Twisty and Fun!



I have been dying to read this book and now that we are away for a few days I actually have time to myself to try and enjoy books without dwelling on everything else that is going on in my world and I am so glad I brought this on vacation with me.

This psychological thriller was cleverly mapped out, chapter by chapter, and paragraph by paragraph drawing the reader into this addictive novel. It is evident Feeney wants to captivate the reader into her brilliant setup. Told from the first-person point of view, His, Hers, and the character who speaks to us using an italics font is clearly a mesmerizing technique.

Anna is a pretty woman who has worked very hard to reach her present position as a BBC presenter of lunchtime news. She covets her job. When obstacles are presented, she is smart, mean and has many stories to reveal to the reader regarding her teen years. Explicit stories, that may shock you, but keep reading. Anna Andrews, a woman who finds solace in alcohol, seems to be sloshing from scene to scene until I cannot keep up with her torrid thoughts. She is divorced from HIM, DCI Jack Harper, probably the nicest character in the novel. The third narrator is clearly the killer. It is important to note that all three narrators are reliable but they are not purely forthcoming. I found myself wanting to figure out who the killer is so I kept on turning. You will be engrossed in what you are reading and if you are anything like me you will think that each of the main characters committed the crime at least once. Overall, this was a three-star read. It was good it was twisty and it kept me engaged but I have read books that were similar in content that I enjoyed more. I would read it again I actually even bought the audiobook and will read books by this author again.
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4.5 stars ( )

It's difficult to say much about the content of this story with divulging a lot of spoilers...so I'll try to summarize the most important parts to let anyone reading this just how good this story is, hopefully without spoilers. I haven't read a lot by this author, but I intend to correct that in the future. She has woven a tale with surprises, plot twists and suspicious characters and events into nearly every one of her first-person chapters, and best of all they are all brief enough that the reader has time to think about what has happened and what more could be going to take place. The chapters are written in three alternating voices. The “Hers” voice is Anna Andrews, a wannabe anchor on a BBC news program whose lucky break comes when the body of one of her school friends is found brutally murdered in their hometown, a little spot called Blackdown. “His” voice is DCI Jack Harper, head of the Major Crime Team in Blackdown. Not many "major" crimes had happened there... until now. There is a third voice that is unnamed, but you clearly know that it is that of the killer. All of the voices tell a side of what they say is the truth, but you know that none of them are 100% forthcoming... which only makes sense, because you can't have reveals without there also being secrets. Everybody knows everybody and everything about everybody in a small town, so it’s not too surprising that Anna and Jack have a tragic past or that each of them has connections to all the victims and all the suspects, while not being totally free of suspicion themselves. On the way to trying to figure it all out, we encounter some mean high school girls, some teen lesbian action, some mutilated corpses, lots of nasty things of varying degrees happening to lots of people, and plenty of drinking and wisecracks. My favorite of these wisecracks was ;“Sadly, my sister has the same taste in wine as she does in men; too cheap, too young, and headache-inducing.” On that note I will just reiterate that Alice Feeney has loaded this story with a taut suspense plot, many twists and turns, and suspects galore. ( )

“There are at least two sides to every story: Yours and mine. Ours and theirs. His and hers. Which means someone is always lying.”

Anna Andrews loves her job as BBC Anchorwoman responsible for presenting the One O’Clock News bulletin. She has held this position for almost two years ever since the previous presenter Cat Jones went on maternity leave. Much to her disappointment Cat returns and resumes her position and Anna is relegated to the role of Correspondent and assigned to cover a case in Blackdown where the body of a local woman has been discovered in the woods. She is reluctant to travel to Blackdown which is revealed to be her hometown and a place she does not want to return to.

DCI Jack Harper heads the Major Crimes Unit in Blackdown. He has moved there after his divorce and is somewhat pleased to have an actual crime to devote his time to. He is assisted by DS Priya Patel who is relatively inexperienced but dedicated and eager to please her boss.

The case becomes complicated when he realizes that the victim is someone he knows as does Anna. Anna and Jack are no strangers to one another either, having been married and only recently divorced after the death of their infant daughter. The story unfolds through three POVs –, Jack’s (His), Anna’s (Hers) and an unnamed narrator who we presume to be the killer. The murders continue, several characters from the past and new ones make their appearances with a fair share of lies and secrets being revealed and now everyone seems untrustworthy and looks guilty!

“We are a species of liars, and sometimes we deliberately join the dots in the wrong order, and pretend to make sense of what we see. We stretch the stories of our lives to fit our own desired narratives, presenting a prettier picture for those around us. Honesty loses every time to a lie less ordinary, and truth is overrated.”

Alice Feeney’s His & Hers is a dark twisty psychological thriller that will keep you guessing till the very last page. Her writing is sharp and crisp and the narrative is compact with an ending that you don’t see coming. The scenes of animal cruelty and sexual abuse were difficult to read. I rolled my eyes a couple of times at the very 'obvious' hints and did pat myself on the back, proud of the fact that I’d figured it all out, only to be proved wrong time and time again. Just when you say “AHA”, another twist leaves you flummoxed (and by then you’ve munched through a few fistfuls of M&Ms -the peanut ones!). The ending is a shocker (a bit hard to believe, but best to not overthink it!) and hard to predict, which makes reading this book well worth the time invested. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and finished it in a day. This is my second Alice Feeney novel having read Rock Paper Scissors which I also loved and needless to say, I look forward to reading read more of her work in the future.

“Time is a trapdoor we all tumble down at some point in our lives, often completely unaware of how far we have fallen. Captivated by an audience of our own worst fears, that demand an encore whenever we dare to stop feeling afraid. The emotional walls we build are there to keep the real us inside, as well as to keep others out. I’m making mine stronger, one brick of revenge at a time. We all hide behind the version of ourselves we let the rest of the world see.” ( )

I am knocked over. I wasn't sure about buying this audiobook at used bookstore. I started listening to it and wanted to quit after the first disc, then after the second disc, I wanted to give it another chance. On the third disc, I had a suspicion about who the serial killer was, on the fourth disc, I wanted to quit again and had named one of the narrators, the "Bad Voice". The question was who was the killer and the speaker who was the bad voice?

I finally liked and loved the book on the 9th disc!

I removed one star because I was so weirded out that I almost quit the book at least four times and that would have prevented me from getting to the end of the story.

If you are into weird twisty mysteries, you will love this book. I guess the culprit at least four times and got it wrong each time! ( )