Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge
This thriller was suggested to me by a patron. The premise is frightening, a couple or pair are abducted and wake up in an enclosed space. There is no water, food, or other means of survival. There is a burner phone with a sinister text message and a gun. To get out, one must die. This horror story plot makes for a gruesome story with some disturbing moments. The abductions happen to more than one couple. Each one more terrifying than the last.
The police cannot figure out the abductions. The main investigator, Helen Grace, is a lone wolf with a damaged background. She doesn’t trust others, has no family and is full of secrets. In a somewhat stereotypical role, we don’t really get to know her or her personality. She rides a motorcycle at extremely high speeds, hits the gym, and doesn’t trust a lot of people, but has a hidden heart of gold.
The brief chapters are two to three pages at the most. The story jumps around from character to character with flashbacks in time. The plot advances with these techniques in place. The mystery or puzzle of the abductions keeps the reader guessing until the very end.
This is the author’s debut novel. She has a series planned around the chief police investigator Helen Grace. The next novel, Pop Goes the Weasel will be out on October 6, 2015. I will definitely read the next title. I enjoyed the suspense and the unknown perpetrator in this story. However some of the violence may be a turn off for readers.
Other new books recently in at the Drake Public Library:
X by Sue Grafton
Friction by Sandra Brown
The Solomon Curse by Clive Cussler
Dark Ghost by Christine Feehan
Purity by Jonathan Franzen
Undercover by Danielle Steel
Starlight on Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs
The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny