Pakkend verhaal, waarvan de hoofdstukken afwisselend spelen in het heden - met spannende en onverwachte ontwikkelingen - en twintig jaar eerder, waarin stukje bij beetje onthuld wordt hoe George Foss en Liana Decter elkaar op de universiteit leerden kennen, een semester lang een romance beleefden en hoe zij destijds uit Georges leven verdween, om nu na al die tijd weer op te duiken met alle gevolgen van dien. Interessante plot, maar een naar mijn idee wat open einde.

I think if the book had ended twenty pages earlier, I may have given it five stars. The coda gave a twist that was quite frankly, unbelievable. I can see based on reading several Swanson books that his Achilles heel may be the creation of villainous plots that rely too heavily on the bad guy’s ability to flawlessly predict a long chain of unlikely events, most of which relies on the expected behavior of others. While it’s fun to read, it doesn’t really play fair with the reader.

Anyway, I still recommend this book, which is a real page turner with loads of psychological and plot-based suspense.

This one got of to a bit of a slow start for me, but once it got going, it was hard to put down. There were a lot of twists and turns here. Who was the ‘bad guy’ and why were these things happening? And who is, or was, Liana Decter, and why does she have so many names! I don’t read a lot of thrillers, possibly because I worry about the outcomes to the characters. This one was no exception. I really had to wonder if George would survive. Sadly, there were also times when I had to wonder at George’s intelligence. There were so many times I just wanted to scream at him; ‘Why are you doing that? Don’t go in there! Are you nuts?!”

It seemed like George’s thought process went something like this:
“Liana has lied to me before, so I probably shouldn’t trust her…..but she’s pretty!”
“That guy beat me up pretty good the other day and promised to hurt me if I interfere again, so I probably should walk the other way….but Liana is pretty!”
..etc….
And Geoge seemed to completely ignore what was right in front of him; a former co-worker who was also pretty and had great affection for him. He just took her for granted; his ‘friend with benefits’!

My only real complaint about the book is the ending. There is no nice, tidy ending where we learn exactly what happened. And we really don’t know what is going to happen next. There is no epilogueto tell us how everything worked out in the end. With this ending, all we really know if that George remains George, making choices that are not smart!

As frustrated as I got with George though, I very much enjoyed this book. As I mentioned, I don’t read a lot of thrillers, I’m really glad I read this one! I’m giving it 3½ stars. But for readers who love thrillers, this will probably rate even higher. Take a look at some of the other stops on the tour to see if this one is for you.

My Rating: 3-1/2 Stars

This book review is included in a tour by TLC Book Tours. I was provided a copy for review purposes and have written an honest review which appears above.

Peter Swanson's The Girl With A Clock For A Heart threw me for a loop. I'll admit that I went into this book completely blind. This was a total case of succumbing to cover love when I was offered this for review. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It's got a bit of Hitchcock feel to it, and it's a nice easy read.

George Foss is just an everyday kind of man. He's reached a point in his life where things have stalled. A mid-life crisis if you will. Which is why when a girl from his past, a girl he thought was gone for good, steps back into his life? He takes a chance. I liked George. He didn't always make the best decisions, his fascination with this girl wasn't always easy to understand, but underneath it all he was a good enough guy.

The thing about The Girl With A Clock For A Heart is that the whole plot hinges on the girl from George's past. If you can't believe in their connection, you can't really understand why he makes the decisions he does. I found this part to be a little weak. We see flashbacks to George's history with the girl, from a short time during his college career. Can you really build that strong of a relationship with someone in that short of a time? Enough that you'd agree to put yourself in danger for them when they show up out the blue, years later? I just don't know.

If you let all that go though, and just travel with the flow of the book, it's not a bad read. The mystery George finds himself wrapped up in is beautifully designed. I didn't see most of it coming. Even the ending, which wasn't entirely unexpected, was a surprise. I'm a little upset about the fact that it was so open-ended, but then again that's just me. I like resolution. The Girl With A Clock For A Heart gets three stars from this bookworm.

I liked the mystery and history of the couple. But expecting more at the end.

Good book. Simple old fashioned thriller....