The Girlfriend - Michelle Frances

photo courtesy:goodreads.com

Captivating suspense that keeps you hooked till the end.

I received this book from the blue spine writing blog's crime and thriller club in return for an honest review. Thriller is one of my favourite genres - reason being there is more analysis and insight than an entire psychology textbook put together!

As for this one, I read up on the author and it said the writer has worked in television. It helped - I love TV dramas, although the storytelling in that medium is quite different to the printed page, it built up good expectations about this book.

The story with its crisp sentences on the jacket sounded ominous and terribly intriguing.

Gist:

Laura, a TV producer feels blessed. With a smart son, long marriage and a successful career, she has it all - until Cherry, a street savvy girl walks into her life. Daniel, her son has taken to Cherry and Laura is eager to find out more about her. The only hassle is - she doesn't like her and soon that acquaintance turns poisonous liason.

What works:

• The plot is seemingly ordinary. I mean how often do we come across tiffs between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. But with some clever tweaks and justifications, the story is packaged in a new light.

• The crucial thing about a thriller is that pace is very important. It cannot afford to slag and billow out. The pace here is taut and the writer does a very good job with structure. The backgrounds are quickly covered in the first few pages and then story skillfully pans out.

• The central characters are very believable. You can see how they act the way they do and the situations created by their behaviour.

• I  also liked the ending. Despite the fact that the ending was predictable Frances added a nice little twist to it. I was wondering, having built it up, how was she going to handle it. But have to hand it to her, that was really well done.

• There were some scenes that were so visual and kept lingering in my mind's eye.  I loved the camaraderie between Isabella and Laura. Also the one in France, when Cherry spends the weekend with them. Loved it! 

What doesn't:

• Nothing really. It is a very well told story. Appealed to the thriller aficionado in me.

Very easy to see it as a TV drama or a film.