Book Review: Dead Woman Walking

Dead Woman Walking

by: Sharon Bolton

Publication Date: September 5, 2017
Finished on: August 11, 2017
Publisher: Minotaur Books

I won a free copy of Dead Woman Walking from a Goodreads Giveaway.  Actually, I won two copies and gave away my second on Instagram!  All opinions expressed below are my own.

Synopsis:

"'This woman - Jessica Lane - should have died,' he said.  'Eleven people were killed in that crash.  Not only did Lane survive, she walked away.  She's still walking.

'So, I want to know where she's going.  I want to know why she hasn't been in touch.  Why she isn't seeking help.  Why she's deliberately avoiding the police.

'I want to know who she's running from.

'Most of all, I want her found.'"

Sisters, Bella and Jessica take a hot air balloon ride to celebrate an upcoming birthday.  The trip serene...until they catch site of a man, far below, killing a young woman.  He finally looks up and notices the balloon above him.  He is prepared and not about to let them leave.  He shoots the pilot the balloon starts its epic decent to the ground.  Dead Woman Walking is told from alternating perspectives - the sole survivor of the balloon crash, the murder who will stop at nothing to find her, and the detective who is investigating the crash.

"The woman in green, Jessica, edged closer to her sister, whose face had grown pale and whose hands were clutching the rim of the basket.  Her eyes, staring directly down at the water's surface, were wide with wonder.  Jessica was suddenly disturbed by the most alarming though.  That her sister might be about to jump out."

Am I the only one who thinks about falling when on the edge of a great drop off?  I wouldn't say that I'm afraid of heights - I frequently go rock climbing and have sky-dived and gone up in hot air balloons (see pictures), but I get a light sense of dizziness and a HUGE fear of death every time I'm standing near a precipice.

My review:

Dead Woman Walking is somewhat difficult to review without giving away any of the spoilers.  Because of that, I'll keep this brief.  This book is definitely suspenseful and packs a quick and easy read.  There are a ton of twists and turns in this book, so pay attention and see if you can guess whats going on.  I personally was aware of a few, but there were many that I didn't see coming!

I should mention that this book may have a few triggers (violence and rape) for certain readers.  I don't remember anything especially bothersome.  What was quite interesting, is how Sharon Bolton managed to intertwine a murder, police crime, investigation of illegal immigration, and religion into one text.  When you finish the book and think back on the topics that were covered, you will find it pretty impressive.  I would love to see more from these characters in a future novel.

"Black-clad women, sharp-taloned, teeth-like fangs, bearing down on him.  These weren't nuns, they were witches!  He was actually crossing himself, like his mother did, something he hadn't done in years, as he strode to check out what was in there."

Have you read YOU by Caroline Kepnes?  The murderer in Dead Woman Walking kept reminding me of Joe from YOU.  He is creepy and I really didn't like being in his mind for sections of the book.

"'The boy's not right,' she said to one of the other women.  'Never has been.  Never will be.'"

One of the biggest issues for me with this read is that I felt like key information was held from the reader in order to build suspense.  I am totally fine with reading unreliable narrators and LOVE books with a lot of twists, but I felt like the author (narrators) purposely withheld information from the reader.

There were also moments within this novel where you need to be willing to suspend your disbelief.  What I'm referring to is those times when you are just like "come on, no one would do that!"  So, you need to be ready to just go with the flow and accept things that just may not make sense at the time.

Overall, I rate this 3.5 (rounded up)/5 stars.  Without a doubt, Sharon Bolton is a talented writer.  This was a fun and quick read.  I recommend it for those who love a good suspense and want a quick read.