Safe Keeping
by Barbara Taylor Sissel
Copyright: 2014
Pages: 302
Rating: 3/5
Read: July 29-Aug. 2, 2014
Challenge: No challenge
Yearly count: 36
Format: Print
Source: Galley Giveaway via Shelf Awareness
Series: N/A
Blurb: Emily Lebay has always thought of her family as ordinary. Sure, they’ve endured their share of problems, even a time of great trouble – what family hasn’t? But when a woman’s body turns up in the dense woods near their home, and Emily’s grown son Tucker is accused of murder, Emily is forced to confront the unfathomable, and everything she believed about her life is called into question.
This isn’t the first time Tucker has been targeted by the police; a year ago he was a person of interest when another woman was found dead in the same stretch of woods. Still, neither Emily nor her daughter, Lissa, can reconcile their Tucker with these brutal crimes. Terrified, convinced there’s been a tragic mistake, Emily and Lissa set out to learn the truth about Tucker, once and for all. And while his life hangs in the balance, what they discover proves far more shocking than their darkest fears…
Review: I received a copy of this book for free via a galley giveaway through Shelf Awareness, all opinions expressed below are my own.
Last year I read and reviewed Evidence of Life by Ms. Sissel. I *loved* it. Like, really, really loved it. So I was excited to see this latest book come through a Shelf Awareness ad. I was excited and put a request in for a galley. I received a copy and then let it sit. For 4 months! (I have a really bad habit of doing that). So I picked it up hoping it would be just as great as last year’s book.
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite meet those expectations. But that’s okay, I had extremely high expectations for it, probably to the point of unattainable to be honest. Overall this is a good book, but I think my main problem with it is that I have to use the one word I absolutely hate … predictable. I wanted there to be a twist. I wanted someone other than Tucker to be a murderer. I even considered Roy and Evan both as possible murderers!
And can I just say that I was absolutely disgusted by Lissa? I am a firm believer of a woman’s right to choose an abortion … but her “reasons” were ridiculous in my opinion. And the way she fawned over Tucker? I didn’t get that either. She was his sister, but the way she acted you would have thought she was his mother. I just didn’t like Lissa at all to be honest. Her character irritated me to no end.
Other than my issue with Lissa and the predictability of the book, it really was a decent read. It kept me turning the pages and was easy to read. It moved very quickly and was very well-written. I think I just would have preferred some sort of twisty, unexpected ending. But that’s okay, I’ll be on the lookout for Ms. Sissel’s next book anyway!
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