Scan barcode
accovino's review against another edition
4.0
I've never liked mystery on the whole, but I picked this up at a used book event at some point without realizing its genre. I was pretty taken with the story, and though the main character is often too passive for my tastes, I really enjoyed this. I found myself distracted at times, but overall it was a satisfying and engaging read.
margardenlady's review against another edition
5.0
Wow - this was very skillfully written. The story of a lab tech with a mysterious past, working to solve a mysterious crime, but that description so lacks the depth of this writer's work. She has painted a multi-faceted picture of a troubled young woman, struggling to know herself among the many pressures of modern day, layered with her not knowing her own origins (interesting angle for me - an adopted person). Wonderfully crafted!
wildflower37's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting... An unusual premise. As always, Abu-jaber's writing is lush and exquisite. A murder mystery is not what I was expecting based on her other works and is not my favorite genre. But I was intrigued by Lena's story about her past. For some, her past is the vehicle for understanding the murders, but for me, the murders helped me learn about Lena.
torts's review against another edition
3.0
Satisfying for its conformity to my expectations of chick-lit/murder mystery. Fun but occasionally frustratingly facile. Not that it's stupid or poorly written. It's actually original for its damaged/borderline Asbergers-y protagonist. And it was engaging enough to keep me guessing about the "answers" to the crime and the protagonist's origins and how they were connected. Maybe a little too predictable romance-wise, but that part was kind of like a guilty pleasure to the reading. Good ol'fashioned heightening of melodrama.
It's more mentally engaging if you try to think about the implications of its female author also having an Arab-American identity. And publishing this book after 9/11. Like how there might be commentary on "de-realization" of Arab-Americans in the look into her origins (plane crash, jungle, adoption...) and the essentialization/hysteria of all crime being "terrorism" after 9/11. Or how maybe it's just a struggle to assert her humanity/regular-person-ness by publishing something so blandly genre-conforming.
It's more mentally engaging if you try to think about the implications of its female author also having an Arab-American identity. And publishing this book after 9/11. Like how there might be commentary on "de-realization" of Arab-Americans in the look into her origins (plane crash, jungle, adoption...) and the essentialization/hysteria of all crime being "terrorism" after 9/11. Or how maybe it's just a struggle to assert her humanity/regular-person-ness by publishing something so blandly genre-conforming.
canadianbookworm's review
3.0
This novel is set in Syracuse, New York. The main character, Lena Dawson, is a fingerprint expert at the crime lab. She has a small circle of friends that she works with, is separated from a philandering policeman, and is estranged from her foster parents. Lena has always felt a bit different, and has always resented her foster parents for not adopting her, even though they promised to at different times. She doesn't know anything about her true parentsHer relationship with her husband is a complex one. It was he who left her despite his infidelities and over the first few months of their separation she begged him to come back many times. She still has dinner with him once a week.
When there are suddenly more than the normal amount of SIDS deaths occurring, Lena is approached by one of the mothers to find the truth behind the deaths. Despite herself, Lena is drawn into the inquiry and finds that she may be targeted by the killer as well.
Lena's character is a interesting one, and the reader is allowed into her mind as she tries to understand what is going on, not only with the babies, but with her own past, and her own feelings in the present.
When there are suddenly more than the normal amount of SIDS deaths occurring, Lena is approached by one of the mothers to find the truth behind the deaths. Despite herself, Lena is drawn into the inquiry and finds that she may be targeted by the killer as well.
Lena's character is a interesting one, and the reader is allowed into her mind as she tries to understand what is going on, not only with the babies, but with her own past, and her own feelings in the present.
rdheicher's review
2.0
I don't really know what made me pick up this book--the cover, maybe. It involves a finger-print technician investigating multiple SIDS deaths that end up tying into her own mysterious childhood. This doesn't seem like a time that I would want to read anything remotely involving babies dying, but the book really didn't sensationalize or dwell on that part of the story in a tabliod way, the way I was afraid it would. It was a very dream-like read, being inside the head of this woman, the narrator, who isn't sure which of her childhood memories are memories, which are imaginings. I liked that element of the book. The introspective part. There were moments, however, that felt too forced or too fakey. And I figured out the mystery long before the protagonist and sometimes wanted to yell at her for being stupid. And some of the plot felt really contrived and totally unlikely. It reminded me of the show Crossing Jordan, actually. A good fun show to watch, although you know that the likelihood of any of that happening in real life is nil. And the characters act hookey at times. This book was like that. So would I curl up with it before going to bed? Sure. Would I say it changed my life and made me think? Um. No.
And it's not that every book needs to do that, but this one seemed like it was sort of trying to be deep and failing at times.
And it's not that every book needs to do that, but this one seemed like it was sort of trying to be deep and failing at times.
More...