A literary thriller about an aspiring writer who meets and falls in love with her literary idol—only to find him murdered the day after she gave him her manuscript to read.
There's nothing easier to dismiss than a conspiracy theory—until it turns out to be true
When Theodosia Benton abandons her career path as an attorney and shows up on her brother's doorstep with two suitcases and an unfinished novel, she expects to face a few challenges. Will her brother support her ambition or send her back to finish her degree? What will her parents say when they learn of her decision? Does she even have what it takes to be a successful writer?
What Theo never expects is to be drawn into a hidden literary world in which identity is something that can be lost and remade for the sake of an audience. When her mentor, a highly successful author, is brutally murdered, Theo wants the killer to be found and justice to be served. Then the police begin looking at her brother, Gus, as their prime suspect, and Theo does the unthinkable in order to protect him. But the writer has left a trail, a thread out of the labyrinth in the form of a story. Gus finds that thread and follows it, and in his attempt to save his sister he inadvertently threatens the foundations of the labyrinth itself. To protect the carefully constructed narrative, Theo Benton, and everyone looking for her, will have to die. (GoodReads synopsis)
This novel started strong. I was drawn in and I wanted to know how the mystery would unfold. However, when I got to a major plot point, I became seriously lost. I’m glad I had the audio part of the book because I literally couldn’t sit still with it.
I thought Theo was young. What I mean is that she just did things that made reminded me of my teenage nieces who are extremely sheltered. She also seemed a bit helpless. I understand that she was from Australia, but I would think that even they teach their people when to dial the police. She had a fantastic relationship with her brother and with Mac, and then it was like, “oh forget you.” I really didn’t like that.
I also didn’t like the time jumps. It made the sequences feel discombobulated. One minute I thought Gus was feeling one thing, and the next he was doing or feeling something else. The author was good about telling readers there was a time jump but it just felt disconnected.
There was also a disconnect with the villains. I’m still not 100 percent sure what happened and why they did anything.
Overall, I rate this novel 3 out of 5 stars.
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