A slick, fast-paced whoami tale, with a juicy mystery that kept me on my toes. Literally.
What I gleaned about the story: Years later, a long-term amnesiac begins to have flash-backs about the life she left behind, and the glimpses are dark, suggesting big business, technology, and secrets in the halls of power. But now they’ve threatened her new family, and if she doesn’t put a stop to them this time, they’re just going to keep on coming.
Find the book on Amazon.
Analysis: If they’d known each other since childhood, I’ve got no problem with it. But when adults bond as close friends, they don’t have that shared childhood history, and I just don’t buy them using those terms. It’s bad enough when actual siblings call each other “bro” and “sis” in fiction. It’s just not how people actually talk, except maybe ironically, in very specific circumstances. But with adult friends? Adults know that no matter how close they are, they are not, in fact, family. And while I suppose it’s conceivable that some very few people actually would talk this way, that doesn’t change the fact that it felt unnatural to me, and jerked me out of the world each time it happened. Fortunately though, it wasn’t used that often, so I’m lumping them together and calling it one WTF.
Analysis: None of the dialogue in this story is rendered with phonetic patois. Even the apartment superintendent, who is Indian, speaks in unaffected English, with what little accent he has conveyed deftly through word choice, rather than phonetic spellings. So when Scarlett’s “mother,” Ruby, uttered her bits of dialogue with a fully rendered phonetic accent that seemed part Boston gentry and part Ozarks hill-billy, it stood out, jarring me out of Scarlett’s world and back to my tacky little basement treadmill.
Conclusion: But those two little glitches were the extent of my problem. Other than that, the time flew by, and before I knew it, I was stomping past 40:00 and heading for glory.
Dude, slow down! I’m still only half way through Pay Me Bug!
I can beat that. I’m now half way through approximately 30 books. :-) Okay. Maybe not HALF way. :-)
I have adults, that I am not related to, that I call sister. I grew up in foster care and they became my sisters over time (one of them I hated as a teenager.) Even as an adult, I like the feeling of mutual family bond, even if some would consider it ‘not real.’ I don’t talk to my ‘real’ family because they are a bunch of abusive assholes, and my sisters never try abusive stuff on me. I don’t the the context of the story, but I disagree with your WTF #1 on this one.
Interesting Kary. As I said in the review, if the relationship formed in childhood (as it appears yours did) I totally buy the non-related “sister” label. My objection is about characters who met as fully grown adults.
I second Kary. I’ve got to know my BFF when I was grown up (during my time at university) and I accasionally call her my sister (although I’m Germans so obviously I’m using the German equivalent). It doesn’t happen often but sometimes the word friend just isn’t enough to describe the closeness.
I do not know this story, so I can’t say whether the author meant this to indicate a special closeness of the characters or as a gimmick. If it was nothing but a gimmick, I’d go with your WTF.
As if you need any further motivation to provide an honest assessment, just to let you know that when you hit 40, I will hit Amazon.
And I am sure your treadmill is not tatty. Has to be streets ahead of the old exercise bike I have put on the front porch (no room indoors) for short bursts of exercise throughout the day.
Cheers
Isabel
I’d say the sister/brother thing is probably cultural in some way. I know various people who refer to adults they’ve only known as adults that way. It indicates a degree of closeness more than friends i guess? I think it also reflects the idea of family one chooses rather than is born with. I can see how it is something that would throw you if you’re not used to it though. No one i actually know ever calls a female friend their ‘girlfriend’ so when i encounter this i assume a romantic relationship which can be confusing!