Monday 24 July 2023

Book ~ "Ready or Not" (2021) Alex Lake

From Goodreads ~ A happy family ... Alice and Tom Sark seem to have it all - a wonderful marriage, a gorgeous baby, a beautiful home. And now Alice, a journalist, starts investigating a story which could make her career - a serial killer in their town.

A murderer lurking in the shadows ... Very quickly though, the murder case takes its toll. Alice and Tom begin fighting all the time. Their baby daughter just won’t stop crying. And sometimes it feels almost as if they’re being followed.

Not everyone will live to tell the tale ... The killer has found a new family to target. And the clock is ticking for Alice and Tom to stop their worlds being destroyed forever.

Alice and Tom have been married for a few years and have a baby named Joanna. Their lives are stressful because they are still getting used to being new parents and Joanna doesn't like to sleep at night so neither parent is getting much sleep. During a routine check-up, the doctor notices bruises on Joanna which makes Alice and Tom wonder how they got there and question anyone they have contact with.

In the meantime, there is a serial killer loose in their town. As a reporter, this becomes Alice's story with helpful hints from her friend, a police officer. When taunting letters from the killer start arriving at Alice's house, rather than run and hide, Alice ramps up her coverage of the killer, which doesn't make Tom, who is a very protective dad, happy.

Up until this point, though I had figured out who the killer was and what was going on, it was an interesting story with great build-up. Then it got ridiculous and far fetched very quickly, which is too bad.

This book is written in third person perspective in various voices (Alice, Tom, the killer, the police, etc.) depending on where the action was. The story jumps back and forth in time from so we get to know Alice and how she and Tom met (the chapters are labeled). I thought having the details of how the abuser was hurting Joanna was disturbing ... all I needed to know was that Joanna was suddenly getting mysterious bruises. As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.

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