New Release: Frayed

I'll just cut to the chase: I didn't like this book. However, I decided to include a review for it on my blog, because I think it's a good example of how a "surprise ending" isn't always a something to strive for. You won't see the final twist in this book coming. But it's a surprise in the vein of surprise! your sister was actually killed by an intergalactic assassination force or surprise! your sister is really still alive and ran off to join the Israeli army. I can't give away the ending, of course, but I can say the author invoked a mental illness that remains controversial and debated to this day, which was another problem I had.

A good ending to a thriller has to have bread crumbs. Readers have to have a *chance* of guessing it. Now, if everyone foresees the twists and turns, that's a concern. But it's all a concern if no one could possibly. For me, the best-selling Girl on a Train is a good example of how a story can still be masterful and page-turning without a shock ending.

Title: Frayed
Author: Kara Terzis
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: 6/1/16
Version Reviewed: digital ARC courtesy of NetGalley
Rating: ★★

This book starts with a girl writing a letter to her murdered sister. For the most part, it goes on to be exactly what you'd expect from the genre. There's the dead sister who was hiding all sorts of secrets. There's the twin pillars of the bad boy who isn't all that bad and the good boy who isn't all that good. And, of course, an incompetent police force. Added to the mix is a criminally sophisticated girl gang that's also kind of cultish. The ending twist comes out of left field and is implausible. The author is young, this is a debut novel, and there is definite potential here. I just don't think this was ready for publication.