Greenwich Park

I have mixed feelings about this book. The cover is beautiful. The story was interesting enough, though I figured out major parts of the plot pretty early on (though that's not unusual for me with a thriller). It was enough to keep me reading. There were a couple of genre cliches that I loathed, though:

-I didn't like a single character, except maybe Katie. I am so tired of thrillers that don't give you anyone to root for. Helen was a total moron, and she never DID anything? Even when there were obvious red flags around her, she chose to ignore them or “deal with it later” because she is always so tired from her pregnancy. The men in this book were spineless shrimp, to be honest, and I despised them.

-I hated how some chapters would end on a cliffhanger, and then the next would switch the POV or skip to a day or a week later and not give the reader any explanation of what happened. It took me out of the book since I wasn't getting the characters' reactions and feelings in the moment.

-I hate when the reveal is an infodump from the guilty party!! In the very last chapter, no less. It's not fun, it's not exciting - why does there always have to be some monologue at the end of the novel that neatly explains everything FOR us? Although I had figured out most of what happened, it would have been nice to have the characters figuring things out before the last minute (props to Katie, who made an effort on that front).

I settled on three stars because, at the end of the day, this is the kind of book that's just engaging enough to keep me reading and I didn't have to think too hard about it. I just wish it hadn't clung to so many genre cliches, though I did like the writing and that gorgeous cover.