Review: THE HOOKER AND THE HERMIT by LH Cosway and Penny Reid

Annie Catrel, secret celebrity blogger and social media expert, loves making fun of stars' poor fashion choices. But when she posts a pic of someone who may or may not be Colin Farrell (he's not), the real celebrity–Irish rugby hooker Ronan Fitzpatrick–blows a gasket and sends her a VERY nasty email. Annie would love to respond by posting it online and publicly shaming him, but she can't. Because he's just hired the PR firm she works for to improve his image, and she's been put in charge of his account. Will Ronan figure out Annie's "the Socialmedialite," and will Annie come out of her shell enough to let him in? #willthesetwocrazykidsgettogether

This review is going to have some mild spoilers. It just is. If you want to read The Hooker and the Hermit completely free of any plot reveals, go and do that, and THEN come back and read my review, okay? I'll wait. Take your time.

Are you back? Okay, let's do this thing.

The Hooker and the Hermit is LH Cosway and Penny Reid's answer to Fifty Shades of Grey. You've got your young, lip-biting female who isn't very confident; and you've got your stalkery rich guy who wears nice suits, drives fast cars, and whose "deep dark secret" is that he's into BDSM (or, as Ronan takes care to point out, technically it's just bondage and dominance... like in FSoG, really). But since this is Cosway and Reid writing, the characters are quirky yet sympathetic, the story is fun, and the bondage thing makes sense.

I have to admit The Hooker and the Hermit had me from the word go because I'm pretty sure Annie's my fictional doppelgänger. This was my mom's face when I told her Annie reminded me of myself (my mom and I occasionally read the same books):

For example, Annie strategically picking a seat next to the exit so she can leave as quickly as possible, if necessary. This is something I do ALL THE TIME. Also: refusing to make eye contact in order to avoid being drawn into conversation with strangers. I wouldn't say I do that all the time, maybe more like 80% of the time, and mostly at Walmart. In any case, I immediately identified with Annie and found her adventures in the first part of The Hooker and the Hermit to be pretty hilarious.

Then I got to the middle of the book and things started falling apart. First of all, I found the fact that Annie let Ronan's mom bully her into breaking up with him–in less than three minutes, no less–irritating. For the past fifty pages these two have been like a couple out of the sweetest, sappiest romcom in history; and then suddenly she walks out on him in the middle of lunch just because his mom, who is CLEARLY trying to manipulate her, throws some shade? Eye roll. You just lost me. THEN, three pages later, Annie's tells Ronan, "Oh, I knew she was just being a bitch and you're nothing like that, but I still think we belong in different worlds and it's better for us to stay apart." Wha-huh? Obvious deus-ex-machina to keep the characters from having sex even though there is no logical reason why they wouldn't at this point is obvious.

Secondly, in the second half of the book Annie's hermit-like ways are treated as a symptom of her psychological problems and fucked up childhood. UHG WHY. I know it brings some dramatic tension to the story, but drawing a correlation between being a hermit and having something be wrong with her was just lazy plotting, in my humble opinion. It reduces that aspect of her personality to little more than a gimmick.

On the plus side, though, at least Cosway and Reid didn't imply BDSM was a good substitute for psychotherapy, or that Ronan was into bondage because was abused as a child. So I guess one of these characters got a free pass.

The ending felt like it dragged on interminably and I almost lit my Kindle on fire when I saw there was an epilogue; but for the most part, The Hooker and the Hermit was a very enjoyable, successful collaboration between two authors whose work I really enjoy. I hope Cosway and Reid decide to write another novel together in the future (unless it stars the secondary characters from this novel, that would be annoying).


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Sunday Snapshot for the Ides of March

If you're new here, Sunday Snapshot is a feature where I ramble on about basically nothing. I know you want to read it now!

How is it that an entire week can pass with me getting nothing done? This is madness. I feel super busy but I get no reading done, no writing done, the laundry is still unfolded (and will remain so for at least a month, if history is anything to go by). Uhg. The only thing I got done this week were my taxes, and that took literally the entire day.

Anyway, enough whining.

What I'm reading right now:
I didn't read anything this week (see above), so it's the same books as last week with one exception: I finished Supermind by Mark Phillips on audio and started The Gold Bag by Carolyn Wells, which I'm honestly finding pretty boring but will probably finish anyway.

Movies watched this past week:
Night At the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, starring Ben Stiller and Robin Williams
Fun and entertaining (no surprise there), although the epitaph for Robin Williams and Mickey Rooney at the very end gutted me.
Run All Night, starring Liam Neeson and Ed Harris
Kind of an odd movie. On one hand, you have a mob drama à la Heat (excellent movie, incidentally); and on the other hand you have these absolutely ridiculous, over-the-top escape/shooting scenes. Neither side of the movie was entirely successful.

Subscription boxes received this week:
This week I got my Hello Fresh box and it was actually really good. They send you all the raw ingredients for three meals, portioned out, and recipes to match. The ingredients were all nice and fresh, the recipes were easy to follow, and there was very little clean-up at the end. Plus the meals themselves were healthy and generously portioned.

I forgot to take pics of the first two meals we made, but here's one of the Spanish steak salad. Very tasty!

I also got my March Glam Bag from Ipsy. I only care about the lipstick and highlighter, but that's the good thing about Ipsy–those two things together are probably worth about $10, anyway. And I love the bag this month.

I also got Love With Food, which is a snack subscription that's curated by famous chefs, foodies, bloggers, etc. I had major expectations for this one, but the box items felt really random. The theme was supposed to be healthy snacks, but why is a packet of herbs de Provence included? Yeah I can roast potatoes with it, but that's hardly a snack. I can't eat chocolate, so the chocolate items (most of the box) are wasted on me, AND my dad ate all the chips and then told me he didn't like them. So.

Reviews in the queue:
No reading, no writing, no new reviews. I would like to write a review of Dutch's American Era bitters for my cocktail blog if I find a moment, though.

Theme of the week:
I think you can all guess that one.

Bonus:
This is the best thing I saw all week:

I would love this Benedict Cumberbatch coloring book. I wouldn't even need to color it.

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Sunday Snapshot

Hey cool cats! I was in the middle of writing a review and got the idea for this weekly feature, basically giving a quick update on what I've been up to. Hopefully this will help with the radio silences that tend to happen around here when I'm not reading much or am buried by deadlines.

What I'm reading right now:

Supermind by Mark Phillips (audiobook)
This novel is like urban fantasy meets The Maltese Falcon. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, despite the endless dialog tags.
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge (ebook)
I started this one last night and am only one chapter in. Loved the first sentence.
Green: The History of a Color by Michel Pastoureau (hardback)
Having trouble getting into this one, although I love the concept. The book doesn't seem to have a strong central thesis.

Movies watched this past week:

Focus, starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie
I'm a sucker for caper movies. Focus got a little too artsy and touchy-feely at times, but there were at least two fantastic scenes, and overall I liked it a lot.
The (One?) Hundred Foot Journey, starring Helen Mirren and Manish Dayal
I really wanted to love The Hundred Foot Journey, but there were several things that just didn't make sense. It also felt like it went on for a REALLY long time.

Somewhat obsessed with:

Subscription boxes. It all started with Ipsy (makeup). Damn you, Facebook! Anyway, as of today I've tried True & Co. (bras), Taste the World (food), Stitch Fix (clothes), Nature Box (snacks), Loot Crate (gamer and geek stuff), Bark Box (dog treats and toys), and Zockster (socks). I'm waiting on Rocksbox (jewelry), Bulu Box (nutrition and vitamins), and Hello Fresh (meals). I think I might need a spreadsheet to keep track of all these.

Edited to Add: Here are some pics from my adventures in unboxing recently:

The dogs don't know what to think of their Bark Boxes and are more interested in napping.

Bamboo socks from Zockster. Was hoping for something a little more quirky and colorful, but they are nice socks.

The Loot Crate box–this was fantastic. Not only did I get Ready Player One, but the box unfolded into a game board! Also there's a mechanical bug I can now use to terrorize the dogs, win.

My five clothing items from Stitch Fix. I decided to send two of them back, but I was on the edge about it.

So far Ipsy is the best deal in terms of what you get for an affordable $10, but I also really like Loot Crate and think it's a good bargain at $13 (admittedly, this is mainly because they included a book). The downside to Loot Crate is that they charge shipping. Stitch Fix was a bit pricey, but fun and everything fit perfectly. Bark Box was also super fun–who doesn't enjoy playing with their dogs?–but at $30 a month I think it's overpriced. I'm still on the lookout for a foodie box to fall in love with.

Reviews in the queue:

The Hooker and the Hermit by LH Cosway and Penny Reid
The Sculptor by Scott McCloud

Theme of the week: I need more sleep.

I came down with The Crud this week, and that was only exacerbated by the fact that I'm going through one of my insomnia strikes and we switched to Daylight Saving Time this week, the evil bastard. The only saving grace is I can sleep in since I work at home most days.

Bonus: Two hilarious Facebook Quizzes

These quizzes were super funny. I love the bizarro options on the inkblot one.
Inkblot Personality Test
Can We Guess Your Age Based On How You Use the Internet? (I got 35)



That's all I have the energy to focus on today. Let me know how you're week's going and if you know of any subscription boxes I absolutely need to try!



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Review: KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS by Aya Shouoto

Anise Yamamoto's father has warned her that if she removes her rose choker, she'll be cursed by a terrible punishment, which is why she always wears it even in defiance of her school's dress code. But when the choker mysteriously disappears, Anise is suddenly confronted with four Rose Knights, who insist that she's their sovereign. Oh, and they happen to be the four hottest boys at school. Most girls would think this a dream come true, but Anise can't help but wonder if having to put up with these guys is her punishment.

It's been a while since I reviewed a manga, probably because it's been a while since I enjoyed one enough to finish it. Kiss of the Rose Princess is a very promising start to a series, with a great twist on a vampire romance storyline.

Essentially, the Rose Knights are vampires, in that they need to draw blood from Anise in order to wield their powers. At least one of them isn't human, although I'm not sure if that's true of all of them or not.

My favorite of the Rose Knights is Kaede Higa, who's more or less a regular teenage boy. He and Anise are friends... of a sort. If you consider their constant bickering a form of friendship (I love it when the hero and heroine fight in romance novels, by the way).

The other Rose Knights include Mitsuru Tenjo, the class president and most handsome and popular boy at school; Seiran Asagi, a gentle and sweet kid who has allergies (yup, roses... ironic); and Mutsuki Kurama, he of the non-humanness. He's also rumored to be an otaku, but I'm not exactly sure what that's supposed to mean in the context of this book. Whatever it is, it's not good.

Anyway, Kiss of the Rose Princess feels surprisingly modern, mainly because of Anise. She's very independent, good at sports, not interested in putting up with any of Kaede's crap, and quick on the uptake that more penises mean mo' problems. She's not some beautiful and passive princess type.

As for the artwork, I sometimes find graphic novels a little headache inducing, and there are times when the visual storytelling could flow better and be less confusing. But overall it wasn't too bad. I really liked the title pages.

Definitely a promising manga to keep an eye on! The second volume was only just published (in the US, anyway) and a third one is on the way in May, I believe, so it's early days yet, but I can see this series developing into something as addicting as Vampire Knight in future installments.



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Five of My Auto-Buy Authors (TSS)

The other day Colette from A Buckeye Girl Reads mentioned that she couldn't think of more than three authors that are on her auto-buy list. In case the title's not self-explanatory, auto-buy authors are authors whose work she will automatically buy, no matter what the book's about.

This made me realize I don't have a bunch of authors on my auto-buy list now, either. I *used* to have dozens of auto-buy authors. I'd even visit their websites on a weekly basis so I could check to see when their next book was coming out. I would keep track of all the upcoming releases in a spreadsheet and stop by Barnes & Noble every Tuesday to pick up my new books (remember when new books were only and always released on a Tuesday? Why was that?). And if the book I was anticipating wasn't there, I was PISSED.

But now, like Colette, it takes some thinking for me to come up with my auto-buy authors. I definitely have them, but my buying habits have changed so much that I don't really keep track of them anymore. Instead of having to go looking for when their next book is coming out, they email/tweet/facebook me about it. Instead of making a special trip to the bookstore, now I can download their new book within seconds with one-click.

Also, the authors that are on my auto-buy list have changed dramatically. Most of the authors I used to keep track of have moved on to different genres I'm not that into (Christina Dodd, Lisa Kleypas), settled into a long-running series I have no interest in (Patricia Briggs, Gaelen Foley), or simply stopped writing.

However, there are definitely new (new to me anyway) authors whose books I will absolutely buy, even if they're priced outrageously. Here are my top five; who are some of your auto-buys?

Laura Florand
Florand wrote several of my favorite reads in 2014. Even when I don't fall completely in love with one of her novels, I know that they're going to be romantic, emotional, and escapist stories with a fairy tale vibe. I simply love her books.

Daniel Silva
At this point I'm so invested in the Gabriel Allon series that's there's no question of me reading the latest book, which should be out in early July. Speaking of, I'm still waiting for Gabriel to take down ISIS.

LH Cosway
This is a perfect example of one book making me a fan of an author for life. I read Painted Faces several years ago, but Cosway didn't make it onto my auto-buy list until I read Still Life with Strings last year. I know with Cosway that I'm going to get unique characters and a non-formulaic story. I also love her writing style.

Craig Johnson
This is cheating somewhat, because I've actually never bought one of Johnson's books yet. I'm still trying to catch up on the series, and my mom owns all his books, so I just read those. But I definitely consider Johnson a must-read author and his Walt Longmire series is very much worth buying in hardcover.

Bryan Lee O'Malley
Even though I was a bit disappointed in Seconds, it was one of the few books that I pre-ordered in actual book form in 2014. Actually, scratch that–it was the ONLY book I pre-ordered, in ebook or paper. O'Malley won me over with his brilliant Lost at Sea and the crazy-fun Scott Pilgrim series. I will happily fork over whatever money I have for his next graphic novel. All he needs to do is write faster.

Bonus authors:
Rebecca Rogers Maher, Megan Whalen Turner, Dan Brown (yes I will read every book he puts out), Stephenie Meyer, and JK Rowling (of course).



So that's my top five. I'm surprised by how many men are on it! Used to be one in every one hundred books I read were by a man. I also find it interesting that two of the authors on this list self-publish. Obviously it's not just my buying habits but my reading habits that have changed in the last few years.

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Review: THE SECRET OF PEMBROOKE PARK by Julie Klassen

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley for the purposes of this review.

After a bad investment, the Fosters find themselves looking to downsize with a small home in the country. But they can't find a property that's both affordable and large enough for the entire family, until a lawyer appears offering them the lease of a large estate called Pembrooke Park ("With two o's"), for an amount they can't refuse. Yet questions surround the property, such as: Who is leasing it to them? Why was it abandoned twenty years ago? And are the rumors of murder and hidden treasure true?

I decided to read The Secret of Pembrooke Park for several reasons: one, I know a few people who love Julie Klassen's books, and I've been meaning to try them for a while. And two, it was pitched to me as inspired by Northanger Abbey. Because of that, I feel like The Secret of Pembrooke Park invites comparisons to Northanger Abbey; unfortunately it doesn't fare very favorably in that comparison. If you're looking for something fun and romantic along the lines of Northanger, you're going to be disappointed. Unfortunately, if you're looking for something along the lines of a traditional Gothic romance with Pembrooke, I feel like you're also going to be disappointed.

Although there are definitely parts of The Secret of Pembrooke Park that feel very Northanger Abbey-ish–specifically William Chapman, the handsome and charming (though of course not as charming as Henry Tilney; that would be impossible) local curate–The Secret of Pembrooke Park is fundamentally different in execution and tone from Northanger Abbey for the very fact that it takes itself about 200% more seriously than Northanger Abbey does. Northanger Abbey was a parody of the Gothic genre; Pembrooke Park is not. There's very little humor or self-awareness of how the story operates as a Gothic novel in these pages. There's a lot of Gothic-y stuff going on, definitely, but none of it really comes together. Just a few plot elements off the top of my head:

• Creepy doll house with decapitated dolls lying around. Good start, but the doll thing is quickly abandoned and forgotten about.
• Missing portrait of the mistress of the house.
• Hidden treasure.
• Pool of blood found on the night the family abandoned the mansion.
• Secret room.
• Stolen brooches?
• Long-lost Pembrookes returning.
• Unknown figure in a hooded green cloak wandering about. Is it the ghost of Clive Pembrooke?! Is Clive Pembrooke the guy who owned the house before the Fosters moved in, or was that the other Pembrooke everyone keeps talking about? And why do we care about that guy? Confusing.
• Random journal entries mailed to Abigail for no apparent reason.
• Coded messages.
• A grumpy caretaker who clearly knows more than he's admitting.
• A lazy and suspicious manservant.
• A slutty sister bringing shame to the family name.
• Lost heiresses.
• Missing family bible.

It's a lot to take in. I wouldn't have minded if it was all to a purpose, but it felt more like Klassen was making it up as she went along, throwing a bunch "spooky" stuff out there in the hopes it would stick, without considering how to make the most of the strongest elements. Catherine's suspicion of General Tilney when she first arrived at Northanger Abbey was more chilling than all of the stuff in this book combined, and she made all of it up in her own head!

As for the love story, I was not into it. It's kind of hard to feel invested in a relationship arc when there are three men chasing after the heroine and, as far as I can tell, they are interchangeable to her. It was impossible to tell what Abigail's feelings for the guys were, beyond "a flutter of attraction." Whenever any of them came on to her, she just kind of stood there and passively accepted what they did to her, no matter who it was. I would have liked for her to demonstrate some feeling or personal preference, by perhaps throwing herself at William, but she never did. It was very frustrating.

In fact, as the book went on I grew more and more annoyed with Abigail in general. We're TOLD she's practical and knows her own mind, but her behavior doesn't really bear that out. Actually, her behavior doesn't bear much of anything out–I've encountered ghosts in literature with more personality. She's devoid of any goals or personal motivation, and feelings...? Hard to say. By the time I finished The Secret of Pembrooke Park, I found myself convinced a cup of weak tea would have been as interesting a heroine as Abigail.

I will say Klassen's writing style is charming, and that was enough to keep me engaged for the first half of the book. But no writing style is enough to make me overlook the last twenty percent of The Secret of Pembrooke Park, where instead of letting the numerous plot points that went nowhere just hang there, each and every single one is laboriously explained through an endless series of expositional monologues. I'd rather be left to wonder–and that's another frustrating thing about The Secret of Pembrooke Park. There are moments when a genuine mystery or something of interest pops up (William snooping on his tour of the house, for example), but these elements are either immediately revealed as harmless (William was just curious) or dropped in favor of something else. Klassen shines when writing about everyday society–balls, going to church, Abigail's sister's behavior in London–but when it comes to building a sense of mystery, not so much.

Basically, I enjoyed the first part of The Secret of Pembrooke Park, but by the end I was more than a little annoyed. If you would like to give the book a try yourself, however, there's a tour-wide giveaway! Three lucky winners will receive one trade paperback or eBook copy of The Secret of Pembrooke Park, and one grand prize winner will receive one copy of all eight of Julie’s novels: Lady of Milkweed Manor, The Apothecary's Daughter, The Silent Governess, The Girl in the Gatehouse, The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, The Tutor’s Daughter, The Dancing Master, and The Secret of Pembrooke Park, one DVD of Northanger Abbey (2007 [love this production]) and a Jane Austen Action Figure.

To enter the giveaway contest, simply leave a comment on any or all of the blog stops on The Secret of Pembrooke Park Blog Tour starting February 16, 2015 through 11:59 pm PT, March 9, 2015. Winners will be drawn at random from all of the comments and announced on Julie Klassen’s website on March 16, 2015. Winners have until March 22, 2015 to claim their prize. The giveaway contest is open to residents of the US, UK, and Canada. Digital books will be sent through Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Good luck to all!

And here's a list of the other blog stops. I'm sure most of these readers liked The Secret of Pembrooke Park better than I did, so don't hesitate to check out their reviews if you'd like some second opinions:

• February 16 My Jane Austen Book Club (Guest Blog)
• February 16 vvb32 Reads (Excerpt)
• February 17 Psychotic State Book Reviews (Review)
• February 17 My Kids Led Me Back to Pride and Prejudice (Spotlight)
• February 18 Addicted to Jane Austen (Review)
• February 18 Peeking Between the Pages (Review)
• February 19 Jane Austen in Vermont (Interview)
• February 19 Living Read Girl (Review) 
• February 20 My Love for Jane Austen (Excerpt)
• February 20 Truth, Beauty, Freedom & Books (Review)
• February 20 Laura's Reviews (Guest Blog)
• February 21 A Bookish Way of Life (Review)
• February 21 Confessions of a Book Addict (Review)
• February 21 Romantic Historical Reviews (Excerpt)
• February 22 Reflections of a Book Addict (Review)
• February 23 Austenesque Reviews (Guest Blog)
• February 23 Peace, Love, Books (Review)
• February 24 vvb32 Reads (Review)
• February 24 Poof Books (Excerpt)
• February 25 Babblings of a Bookworm (Review)
• February 25 Austenesque Reviews (Review)
• February 25 Luxury Reading (Review)
• February 26 So Little Time…So Much to Read (Review) 
• February 26 More Agreeably Engaged (Excerpt)
• February 27 Psychotic State Book Reviews (Interview)
• February 27 Booktalk & More (Review)
• February 28 Laughing with Lizzie (Spotlight)
• February 28 The Calico Critic (Review)
• March 01 Leatherbound Reviews (Excerpt)
• March 01 Delighted Reader (Review)
• March 02 CozyNookBks (Review)
• March 02 Laura's Reviews (Review)

Thanks to Laurel Ann and Bethany House for inviting me to be part of the blog tour!



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Review: QUEENPIN by Megan Abbott

On the surface, a young woman appears to be a good girl: going to school to be a secretary, not sleeping around, taking care of her dad. But on the inside, she craves danger, action, excitement. And when her dad gets her a job at a casino, the world of bookies, gangsters, liars, and gamblers pulls her in. Soon she catches the eye of Gloria Denton, a cash handler for the big boys. Gloria offers her everything a woman could ask for–a swank apartment in the ritzy part of town, fabulous clothes, jewelry, fancy dinners out, cocktails every night, and a job making the rounds of every casino and track in town. But is Gloria her fairy godmother, or her evil stepmother?

I've seen Queenpin around the blahgs a few times over the years and always wanted to read it, but it wasn't until I saw Jessica's post on neo-noir over at Book Riot that I decided to take the plunge. I'm so glad I did! Queenpin is not what I usually read at all–it's hard-core noir. No one in this book is a hero, everyone betrays everyone else, and there's no redemption for the main character. I don't think I've ever read a novel this dark and cynical of my own volition. But at the same time, Queenpin tells a completely gripping story with fantastic, gritty writing that totally sucked me in and invaded my dreams.

In a lot of ways Queenpin reminds me of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: our narrator is an unnamed, relatively innocent young girl who becomes fascinated, perhaps even obsessed, with a femme fatale who seems to represent everything a woman should be and everything she's not. "A woman of 36, dressed in black satin with a string of pearls," is how the heroine of Rebecca puts it, except I suspect Gloria is considerably older than 36.

In a few respects Gloria is a mother figure to the heroine, but really there's something more possessive and vaguely sexual about their relationship than a typical mother/daughter dynamic. When the heroine starts sleeping with Vic, a gambling addict, she acts more like a wife trying to hide her lover from her husband than a woman who's dating a guy her boss (or mom, for that matter) would find inappropriate. At one point Gloria tells her, "You're mine. Whoever put those marks on you might as well have put marks on me."

Which brings me to the major difference between Rebecca and Queenpin (aside from, you know, setting and genre and themes. Most things, really): there's no prince charming. Vic has all the charm of Maxim de Winter, but he's without a doubt a complete loser and a terrible person. Yet you can totally understand why the heroine goes for him–it's all about lust, and their scenes together are probably some of the hottest, yet-not-in-any-way-graphic scenes I've ever come across in a book. You can FEEL how they're using each other and it's compelling stuff. Sex, drugs, and rock n roll, baby. The heroine wants it all, and she wants it now, and that kind of greed fits perfectly into her relationship with Vic.

Obviously things do not end well for Vic and our nameless narrator. A gambling addict and a woman who collects gambling profits for gangsters? Yeah, that's a great combo. But the fact that he's the completely wrong person is part of his appeal to the narrator, too.

I'll be honest: as things went from bad to worse in Queenpin, the book started giving me nightmares. What happened to Vic in particular, even though he had it coming (everyone gets what was coming to them in this novel, and seeing as how they're all awful, it's nothing good), was just horrible horrible. Yet I think that speaks more to the intensity of the book than any gratuitous violence in it–I never once considered abandoning it. Like the heroine, I was hooked on the story and determined to follow the actions of these characters to their inevitable conclusion, no matter how bad it got.

Basically, Queenpin is REALLY good. If you want a noir novel with a feminine twist, you can't go wrong with this one. Raymond Chandler couldn't have written a better crime novel. I am definitely going to dig into more of Megan Abbott's noir fiction... although I may wait awhile for the aftereffects of Queenpin to wear off before I do.


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