Published by Kensington Books Genres: Crime, Fiction, Mystery
Format: ARC, eBook
Alexandra Quinlan (Alex) was seventeen years old when she had her whole world turned upside down when her parents and brother were horrifically killed one evening by a person with a gun. Alex survived but was arrested and charged with their murders. Dubbed “Empty Eyes” by a journalist on the scene, she was tried in the public eye before she was ever tried in court.
Luckily for Alex, Donna, the first officer on the scene of the murder felt things were not right and called her husband, Garrett, an attorney who agreed to represent Alex in court. She is found not guilty, won a defamation suit against the police and changed her name. She is hoping for a new beginning, a new life and to never be called “Empty eyes” again.
Ten years after her family’s murder, Alex is working for Garrett while also looking for clues as to who killed her family and why.
Then the story changes gears and delves into a young woman who was raped and a missing college podcaster who went missing while looking into the case. Alex begins to investigate the rape and what happened to the podcaster and finds that there are connections between this case and her own.
Whew! I really wanted to love this one. I have devoured Donlea’s other books in the past, always finishing them satisfied and happy. This book took a turn which I didn’t feel that it needed and lost its mojo for me. I felt that there was a good mystery in the beginning but then it became muddled and dragged on. Things do come together in the end, but it was a bumpy ride for me.
I enjoyed this but had my issues with it. It felt slow, with unnecessary subplots and left me feeling a little let down. I did enjoy the shocking reveal at the end! I did not see that coming and feel that Donlea did a great job with that. Plus, Lane Phillips comes in at the end (from another Donlea book).
I enjoyed this but felt it was not the author’s best work. I feel that he tried to tackle too much in this book. We can’t love them all and this was the case of this book. Others have enjoyed this book more than I did, so please read their reviews as well.
Although I liked but didn’t love this one, I will be reading more of Donlea’s books in the future.
#ThoseEmptyEyes #NetGalley
Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com