Book Review: Eeny Meeny (Helen Grace #1) by M.J. Arlidge

Pages:  420 pages

Publisher: NAL

Published: June 2, 2015

Genre: Mystery & Thriller

Synopsis: 

Two people are abducted, imprisoned, and left with a gun. As hunger and thirst set in, only one walks away alive.

It’s a game more twisted than any Detective Helen Grace has ever seen. If she hadn’t spoken with the shattered survivors herself, she almost wouldn’t believe them.

Helen is familiar with the dark sides of human nature, including her own, but this case—with its seemingly random victims—has her baffled. But as more people go missing, nothing will be more terrifying than when it all starts making sense….”

I had mixed feelings about this one. It had great promise. A British mystery, an interesting plotline, it had a promising start. But somewhere along the way, something went wrong.

The story just went all over the place. There were times it was fast paced. I guess that was the author’s intention, to make the story a fast paced thriller without dragging out the story. However, I don’t think that was helpful for this story. The story just went too quickly. It was just difficult for me to keep track of what was going on. And when the pace did slow down, the story really didn’t connect. There were times that I skimmed over some parts because I felt there were some unnecessary parts. The varying perspectives may also have something to do with it. That type of confusion really deterred me from enjoying this story.

It was a little unsettling to read. And I don’t mean the “Oh my God! This book or movie was so creepy but it was sooo great!” type of feeling. I mean, it was just downright creepy. There were just some unsettling elements that I found very uncomfortable reading. There were some factors that were necessary, for example, reasons that would lead to the killer’s motive, but there were portions that I felt that the author did not have to go in such explicit, gory details. Mystery novels books does not need to always have blood and guts.

It looks like this is going to be start of a series. Maybe that is why we were never given a chance to know any of the main characters. Unfortunately, I don’t think I will not have that opportunity. There is a high chance I won’t be reading the next book. I feel the entire series would be a huge let down.

Overall rating: 2 out of 5 stars.

Note: I received this free copy from NetGalley for an honest review.