The hook:
A child goes missing at a beach just prior to a wedding, throwing the wedding party into chaos as they scramble to find the missing boy.
My impressions:
This was my first time reading either of the authors, and it was a heck of a first impression. I think I finished this book in one single sitting, headphones glued to my head as I listened to the audiobook on 1.5x speed, needing to know what would happen next.
I took an immediate liking to the crisp writing style, which gives enough detail to paint a mental picture, but not so much detail as to feel like overly purple prose. The suspense was driven by the almost matter-of-fact storytelling, and the pacing was so masterful I never even considered putting the book down for a break.
By the time I got to the heart-pounding ending of the book, I knew without question that I would be reading more books by both of the co-authors, who I later realized had co written an entire series, which this novel appears to be the conclusion of. Within a week of finishing “Piece of My Heart” I had also read the rest of the “Under Suspicion” series (with the exception of one book the library didn’t have) and had become an immediate fan of both Clark and Burke.
All in all I have to say that Piece of My Heart is one of my favorite books that I’ve read thus far this year, and I’ll be following up this post with reviews of the other “Under Suspicion” books, as well as some of the other Alafair Burke books I’ve read since.
Happy reading!
Kat Pollock 