the opposite ferry: a small, wide-eyed human face, in one tiny frozen moment, as it plummeted toward the water.”
When she sees what looks like a child tumbling from a ferry into frigid Lake Champlain, Troy Chance dives in without thinking. When she gets the child to shore she discovers that his name is Paul, he speaks only French—and no one seems to be looking for him.
Her determination to protect Paul pulls Troy from her quiet life in a small Adirondack town into an unfamiliar world of wealth and privilege in Canada and then in Vermont. Her attachment to him—and the danger she faces when she tries to unravel the mystery of his abandonment—force her to evaluate everything she thought true about herself.
Sara J. Henry's riveting, award-winning debut will keep readers engrossed right up to its shattering conclusion.
My Review: This book is not oversold by its jacket copy. I was indeed riveted. The melodramatic ending wasn't a surprise, but it was *intensely* satisfying. Shattering, well...ya know, in a very basic sense, yes. I cannot in any part of me comprehend the actions of the perp in this story. I was so outraged and so lividly furiously angry at the perp for doing what was done, that the Big Reveal Moment (while not a surprise) had me hopping from foot to foot with a desire to hurt and kill and then resurrect and hurt and kill the perp some more.
Any more would be spoilering.
Sara Henry did a fine job making the book an intense emotional experience. That is a LOT to say of a debut novelist. But she also made me feel about six hundred years old...in a late chapter, she mentions "the OLD TV show Sliders and goes on to explain the premise of the "old" show.
Old. The Nineties are old? They were yester-goddam-day! OLD is when my late mother was young! The Twenties! That's OLD.
I'm gonna go rock in my chair and eat Farina for supper now.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
August 19, 2012
I was so disappointed by this book. I really thought I would love it. I like mysteries enough that even the bad ones generally entertain me, and this one had Amazon reviewers gushing things like "best debut novel I've ever read." But, as I read it, I just couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. Here's why:
First, as a mystery, this book lets you down all over the place. Here's the premise: a woman jumps off a ferry to save a little boy she sees falling from another ferry—she doesn't know who he is or how he came to be pitched off the ferry. About 80% of that mystery is solved in the first quarter of the book. The protagonist then spends the next two quarters of the book studiously avoiding solving the rest of the mystery. She seems bizarrely lacking in curiosity. As a reader who wanted the mystery solved, I at first felt frustrated and later incredibly bored. I slogged through the huge, boring middle section of the book where nothing happens because I really wanted to know why people loved this book so much. The mystery is finally fully solved by the end of the book, but I'll warn you: you're going to be rolling your eyes when it happens.
Second, as writing, this book is simply awful in places. I read on a Kindle, and usually I underline passages I really like. In this book, I was moved to underline passages I really hated. Here's an example: "The default Windows setting hides doc, exe, pdf, jpg, and other file extensions, which I think is insane." MAYBE I could forgive this sentence if it was incredibly important to the plot that the protagonist has oddly strong feelings about file extensions on Windows, but it doesn't figure into the plot at all. Here's another gem: "He smiled at me, and I swear I felt my heart move. Cliches exist for a reason." Note to author: just because you admit it's a cliche before anyone calls you on it does not make it good writing.
As I look back over the Amazon reviews to try to understand what people were thinking when they gave this book five stars, I see that the NYT book review called it "the perfect romantic suspense mystery for people who won't admit they read romantic suspense mysteries." This might be my problem with the book. I absolutely hate romance in my books and my movies. I guess the romance is what was happening during the 50% of the book where it felt to me like nothing was happening. Because I absolutely don't care if the main character finds the exact right dress to wear on her dream date with Richie Rich. If you do care, you would probably like this book more than I did, although none of the romance in the book ever really goes anywhere.
Sometimes, thinking back about a book makes me like it more than I did when I was reading it. In this case, it's the opposite. I've given it two stars because something hooked me enough that I managed to finish the book, but I'm really annoyed that I got duped by all the great reviews into reading a stupid love story that was only barely a mystery. Will be more careful in the future.
First, as a mystery, this book lets you down all over the place. Here's the premise: a woman jumps off a ferry to save a little boy she sees falling from another ferry—she doesn't know who he is or how he came to be pitched off the ferry. About 80% of that mystery is solved in the first quarter of the book. The protagonist then spends the next two quarters of the book studiously avoiding solving the rest of the mystery. She seems bizarrely lacking in curiosity. As a reader who wanted the mystery solved, I at first felt frustrated and later incredibly bored. I slogged through the huge, boring middle section of the book where nothing happens because I really wanted to know why people loved this book so much. The mystery is finally fully solved by the end of the book, but I'll warn you: you're going to be rolling your eyes when it happens.
Second, as writing, this book is simply awful in places. I read on a Kindle, and usually I underline passages I really like. In this book, I was moved to underline passages I really hated. Here's an example: "The default Windows setting hides doc, exe, pdf, jpg, and other file extensions, which I think is insane." MAYBE I could forgive this sentence if it was incredibly important to the plot that the protagonist has oddly strong feelings about file extensions on Windows, but it doesn't figure into the plot at all. Here's another gem: "He smiled at me, and I swear I felt my heart move. Cliches exist for a reason." Note to author: just because you admit it's a cliche before anyone calls you on it does not make it good writing.
As I look back over the Amazon reviews to try to understand what people were thinking when they gave this book five stars, I see that the NYT book review called it "the perfect romantic suspense mystery for people who won't admit they read romantic suspense mysteries." This might be my problem with the book. I absolutely hate romance in my books and my movies. I guess the romance is what was happening during the 50% of the book where it felt to me like nothing was happening. Because I absolutely don't care if the main character finds the exact right dress to wear on her dream date with Richie Rich. If you do care, you would probably like this book more than I did, although none of the romance in the book ever really goes anywhere.
Sometimes, thinking back about a book makes me like it more than I did when I was reading it. In this case, it's the opposite. I've given it two stars because something hooked me enough that I managed to finish the book, but I'm really annoyed that I got duped by all the great reviews into reading a stupid love story that was only barely a mystery. Will be more careful in the future.
Read
September 23, 2024In the acknowledgments for Learning to Swim, Sara J. Henry thanks Michael Robotham for encouraging her to change the title and SFC for the titling. Though I don't know the original title the advice to change it seems sound. Throughout this debut, the images and life lessons that "learning to swim" evoke, fit well.
The premise of Learning to Swim is a grabber. Picture yourself on the ferry on Lake Champlain, I've been there. You are the only person on the open air deck. As the ferry going in the opposite direction passes someone hurls something into the water. It might have been trash or even a doll but some instinct tells you it isn't. Without thought you dive overboard into the cold waters and with a bit of struggle actually grab hold of the object and realize it isn't trash nor doll but a young, small boy. On surfacing you realize you and he are now bobbing in the water, the ferry gone and no other boats in sight. You must get to shore. I'm hooked.
As we move on in the story, I must suspend belief a bit to stay in the game. Troy Chance, the diver does get to shore. Most people given the situation would contact the police, tell what they saw and let them handle it. Not Troy. She decides to keep the boy and of course, this allows for the mystery to unfold. Who threw this kid overboard and why. There's enough here to keep me interested if not . Kidnapping, murder, a bit of romance, and one innocent, smart six year old keep me turning the pages. I loved the prime location of Ottawa with bits and pieces of Lake Placid, Lake Champlain and Vermont thrown in. The author includes a bit of herself by empowering Troy with the ability to maintain her bike with expert skill. This wasn't necessary but did work in the plot as it added a bit of the personal to the character Troy.
I very much liked the beginning and I really liked the ending...hoping that this is the end of the story and that the author does not feel compelled to write anything more about these characters.
Learning to Swim won the Anthony Award and Agatha Award for Best First Mystery.
P.S. I just visited the author's website and see there will be a sequel; A Cold and Lonely Place will be released in February. Whether this is a good move remains to be seen. As I stated I was satisfied to leave Troy and the boy, Paul's story where it ended.
I'm really curious as to what this book might have been named if not for intervention of SFC (?). I read something about it sounding like a Bobbsey Twin novel.
The premise of Learning to Swim is a grabber. Picture yourself on the ferry on Lake Champlain, I've been there. You are the only person on the open air deck. As the ferry going in the opposite direction passes someone hurls something into the water. It might have been trash or even a doll but some instinct tells you it isn't. Without thought you dive overboard into the cold waters and with a bit of struggle actually grab hold of the object and realize it isn't trash nor doll but a young, small boy. On surfacing you realize you and he are now bobbing in the water, the ferry gone and no other boats in sight. You must get to shore. I'm hooked.
As we move on in the story, I must suspend belief a bit to stay in the game. Troy Chance, the diver does get to shore. Most people given the situation would contact the police, tell what they saw and let them handle it. Not Troy. She decides to keep the boy and of course, this allows for the mystery to unfold. Who threw this kid overboard and why. There's enough here to keep me interested if not . Kidnapping, murder, a bit of romance, and one innocent, smart six year old keep me turning the pages. I loved the prime location of Ottawa with bits and pieces of Lake Placid, Lake Champlain and Vermont thrown in. The author includes a bit of herself by empowering Troy with the ability to maintain her bike with expert skill. This wasn't necessary but did work in the plot as it added a bit of the personal to the character Troy.
I very much liked the beginning and I really liked the ending...hoping that this is the end of the story and that the author does not feel compelled to write anything more about these characters.
Learning to Swim won the Anthony Award and Agatha Award for Best First Mystery.
P.S. I just visited the author's website and see there will be a sequel; A Cold and Lonely Place will be released in February. Whether this is a good move remains to be seen. As I stated I was satisfied to leave Troy and the boy, Paul's story where it ended.
I'm really curious as to what this book might have been named if not for intervention of SFC (?). I read something about it sounding like a Bobbsey Twin novel.
August 13, 2017
A book that I neither loved nor hated, so I guess I shall pick the neutral 3 stars. More romance than thriller, Learning to Swim had me torn between DNF and seeing these characters until the end.I chose the latter option, but still trying to figure out how much suspension of reality this storyline needed to work. At one point, Troy Chance, our female protagonist declares that she can be dense sometimes. On the contrary, this is how she appeared to me the whole time.
Am I headed for a book slump?
Am I headed for a book slump?
January 29, 2012
Where to begin with this book? I picked it up because I've been looking for a good literary suspense, and I thought this might be good. It seemed to deal as much with the human side of the story as the mystery side.
This is the story of a woman named Troy Chance who, in the first pages of the book, is riding a ferry and sees something being thrown from another ferry, passing in the opposite direction. She thinks it was a child that was thrown, and even though she considers the possibility that it might have just been a bag of garbage, she jumps into the frigid lake and swims to where she saw the 'thing' go under.
It does indeed turn out to be a small child, a boy named Paul who speaks only french. Troy forms an immediate bond with him and takes him home instead of going to the police. Which is the first moment of 'Huh...wha??" But they keep coming.
Troy keeps the boy and starts investigating the case on her own, without contacting the police. She tracks down the boys parents -- a wealthy Montreal businessman who's wife and son were kidnapped a few months ago. Yet Troy still decides not to go to the police, but investigates the father on her own. Huh...wha?
Once she decides (for herself!) that the father is innocent, she returns the child and ... moves in with them. Huh...wha?
I feel like this is one of those books where the author made the main character too much like herself, but in all the wrong ways. I don't think it's wrong, necessarily, to insert yourself into a book -- if your character reacts to a situation the way YOU would react to a situation, that's fine. Probably even good, because it'll make their actions feel legit. But in this case I thought it went sort of the opposite way and did a real disservice to the book -- first of all, I did not find the majority of Troy's actions and reactions to be believable or realistic. But on the other hand, the author stuck in all these random things like how Troy's obsession with (and ability to repair) bicycles, which, from the bio in the back, comes straight from the author's life. She is also exceedingly perfect and, despite a few scrapes, she never suffers anything really bad in the whole book -- there's never a moment when she's scared or unsure, and her only moments of angst seem to come in deciding whether or not she should sleep with Paul's father. Huh...wha?
While we're on the subject, seriously, why was every man in this book fawning all over Troy? Literally every guy in the book dotes on her, even though she seems selfish and a bit crazycakes. And that's what I mean about the author putting herself too much into the story -- she wanted everything to be good and easy for Troy, and it felt like maybe she identified with her too much to let anything REALLY bad or difficult happen to her.
Apparently this book is the first in the series, but what the heck the author is going to make a series out of, I don't know. I will not likely be picking up any other books with this character.
This is the story of a woman named Troy Chance who, in the first pages of the book, is riding a ferry and sees something being thrown from another ferry, passing in the opposite direction. She thinks it was a child that was thrown, and even though she considers the possibility that it might have just been a bag of garbage, she jumps into the frigid lake and swims to where she saw the 'thing' go under.
It does indeed turn out to be a small child, a boy named Paul who speaks only french. Troy forms an immediate bond with him and takes him home instead of going to the police. Which is the first moment of 'Huh...wha??" But they keep coming.
Troy keeps the boy and starts investigating the case on her own, without contacting the police. She tracks down the boys parents -- a wealthy Montreal businessman who's wife and son were kidnapped a few months ago. Yet Troy still decides not to go to the police, but investigates the father on her own. Huh...wha?
Once she decides (for herself!) that the father is innocent, she returns the child and ... moves in with them. Huh...wha?
I feel like this is one of those books where the author made the main character too much like herself, but in all the wrong ways. I don't think it's wrong, necessarily, to insert yourself into a book -- if your character reacts to a situation the way YOU would react to a situation, that's fine. Probably even good, because it'll make their actions feel legit. But in this case I thought it went sort of the opposite way and did a real disservice to the book -- first of all, I did not find the majority of Troy's actions and reactions to be believable or realistic. But on the other hand, the author stuck in all these random things like how Troy's obsession with (and ability to repair) bicycles, which, from the bio in the back, comes straight from the author's life. She is also exceedingly perfect and, despite a few scrapes, she never suffers anything really bad in the whole book -- there's never a moment when she's scared or unsure, and her only moments of angst seem to come in deciding whether or not she should sleep with Paul's father. Huh...wha?
While we're on the subject, seriously, why was every man in this book fawning all over Troy? Literally every guy in the book dotes on her, even though she seems selfish and a bit crazycakes. And that's what I mean about the author putting herself too much into the story -- she wanted everything to be good and easy for Troy, and it felt like maybe she identified with her too much to let anything REALLY bad or difficult happen to her.
Apparently this book is the first in the series, but what the heck the author is going to make a series out of, I don't know. I will not likely be picking up any other books with this character.
January 24, 2012
My dad, a voracious reader, recommended this book to me. He happened to come across Learning to Swim at the library, and the title intrigued him because I was a competitive swimmer for many years and he was always a supportive Swim Dad. The novel actually has very little to do with competitive swimming, but I'm glad Ms. Henry titled it what she did because I probably would've missed this gem otherwise.
What would you do if you were on a ferry crossing cold Lake Champlain and thought you saw a young boy tossed off another ferry passing by? I probably would've yelled for help, but the time it would've taken to stage a rescue would've likely left the boy dead from drowning. The heroine of this story, Troy Chance (yes her name is actually Troy!) didn't call for help; rather she dived in to rescue him.
What would you do if you somehow swam to shore with the barely conscious boy clinging to your back (like Troy did)? You'd call the police, right? Not Troy! Believing someone tried to murder the wispy French-speaking 6 year-old, Troy takes him home and nurses him back to health.
Next, Troy begins to unravel the mystery surrounding the boy Paul. Where are his parents? Who can she trust? How can she attach herself to this boy so quickly and completely?
My favorite part of the story is the character of Troy. She's independent and strong yet also real and flawed. I never knew what she was going to do next. Many times I cringed at her poor choices but then she'd make it right. Paul was very sweet, and the secondary characters of Philippe and Claude kept me guessing. I also enjoyed learning more about Lake Placid and Ottawa.
This is Sara Henry's debut novel, and in many ways it's impressive. One aspect I didn't like was the setting for the big reveal . . . the event seemed to come out of the blue without much set-up, and the connection between two characters appeared forced, like it was inserted just to make the mystery work. I also felt a little down at the realistic ending.
I think I'll choose this novel for my book club's read next month, and I look forward to hearing their opinions!
What would you do if you were on a ferry crossing cold Lake Champlain and thought you saw a young boy tossed off another ferry passing by? I probably would've yelled for help, but the time it would've taken to stage a rescue would've likely left the boy dead from drowning. The heroine of this story, Troy Chance (yes her name is actually Troy!) didn't call for help; rather she dived in to rescue him.
What would you do if you somehow swam to shore with the barely conscious boy clinging to your back (like Troy did)? You'd call the police, right? Not Troy! Believing someone tried to murder the wispy French-speaking 6 year-old, Troy takes him home and nurses him back to health.
Next, Troy begins to unravel the mystery surrounding the boy Paul. Where are his parents? Who can she trust? How can she attach herself to this boy so quickly and completely?
My favorite part of the story is the character of Troy. She's independent and strong yet also real and flawed. I never knew what she was going to do next. Many times I cringed at her poor choices but then she'd make it right. Paul was very sweet, and the secondary characters of Philippe and Claude kept me guessing. I also enjoyed learning more about Lake Placid and Ottawa.
This is Sara Henry's debut novel, and in many ways it's impressive. One aspect I didn't like was the setting for the big reveal . . . the event seemed to come out of the blue without much set-up, and the connection between two characters appeared forced, like it was inserted just to make the mystery work. I also felt a little down at the realistic ending.
I think I'll choose this novel for my book club's read next month, and I look forward to hearing their opinions!
February 22, 2011
"If I'd blinked, I would have missed it." The opening sentence of the book in some ways summarizes one of the central themes of this book perfectly -- how, in the blink of an eye, your life can completely change. In this debut novel from Sara Henry, Troy Chance is a free spirit living unencumbered in Lake Placid, New York. On the ferry on her way to Burlington, VT she sees what looks like a child falling from the ferry crossing in the opposite direction. Acting on instinct, she dives into the water and rescues the child, a 6 year old named Paul. This kicks off a chain of bizarre events, when Troy realizes that Paul is a missing kidnapping victim from Montreal. Against her normal instincts to remain aloof and apart from emotional attachments, Troy becomes intensely involved in Paul's life in the aftermath of his reunion with his father, including actively investigating the kidnapping. Along the way, Troy is forced to acknowledge truths about her life, her emotional state and what she really needs in order to be happy and fulfilled.
Some books defy categorization. This is one of them. It is both women's fiction and mystery/thriller, both emotionally moving and suspenseful. The complexity underlying what could have been a pretty straightforward mystery novel makes this a truly unique reading experience. I read this book in a single day -- it has that intangible "something" that keeps you turning the pages even when your eyes are drooping and the hour grows late. I was happily surprised by how much I liked it.
Some books defy categorization. This is one of them. It is both women's fiction and mystery/thriller, both emotionally moving and suspenseful. The complexity underlying what could have been a pretty straightforward mystery novel makes this a truly unique reading experience. I read this book in a single day -- it has that intangible "something" that keeps you turning the pages even when your eyes are drooping and the hour grows late. I was happily surprised by how much I liked it.
August 27, 2011
This book was well reviewed by a woman's magazine, so I decided to pick it up at the library. It's a debut novel from Sara Henry, who's crafted a somewhat decent thriller but has written it for the MTV generation. Troy Chance, a freelance writer and editor, watches a small boy plunge from the deck of a ferry and she dives in to save him. He speaks little to no English and she takes him home and cares for him while searching for his parents. Troy does things that a sane, intelligent person wouldn't do (like not calling the cops first thing; traveling alone to Canada to return the boy) and this put me off. The shocking secret behind the boy's near death isn't quite a shocking as I would've hoped, and has probably been used as a plot device on many soap operas or Lifetime movies. The book's promotinal blurb states that the world the rich inhabit "a world of wealth and privilege and heedless self-indulgence--a world where the murder of a child is not unthinkable" is where Troy finds herself. I don't know if the author ever visited any "downtown" areas, but poverty-stricken barrios and ghettos are also places where murdering a child is not unthinkable. The book's plot was okay, but the characters were substandard and, in some cases, just plain stupid. Here's hoping Henry does better on her next novel.
January 1, 2013
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. That said, I whizzed through it in a couple of days, so something must have kept my attention and it wasn't a total bomb. Sometimes it's great to read a book about where you're from, you see all the familiar places on the page. But in this case, some of the things in this book I don't think could plausibly happen.
*Warning ahead. Read at your own risk, I don't think I give too much away, but if you are thinking of reading this, some info may be construed as spoilers.
Troy Chance (she's a woman) sees a child thrown from an opposite ferry on Lake Champlain. In just a split second, she sees the child, and jumps in the lake to save him. OK, first off, the ferrys don't run that close together, so how could she see the eyes of the child? As being a "non-competitve swimmer" how could she rescue a small child and literally drag him several miles in late spring water? The lake temps that time of year is like 50 degrees. No one saw the child tossed and no one saw her jump off a full ferry? And come on, there was NO ONE at the ferry dock? So not one single soul saw you jump and rescue this child? That was just the first bone of contention I had with this story, added to the fact I really didn't like Troy's personality at all.
From here, we go into a story about how/why the child was kidnapped, going from New York, Vermont, Montreal, to Ottawa. I kept with this to the end because honestly, I wanted to know how it ended. I didn't see the twist coming, but I have just as many questions as I did in the beginning, because it just didn't seem like it could really happen.
I feel really badly this was less than satisfactory read for me. Maybe it's my many years of reading top-notch mystery writers, Agatha Christie, PD James, but this one had too many holes in it for me to rank it up there. I believe this is the first in what will be a series. I'll try her again, but next time with lower expectations. :-(
*Warning ahead. Read at your own risk, I don't think I give too much away, but if you are thinking of reading this, some info may be construed as spoilers.
Troy Chance (she's a woman) sees a child thrown from an opposite ferry on Lake Champlain. In just a split second, she sees the child, and jumps in the lake to save him. OK, first off, the ferrys don't run that close together, so how could she see the eyes of the child? As being a "non-competitve swimmer" how could she rescue a small child and literally drag him several miles in late spring water? The lake temps that time of year is like 50 degrees. No one saw the child tossed and no one saw her jump off a full ferry? And come on, there was NO ONE at the ferry dock? So not one single soul saw you jump and rescue this child? That was just the first bone of contention I had with this story, added to the fact I really didn't like Troy's personality at all.
From here, we go into a story about how/why the child was kidnapped, going from New York, Vermont, Montreal, to Ottawa. I kept with this to the end because honestly, I wanted to know how it ended. I didn't see the twist coming, but I have just as many questions as I did in the beginning, because it just didn't seem like it could really happen.
I feel really badly this was less than satisfactory read for me. Maybe it's my many years of reading top-notch mystery writers, Agatha Christie, PD James, but this one had too many holes in it for me to rank it up there. I believe this is the first in what will be a series. I'll try her again, but next time with lower expectations. :-(
November 8, 2012
LEARNING TO SWIM won both the Anthony and Agatha awards for first novel, and I can certainly see why after finishing the book myself. It’s a well-written novel, executed flawlessly, and the writing sings louder than Nickelback in the middle of Central Park. But could I say I really liked it? If I’m to be perfectly honest with myself, I’d say no. I liked it, sure enough, and I could check that box just as easily as I could fill in Cs all the way down the columns of a multiple choice math test.
I liked the characters, and the characters were filled with flaws and quirks and oddities befitting any well-done novel, but I didn’t love the characters. For me, much of my love of novels comes from voice, unless I’m reading a page-turner from the likes of James Patterson or the late Robert Ludlum, and this novel didn’t have a voice that popped off the page for me. I didn’t have that moment where I wanted to read late into the night, turning the pages until my left hand cramped up, and my vision had blurred because I stayed up much longer than I should have.
So what happened? This book just didn’t connect with me the way I would have liked it to. Not the author’s fault, but it is what is. I’m not a big fan of criminals spouting off near the end of mysteries, telling the hero why a certain crime was committed, even if the criminal is a psychopath. When it comes to criminals and endings, I prefer Goldfinger’s approach.
James Bond: “Do you expect me to talk?”
Auric Goldfinger: “No, Mr. Bond…I expect you to die.”
In the end, though, LEARNING TO SWIM concluded the way it should, with a slight opening that will present more stories to tell for its main character Troy Chance. But I don’t know that I’ll go out of my way to pick up the next book in the series.
I received this book for free at Bouchercon.
I liked the characters, and the characters were filled with flaws and quirks and oddities befitting any well-done novel, but I didn’t love the characters. For me, much of my love of novels comes from voice, unless I’m reading a page-turner from the likes of James Patterson or the late Robert Ludlum, and this novel didn’t have a voice that popped off the page for me. I didn’t have that moment where I wanted to read late into the night, turning the pages until my left hand cramped up, and my vision had blurred because I stayed up much longer than I should have.
So what happened? This book just didn’t connect with me the way I would have liked it to. Not the author’s fault, but it is what is. I’m not a big fan of criminals spouting off near the end of mysteries, telling the hero why a certain crime was committed, even if the criminal is a psychopath. When it comes to criminals and endings, I prefer Goldfinger’s approach.
James Bond: “Do you expect me to talk?”
Auric Goldfinger: “No, Mr. Bond…I expect you to die.”
In the end, though, LEARNING TO SWIM concluded the way it should, with a slight opening that will present more stories to tell for its main character Troy Chance. But I don’t know that I’ll go out of my way to pick up the next book in the series.
I received this book for free at Bouchercon.
February 7, 2011
There are those thrillers that keep you turning the pages by strapping you down in the front seat of the roller-coaster from hell and running you through every tire-screeching twist of a car chase, every fusillade turn of gunfire, propelling you skyward on the mushroom cloud of violent explosions and driving you down in a vortex of betrayal, lies and death.
And then there are those thrillers like Sara J. Henry’s Learning to Swim. There are no car chases in Learning To Swim, no hail of bullets, no explosions, no two or three digit body counts. What there is, is an escalating tension that begins with the first sentence and carries the reader through dark, mysterious waters to be tossed, exhausted but satisfied, on the shore of the final, shocking end. If you start this book late in the evening as I did, plan on staying up way past your bedtime.
The quality of the writing, the intricacies of the plot and the superb characterization so over shadowed the few nits I had with the story as to make them pointless to mention. This debut novel by Sara J. Henry is a must addition to everyone’s to-be-read list.
And then there are those thrillers like Sara J. Henry’s Learning to Swim. There are no car chases in Learning To Swim, no hail of bullets, no explosions, no two or three digit body counts. What there is, is an escalating tension that begins with the first sentence and carries the reader through dark, mysterious waters to be tossed, exhausted but satisfied, on the shore of the final, shocking end. If you start this book late in the evening as I did, plan on staying up way past your bedtime.
The quality of the writing, the intricacies of the plot and the superb characterization so over shadowed the few nits I had with the story as to make them pointless to mention. This debut novel by Sara J. Henry is a must addition to everyone’s to-be-read list.
April 17, 2019
This book starts off with a daring cold water rescue of a young boy in northern New York. And the momentum kept up with the search for the young boy's family while trying to keep him safe. And my stomach was churning and the pages turning until I finished this read in a record(for me) two days.
No spoilers here but potential readers rest assured this one is worth it. And I believe this was a debut work. I'm hoping to read more from Sara J. Henry.
No spoilers here but potential readers rest assured this one is worth it. And I believe this was a debut work. I'm hoping to read more from Sara J. Henry.
January 30, 2012
Was hooked on the first page, and could not put this book down till it was finished.
April 29, 2011
When I won this book through FirstReads, I thought it could be good or it could be cheesy. It's a bit of both. For a smart woman, Troy Chance makes some really stupid choices. While it was really brave of her to jump off a ferry to save a child she sees fall into Lake Champlain from another ferry, it was really stupid of her to take the child home rather than calling 911. From there, the story gets more and more implausible. Yet...I couldn't put it down. I've been in kind of a reading slump lately, jumping from book to book and having a hard time finishing any. Learning to Swim only took a few days to read and gave me a respite I needed from the heavy science fiction and fantasy I've been reading lately.
I will give credit where credit is due. The story was quite suspenseful and had some twists that I never saw coming. I really appreciated that (Aren't these spoiler tags great?)
I recommend this for anyone looking for a quick, escapist read.
I will give credit where credit is due. The story was quite suspenseful and had some twists that I never saw coming. I really appreciated that (Aren't these spoiler tags great?)
I recommend this for anyone looking for a quick, escapist read.
April 25, 2013
To be fair, I think that I do not like the genre. The story itself was a good one but the amount of unnecessary details drove me crazy. Did we need to know about Troy fixing her bike? Her computer skills? Shopping the discount racks? The small talk she made with the basement apartment managers? I also got the feeling that the author was writing about herself. I dislike that.
Edit :: 04/24/13
I have rounded up to 3 stars after an original 2 star rating because I realized I had forgotten about this little gem:
On the way home I stopped at the public library and talked the librarian into issuing me a library card based on a piece of Philippe's junk mail I'd brought along. To get a card you're supposed to have something with your name and address on it, but because librarians want you to have a library card sometimes they'll bend the rules.
Well-played, Sara J. Henry. Well-played.
Edit :: 04/24/13
I have rounded up to 3 stars after an original 2 star rating because I realized I had forgotten about this little gem:
On the way home I stopped at the public library and talked the librarian into issuing me a library card based on a piece of Philippe's junk mail I'd brought along. To get a card you're supposed to have something with your name and address on it, but because librarians want you to have a library card sometimes they'll bend the rules.
Well-played, Sara J. Henry. Well-played.
July 27, 2020
I read the second book in this series, A Cold and Lonely Place, in early 2019, and I enjoyed it enough to want to go back and read this first one. I found the perfect opportunity this summer when my family and I escaped the pandemic dreariness for a week in a fairly isolated rental house in the Adirondacks, near Lake Placid, where protagonist Troy Chance lives. (Reading a book set in a place I’m visiting is something I’ve frequently tried to do when I travel.)
I enjoyed the book. As the Lake Placid–Saranac Lake area is one of my favorite places, I guess I was predisposed to like it (significant parts of the book also take place in Ottawa, Canada, and Burlington, Vermont). The basic premise of the book is intriguing: If you suddenly find yourself rescuing a child from what appears to be a dangerous situation, how far do you go to make sure the child remains safe? What is your responsibility? I can’t say that I would have made the choices that Troy made, but her determination to take full responsibility sets up a suspenseful story.
While on a ferry crossing Lake Champlain, Troy impulsively jumps into the frigid lake to rescue a young boy who appears to have fallen or been thrown overboard from another ferry. After struggling to bring him to safety, she decides not to take him to the police but rather to bring him home with her and try to learn more about him. At first, she learns only that his name is Paul and he speaks French. She wants to return him to his parents—if she can satisfy herself that his parents weren’t responsible for throwing him into the lake. The fact that no one seems to be looking for him makes her extremely suspicious that his family was involved.
Troy is a freelance writer with good computer skills that she puts to use investigating Paul’s background and trying to understand what had happened to him. When she thinks she’s found someone who can answer her questions, she takes a chance (no pun intended) on confronting him, confident of her own ability to gauge whether or not he is telling her the truth. When she gets her answer, she knows that Paul will be safe, but she decides that that’s not enough. She has to keep going to discover the whole truth.
“I had to try to right things. I had to do my best to ensure that Paul wouldn’t be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life. I had to finish what I’d started when I dived into Lake Champlain after him. You can’t just do one thing to save a child and then walk away—you have to stick with it. Or you may as well not have started.”
I like the character of Troy, and I admire her perseverance and her determination to do the right thing, as she sees it. But I have to say that some of her decisions did seem a bit odd, even irresponsible. And although the mystery is solved completely by the end of the book, the resolution required a significant amount of suspension of disbelief. Nonetheless, the book kept me hooked to the end, and I’d recommend it to fans of suspense novels featuring appealing characters.
I enjoyed the book. As the Lake Placid–Saranac Lake area is one of my favorite places, I guess I was predisposed to like it (significant parts of the book also take place in Ottawa, Canada, and Burlington, Vermont). The basic premise of the book is intriguing: If you suddenly find yourself rescuing a child from what appears to be a dangerous situation, how far do you go to make sure the child remains safe? What is your responsibility? I can’t say that I would have made the choices that Troy made, but her determination to take full responsibility sets up a suspenseful story.
While on a ferry crossing Lake Champlain, Troy impulsively jumps into the frigid lake to rescue a young boy who appears to have fallen or been thrown overboard from another ferry. After struggling to bring him to safety, she decides not to take him to the police but rather to bring him home with her and try to learn more about him. At first, she learns only that his name is Paul and he speaks French. She wants to return him to his parents—if she can satisfy herself that his parents weren’t responsible for throwing him into the lake. The fact that no one seems to be looking for him makes her extremely suspicious that his family was involved.
Troy is a freelance writer with good computer skills that she puts to use investigating Paul’s background and trying to understand what had happened to him. When she thinks she’s found someone who can answer her questions, she takes a chance (no pun intended) on confronting him, confident of her own ability to gauge whether or not he is telling her the truth. When she gets her answer, she knows that Paul will be safe, but she decides that that’s not enough. She has to keep going to discover the whole truth.
“I had to try to right things. I had to do my best to ensure that Paul wouldn’t be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life. I had to finish what I’d started when I dived into Lake Champlain after him. You can’t just do one thing to save a child and then walk away—you have to stick with it. Or you may as well not have started.”
I like the character of Troy, and I admire her perseverance and her determination to do the right thing, as she sees it. But I have to say that some of her decisions did seem a bit odd, even irresponsible. And although the mystery is solved completely by the end of the book, the resolution required a significant amount of suspension of disbelief. Nonetheless, the book kept me hooked to the end, and I’d recommend it to fans of suspense novels featuring appealing characters.
February 21, 2011
Troy Chance was on the late ferry on Lake Champlain to Vermont. There were very few people on the ferry and most of them were indoors. Out of the corner of Troy’s vision, she sees a movement. Someone fell into the water from the other ferry. Without a second thought, Troy jumps into the lake after the item. For all she could know, the item could end up to be someone’s trash that they did not want to recycle.
Troy swims to the last location where she saw the item being thrown in. To her surprise, the item ends up being a little boy. Troy rescues the boy. The boy speaks French and very little English. The boy is silent for the most part except to say his name is Paul. When Troy digs into who would throw a little boy over a ferry, she ends up uncovering something way bigger than herself.
Learning to Swim is the debut novel form author, Sara J. Henry. I have to tell you that this book far exceeded my expectations…twice over! I was hooked right from the beginning. The moment Troy jumped into the water; I knew that I was in for the long haul. Paul was an interesting character. His silence spoke louder than his words. He seemed so much wiser than his young years. I like that Troy was a strong, independent woman. She could have just given up and let the police handle Paul but she decided to take matters into her own hands. There was enough mystery and intrigue to make a thriller/suspense fan like me very pleased. Learning to Swim is a nail-bitter, edge of your seat, breath of fresh air! I am keeping my eyes on Ms. Henry and what she comes out with next.
Troy swims to the last location where she saw the item being thrown in. To her surprise, the item ends up being a little boy. Troy rescues the boy. The boy speaks French and very little English. The boy is silent for the most part except to say his name is Paul. When Troy digs into who would throw a little boy over a ferry, she ends up uncovering something way bigger than herself.
Learning to Swim is the debut novel form author, Sara J. Henry. I have to tell you that this book far exceeded my expectations…twice over! I was hooked right from the beginning. The moment Troy jumped into the water; I knew that I was in for the long haul. Paul was an interesting character. His silence spoke louder than his words. He seemed so much wiser than his young years. I like that Troy was a strong, independent woman. She could have just given up and let the police handle Paul but she decided to take matters into her own hands. There was enough mystery and intrigue to make a thriller/suspense fan like me very pleased. Learning to Swim is a nail-bitter, edge of your seat, breath of fresh air! I am keeping my eyes on Ms. Henry and what she comes out with next.
October 7, 2013
What would you do if you saw someone dropping a child off of a passing ferry boat? Jump off into the freezing waters of Lake Champlain from your passing ferry boat, of course! This is exactly what our heroine, Troy Chance did in this first mystery by Sara Henry. Then what would you do if no one reported the child missing? Take him home because you just know his safety is in your hands---maybe not---but Troy did because of a "feeling".
The theme of this story was very different from what one would expect, but Sara Henry actually made it seem realistic. This small, French speaking boy, Paul, clung to Troy but wouldn't or couldn't tell Troy exactly what happened to him. But he did know that he saw someone shot his mom, and those same people kept him in a room by himself for a number of months. As Troy searches internet pages and newspapers, she figures that Paul must be a kidnapped boy from Montreal. Her adventures in finding security for Paul within his own home is an emotional mystery in itself. But the thrills and life threatening situations she goes through to find his captures truly drives this story.
Troy knows her technology, expertly. Her freelance writing career gives her freedom to search her way. She's fiercely independent, very athletic, and determined to do what she sees as the right things for this little boy who has won her heart. I found this mystery different from your average story, but it was eerily realistic. Looking forward to future adventures with Troy!
The theme of this story was very different from what one would expect, but Sara Henry actually made it seem realistic. This small, French speaking boy, Paul, clung to Troy but wouldn't or couldn't tell Troy exactly what happened to him. But he did know that he saw someone shot his mom, and those same people kept him in a room by himself for a number of months. As Troy searches internet pages and newspapers, she figures that Paul must be a kidnapped boy from Montreal. Her adventures in finding security for Paul within his own home is an emotional mystery in itself. But the thrills and life threatening situations she goes through to find his captures truly drives this story.
Troy knows her technology, expertly. Her freelance writing career gives her freedom to search her way. She's fiercely independent, very athletic, and determined to do what she sees as the right things for this little boy who has won her heart. I found this mystery different from your average story, but it was eerily realistic. Looking forward to future adventures with Troy!
March 24, 2015
Sara Henry did a workshop in Nashville on Saturday, and she read the opening to this book. I thought it was completely ridiculous - who would believe anyone would jump off a ferry without a life jacket or any type of support to rescue what might be a child - or might be a bag of garbage? But I bought the book because the workshop convinced me that Sara knew a whole lot more about writing a novel than I did.
48 hours later, I had finished the book and didn't care if I had to believe six impossible things before breakfast - it didn't matter. If credibility got stretched, I suspended judgment because it was worth it. I wanted to know what happened, and I watched Sara weave a story that allowed me to operate on so many different levels. I loved the description of the area. I loved the way Sara let you know that Troy's mother was less than thrilled with a daughter who was athletic, intellectual and uninterested in being a flower of southern womanhood.
I enjoyed watching the transformation of multiple people in the story. Troy (the heroine). Her sometime boyfriend Tom. Jameson, the cop.
All I can tell a potential reader is this - if you are willing to put down your checklist that assesses whether or not a particular scenario is 100% believable, there's a lot to like in this book. It's not Robert Parker - but then I don't like Robert Parker very much. This is layered and I loved it.
48 hours later, I had finished the book and didn't care if I had to believe six impossible things before breakfast - it didn't matter. If credibility got stretched, I suspended judgment because it was worth it. I wanted to know what happened, and I watched Sara weave a story that allowed me to operate on so many different levels. I loved the description of the area. I loved the way Sara let you know that Troy's mother was less than thrilled with a daughter who was athletic, intellectual and uninterested in being a flower of southern womanhood.
I enjoyed watching the transformation of multiple people in the story. Troy (the heroine). Her sometime boyfriend Tom. Jameson, the cop.
All I can tell a potential reader is this - if you are willing to put down your checklist that assesses whether or not a particular scenario is 100% believable, there's a lot to like in this book. It's not Robert Parker - but then I don't like Robert Parker very much. This is layered and I loved it.
September 4, 2014
I have not had the luxury of reading a book from morning to night in many years, but that is what I did yesterday! Learning to Swim captured me on the first page and did not let me go until the last. Troy Chance sees a child thrown into Lake Champlain as she is crossing on the ferry and from there, Sara J. Henry takes us on a ride of emotions as well as suspense. Who is this boy and where did he come from? Troy not only searches for answers to these questions, but answers questions in her own life that she didn't know she had. I have also vacationed in Lake Placid a number of times, so knowing the geography helped draw me into the story. Sara J. Henry's writing is compelling and the novel was so easy to read, I rounded up to 4 stars from 3 1/2.
March 9, 2011
I debated giving this book a 3 1/2 or four. Much of the plot was a bit predictable but she did a wonderful job with the characters. Gave it a four because I fell in love with the little frnech canadian boy. All in all a good book and I look forward to reading more from this author.
July 17, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I'm exhausted today because I stayed up way too late finishing it!
June 19, 2021
Unexpected 5 ⭐ read!!! RTC!!!
November 7, 2021
3.5 stars
Well-written unpredictable mystery. The picky will enjoy the plot holes, but I hunkered down to finish this in the small hours of a black Highland night because I liked the sympathetic central characters so much.
Well-written unpredictable mystery. The picky will enjoy the plot holes, but I hunkered down to finish this in the small hours of a black Highland night because I liked the sympathetic central characters so much.
August 12, 2023
I think the title of this book suits the story very well. Throughout, the characters are all learning how to stay afloat in one way or another.
I enjoyed the beginning of this book a lot and the ending as well. The middle was good entertainment but the plot line didn't advance much.
The basic premise of the story is in the book's blurb. As a reader, I fell in love with Paul, the little boy in this story. I enjoyed Troy's personal dilemmas and struggles as she tries to find herself. I wasn't as impressed with some of her choices about the mystery and how to deal with it. As a reader, I had to disbelief aside at times when Troy takes actions that seem very unlikely. But it's all good entertainment.
I would read the second of this series because the characters do worm themselves into one's mind and I'd like to know how they make out.
I enjoyed the beginning of this book a lot and the ending as well. The middle was good entertainment but the plot line didn't advance much.
The basic premise of the story is in the book's blurb. As a reader, I fell in love with Paul, the little boy in this story. I enjoyed Troy's personal dilemmas and struggles as she tries to find herself. I wasn't as impressed with some of her choices about the mystery and how to deal with it. As a reader, I had to disbelief aside at times when Troy takes actions that seem very unlikely. But it's all good entertainment.
I would read the second of this series because the characters do worm themselves into one's mind and I'd like to know how they make out.
March 11, 2015
I have no idea why this book has so many good reviews. It thoroughly annoyed me. I will say that I "read" it as an audio book, so maybe part of my annoyance is with the narrator (who sounds way too stuffy and grandmotherly than the character is). But, beyond that, the writing itself was like nails on a chalkboard to me. Just atrocious. There are so many inane digressions. You should play a drinking game of taking a shot every time she detours to describe the food she's eating. Seriously, you will be drunk in 10 minutes. Do I really need to know that the character puts chunky peanut butter in her oatmeal? Do I need to hear about the "drippings" (gag) of her bean burger? JUST GET ON WITH IT. Even if you took out the unnecessary descriptions (seriously, the book would be 25 pages shorter without the food stuff alone), the story drags out SO SLOWLY. Again, maybe the narration was just too slow for me on the audio version, but I don't think that's solely to blame. I was literally rolling my eyes as I listened, thinking, "GET TO THE POINT." It didn't help that I had the "mystery" figured out about halfway through. I found the main character extremely unbelievable. It's all like a Twilight Zone episode. I would have respected this more if it turned out to actually BE a Twilight Zone episode. As it is, it's a dull, terribly unlikely and unexciting plot with some sappy, cliched romance thrown in. The main character says, describing the lame "twist" at the end, "This is like a scene from a bad detective novel." Um, yes, EXACTLY. I couldn't get into this at all. It was truly painful.
February 7, 2011
This is the free book I received from Good Reads giveaway. Perhaps because of that I had a preconceived notion that the book would be amateurish. And in a way it was, but it was also a somewhat compelling mystery. The opening of the story seems largely implausible. The narrator (who, by the way, I didn't know if Troy was a man or woman until several pages into the book) dives into Lake Champlain to rescue a small child and then swims with the child back to shore. I have never been to Upstate New York. Nor have I ever have I ever rescued a child from a lake, but this entire scene stretched credulity. This issue is addressed in the book, but the author could have devised a different rescue scenario. The ending was a bit too pat as well, but I guess that's the way mysteries go. There were 40 pages or so left in the book and we meet a new set of characters. The reader knows that something has to come about to involve these characters. Although the author does tend to go off on tangents -- for example, about her affection for Gerard Butler, her ability to tune a bike wheel or defrag a computer. These tangents I found created a comfortable and familiar picture of the narrator. The narrator also had an incredibly healthy appetite -- ever other page she was devouring a sandwich or poutine or danishes. All in all, I would say the book was an enjoyable and easy read. The narrator was likable and compelling. The setting was great. The high level of implausibility lead to the low number of stars. I'm glad I got a chance to read it.
May 18, 2012
A young woman named Troy is on a ferry heading on Lake Champlain and she sees someone? something? fall into the water. She thinks it's a child so she jumps in and saves him. The old saying about saving someone means you are responsible for that person compels her to try to find out who dumped 6 year old Paul into that lake. She finds his father and falls in love with Paul. Lots of danger and amateur sleuthing in this novel.
I read the whole thing but skimmed like crazy because it just wasn't that well-written to make me read every work. The fact that I could read a page in a very short time tells you something.
The ending was implausible and the implausible stuff never is explained. I can't tell you about it in case you want to read the book. I got the book from the library because it won the Agatha award for best first mystery novel for 2011. If this is the best one, I'd say it wasn't a very good year for new mystery authors.
I read the whole thing but skimmed like crazy because it just wasn't that well-written to make me read every work. The fact that I could read a page in a very short time tells you something.
The ending was implausible and the implausible stuff never is explained. I can't tell you about it in case you want to read the book. I got the book from the library because it won the Agatha award for best first mystery novel for 2011. If this is the best one, I'd say it wasn't a very good year for new mystery authors.
March 1, 2013
This book is not a memorable read by any stretch. The action started off with a bang,unfortunately it was downhill from there. The novel turned into a family saga with the protagonist playing nanny, in a wealthy man's mansion, to a child, instead of concentrating on solving the mystery. This scenario lasted for 3/4 of the book. As a mystery/suspense novel, I give this book 1.5 stars, as a family drama/romance 2.5 stars. Extremely unremarkable & forgettable. A shame.
July 3, 2017
My 4 stars are generous, I'd give it a 3 and 1/2 if that was possible. A good suspense story with an interesting premise and a few mysteries (nothing you can't figure out on your own before the end) but I felt the author used too many fillers to make the book long enough. For example, the description of every meal eaten is quite ridiculous. Course by course, almost ingredient by ingredient. The author may as well have included the recipes at the end of the book. Add some random references to movies, actors, books that don't add to the story. Yeah, that was a bit weird. A good summer book for the beach.
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