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sandygx260's review
1.0
Diet soda with syrup-coated pancakes. Diet soda with shrimp tempura. Diet soda with Mallomars. Diet soda with candy bars. Diet soda with a side of diet soda... OK, I made up that last one.
Once I finished this book, all I could think I wished I had this in a Word doc so I could count all the diet soda references. That’s not what I should remember about this book. It’s like when I finished the last Stieg Larsson book, "The Girl Who Kicked the Cashbox", where I mostly remembered people eating sandwiches and drinking coffee. If PI Fina Ludlow, child of wealth and power, had been hooked on something like diet Mountain Dew, it would be a great joke. No, instead we just have generic “diet soda” references by the barrelful.
With this book, we’re promised a tough female PI. Fina Ludlow curses a lot, likes to screw two different yet hot men, eats junk food yet never gains weight, and bitches about her family. She bitches about her family as many times as she drinks diet soda—oh yes, that much— yet she still works for the family law firm. Say what? Tough girl Fina is still behold to her family for her job, although author Throft makes sure she throws in that Fina runs her own business, yes indeed, although most of Fina’s cases come from the family law firm. I suppose Fina is tough since she seems to adore getting the crap beaten out of here yet refuses to go to a hospital until she’s ready to pass out. That’s not tough, it’s stupid.
Let’s see what clichés we can spot in this story, okay? Bitchy mother and overbearing, dismissive father. Check. Loyal, hotter than hot fuckbuddy who seems willing to drop everything for Fina. Check. Hunky cop fuckbuddy willing to leak news to Fina. Check. Troubled spoiled teen. Check. Loyal older mentor who taught Fina everything she knows and his motherly, understanding wife, more of a mother to Fina than the bitch. Check. Wimpy brothers who work for the family law firm because they’re too spineless to strike out on their own. Check.
Do I need to go on? In the long run, aside from a few good one-liners, Fina is highly irritating. Her family is so despicable I ended up not caring about the main murder mystery. I actually hoped someone would toss a wasp nest into the next family outing. That might be exciting.
I only finished this book because I wanted to see if what I suspected was true and ta-da, it was true.
Never fear, I suspect feisty, fucked-up Fina will have her series where she’s beat up on a regular basis, fucks her fuckbuddies and eats waffles with whipped cream washed downed with, you guessed it, diet soda. Yawn. Let me know when someone tosses the wasp nest.
Once I finished this book, all I could think I wished I had this in a Word doc so I could count all the diet soda references. That’s not what I should remember about this book. It’s like when I finished the last Stieg Larsson book, "The Girl Who Kicked the Cashbox", where I mostly remembered people eating sandwiches and drinking coffee. If PI Fina Ludlow, child of wealth and power, had been hooked on something like diet Mountain Dew, it would be a great joke. No, instead we just have generic “diet soda” references by the barrelful.
With this book, we’re promised a tough female PI. Fina Ludlow curses a lot, likes to screw two different yet hot men, eats junk food yet never gains weight, and bitches about her family. She bitches about her family as many times as she drinks diet soda—oh yes, that much— yet she still works for the family law firm. Say what? Tough girl Fina is still behold to her family for her job, although author Throft makes sure she throws in that Fina runs her own business, yes indeed, although most of Fina’s cases come from the family law firm. I suppose Fina is tough since she seems to adore getting the crap beaten out of here yet refuses to go to a hospital until she’s ready to pass out. That’s not tough, it’s stupid.
Let’s see what clichés we can spot in this story, okay? Bitchy mother and overbearing, dismissive father. Check. Loyal, hotter than hot fuckbuddy who seems willing to drop everything for Fina. Check. Hunky cop fuckbuddy willing to leak news to Fina. Check. Troubled spoiled teen. Check. Loyal older mentor who taught Fina everything she knows and his motherly, understanding wife, more of a mother to Fina than the bitch. Check. Wimpy brothers who work for the family law firm because they’re too spineless to strike out on their own. Check.
Do I need to go on? In the long run, aside from a few good one-liners, Fina is highly irritating. Her family is so despicable I ended up not caring about the main murder mystery. I actually hoped someone would toss a wasp nest into the next family outing. That might be exciting.
I only finished this book because I wanted to see if what I suspected was true and ta-da, it was true.
Never fear, I suspect feisty, fucked-up Fina will have her series where she’s beat up on a regular basis, fucks her fuckbuddies and eats waffles with whipped cream washed downed with, you guessed it, diet soda. Yawn. Let me know when someone tosses the wasp nest.
readingnightandday's review
3.0
I liked it but there were too many characters in the book. I couldn't keep track of them. If I had read it on my Kindle I would have used the X-ray feature.
kategci's review
3.0
I received an ARC from the publisher as part of Penguin Selects Summer 2013: What the World Will be Reading. This is a debut novel about a female private detective, Fina Ludlow who is employed by her family's law firm. Her three brothers and her father are all attorneys at this cut-throat 24 hour a day law practice in Boston. Her brother Rand's wife is missing and few people seem concerned. Fina is to find her sister-in-law without involving the police. While parts of Fina's personality and character reminded me of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, this book is much darker and the characters are much more serious. Fina's parents are pretty awful as parents and it really seems to be about the money with the whole family. The disappearance is eventually solved, but family secrets are revealed with trauma and drama which seemingly effects the whole Ludlow family. This is possibly the first in a series with Fina Ludlow and I would read the next to see what happens to her and her family.
sandin954's review
2.0
This was a barely adequate listen for me. I did not really like the main character, who was supposed to be a strong take no prisoners type female private investigator, but who just came off as annoying and not really all that great at her job. Lots of running around stirring up things with no thoughts or plans and I thought the ending just kind of fizzled out. Listened to the audio version which was narrated by Rebecca Soler whose young whiny voice did fit the main character but did not do much for me.
lkp's review
3.0
This is a book with an interesting premise but I think the progress of the story was too slow, even repetitive. The ending was disappointedly familiar.
themaritimereader14's review
4.0
I'm so glad a friend recommended this series to me because this first book was really good! There's not much that is unlikeable about Fina Ludlow's character. She is smart, sassy, and good at her job. Her relationships are interesting. She's surrounded by men, but she is powerful. There were some possible triggers in this book, but it was still really, really good.
veronica87's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
Josefina Ludlow, Fina to her family and friends, is the youngest in a sibling set of four. She has four older brothers who all followed their domineering father into the legal profession and who now all work in his powerful, personal injury law firm. Fina, having flunked out of law school, still contributes to the family business by working as the private investigator for many of their cases. But this time around, when a member of the family goes missing, things get personal really quickly and some unpleasant truths may surface.
This was an enjoyable book and I found Fina to be a strong and likable character. She's 34 years old, single, has no children, and has no urge to change her status in any way, shape, or form. She has a couple of men in her life, Christian and Milloy, who function as friends with benefits. I wouldn't classify it as a true love triangle since the men are aware of each other and don't seem to to have an issue with the arrangements. Yay for Fina, lol. She's snarky but not overly so and, as the song says, she knows when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. About the only annoying thing about her is her penchant to eat copious amounts of junk food without gaining any weight.
The story is told in third person mostly with a focus on Fina. However, there are also some additional character threads that are not immediately identified and it is only as the story moves along that the connections start to become apparent. It was an interesting plot device and it kept the story moving forward at a smooth and easy pace. Not that anything was smooth and easy for Fina, who took her fair share of lumps. Overall, I was pulled enough into Fina's world that I'll be on the lookout for the rest of the books.
Josefina Ludlow, Fina to her family and friends, is the youngest in a sibling set of four. She has four older brothers who all followed their domineering father into the legal profession and who now all work in his powerful, personal injury law firm. Fina, having flunked out of law school, still contributes to the family business by working as the private investigator for many of their cases. But this time around, when a member of the family goes missing, things get personal really quickly and some unpleasant truths may surface.
This was an enjoyable book and I found Fina to be a strong and likable character. She's 34 years old, single, has no children, and has no urge to change her status in any way, shape, or form. She has a couple of men in her life, Christian and Milloy, who function as friends with benefits. I wouldn't classify it as a true love triangle since the men are aware of each other and don't seem to to have an issue with the arrangements. Yay for Fina, lol. She's snarky but not overly so and, as the song says, she knows when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. About the only annoying thing about her is her penchant to eat copious amounts of junk food without gaining any weight.
The story is told in third person mostly with a focus on Fina. However, there are also some additional character threads that are not immediately identified and it is only as the story moves along that the connections start to become apparent. It was an interesting plot device and it kept the story moving forward at a smooth and easy pace. Not that anything was smooth and easy for Fina, who took her fair share of lumps. Overall, I was pulled enough into Fina's world that I'll be on the lookout for the rest of the books.
hlizmarie's review
3.0
If I had to pick a word for this I'd call it solid. Probably not what the author would want to hear but overall I enjoyed it thoroughly and would be happy to pick up another book by the author again. The plot moved along very nicely, all of the characters had some background that made them interesting, Fina's point of view is very clear and I liked being in her head but at the same time nothing blew me away. The who and why of it all wasn't a big surprise by the end but the unraveling was still a good read. Fina seems like someone who gets herself in trouble pretty frequently so hopefully there's more story for her in the future.
nglofile's review
2.0
Reviewed as one of the strongest crime debuts of 2013, and in that light, boy, does it disappoint. It starts well but soon is exposed as riddled with cliché and plot developments which alternate between telegraphed and contrived. I especially take offense at the favorable comparisons to Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, a character known for methodical investigations and real deduction. Fina just keeps getting beat up and then lucks into revelations.
audiobook note: Rebecca Soler offers a serviceable performance, though more that of an amateur with good instinct and some degree of raw talent rather than that of a nuanced professional. The reading isn't poor; it just doesn't do much to enhance the text.
audiobook note: Rebecca Soler offers a serviceable performance, though more that of an amateur with good instinct and some degree of raw talent rather than that of a nuanced professional. The reading isn't poor; it just doesn't do much to enhance the text.
abrswf's review
3.0
I read this for a book group as there is a connection there to the author. I enjoyed the Boston setting but thought the story was meh, and was unsatisfied with the solution and the way it was just dropped at the end of the book. Shallow characters and a very colloquial writing style and an endless recitation of junk food round out my other reasons for deducting stars.