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Tuesday, April 02, 2013

The Burning Air by Erin Kelley

The Burning Air (Net Galley/Penguin Group ARC) has a little of Gone Girl's appeal, but with more sympathetic characters.  Deceit, revenge, secrets, suspense are all packed in with great skill.  Reminds me of Ruth Rendell's psychological mysteries, which I have always enjoyed.

Told from several viewpoints, the story is unpredictable in a number of ways.  An absorbing tale that surprised me.  Sometimes what I assumed was not at all the case.  You know what I mean--when certain facts are revealed, and you, the reader, take those facts to mean one thing, but later realize that it was not what you thought.  Not a red herring, but the power of suggestive circumstances.

If you've read this one, you may know of one instance in which the author lets you assume something by leaving out specifics.  When the specifics are later filled in, you realize how and why you were wrong.

I'm impressed with Kelly, who has written two other psychological thrillers:  The Dark Rose and The Poison Tree.

Mystery/Suspense.  Feb. 2012.  print version 336 pages.
ISBN-10: 0670026727

2 comments:

  1. I love books that remind me that what I think may be true might not be. It keeps from judging others, because I know I don't have all the facts.

    This book sounds good to me. I like books told from multiple points of view.

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  2. Booklogged - I found it a suspenseful read, in that kind of waiting-for-the-other-shoe- to-drop way.

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