Look Behind You - Sibel Hodge 2/5 stars
On the surface, Look Behind You seems like a pretty decent read, but the problem isn't in the writing but in the predictability of the story. I love a good thriller. I love it when a great book keeps me on my toes and throws curveballs at me just to keep me reading. Sadly, this isn't one of those books which is unfortunate because everything you need for a decent thriller is there. A woman wakes up to realize she's been kidnapped. She escapes with and we're off to a great whodunnit am I right? The problems begin right away. Chloe may or may not be crazy and this right here is where you know what happened even before the halfway mark of the novel. Big red flags are everywhere while Chloe begins to figure out what happened to her because the hit on her head gave her a convenient case of amnesia. The why here should have been treated with huge plot twists, but no, we don't have that option. It's all pretty much laid out for you and there's no big reveal, no aha! moment near the end to prove that we're wrong. We aren't wrong and that sucks.
This could have been a great book. It is in parts, but it feels like Hodge is just crafting a book based on ideas of other writers. Other writers that know how to pace a novel like this, how to throw curveballs that keep us interested in how the story progresses. From the moment Chloe escapes, we know who did it, and the why is really all that keeps us reading. When I found out the why, I was a bit let down because it's a case of the obvious suspect because he's a psychotic douchebag. I wanted to like this novel, I did a little, and it sadly shows us how not to write a suspense thriller. Take away all of the suspense and you have Look Behind You. Its heart is in the right place, but in the end, it just falls flat. We've already read better novels in which the character is clearly in danger while everyone else just thinks she's crazy. We know she isn't, and we know who is trying to kill her, and we shouldn't know that in the first half of the book. There should have been a huge reveal, but no, we get an oh, that's why he did it. Well, okay then, thanks for that. Disappointing to say the least because Sibel is a decent writer. She's able to hook us in right away, but towards the end it just becomes too damn predictable.
On the surface, Look Behind You seems like a pretty decent read, but the problem isn't in the writing but in the predictability of the story. I love a good thriller. I love it when a great book keeps me on my toes and throws curveballs at me just to keep me reading. Sadly, this isn't one of those books which is unfortunate because everything you need for a decent thriller is there. A woman wakes up to realize she's been kidnapped. She escapes with and we're off to a great whodunnit am I right? The problems begin right away. Chloe may or may not be crazy and this right here is where you know what happened even before the halfway mark of the novel. Big red flags are everywhere while Chloe begins to figure out what happened to her because the hit on her head gave her a convenient case of amnesia. The why here should have been treated with huge plot twists, but no, we don't have that option. It's all pretty much laid out for you and there's no big reveal, no aha! moment near the end to prove that we're wrong. We aren't wrong and that sucks.
This could have been a great book. It is in parts, but it feels like Hodge is just crafting a book based on ideas of other writers. Other writers that know how to pace a novel like this, how to throw curveballs that keep us interested in how the story progresses. From the moment Chloe escapes, we know who did it, and the why is really all that keeps us reading. When I found out the why, I was a bit let down because it's a case of the obvious suspect because he's a psychotic douchebag. I wanted to like this novel, I did a little, and it sadly shows us how not to write a suspense thriller. Take away all of the suspense and you have Look Behind You. Its heart is in the right place, but in the end, it just falls flat. We've already read better novels in which the character is clearly in danger while everyone else just thinks she's crazy. We know she isn't, and we know who is trying to kill her, and we shouldn't know that in the first half of the book. There should have been a huge reveal, but no, we get an oh, that's why he did it. Well, okay then, thanks for that. Disappointing to say the least because Sibel is a decent writer. She's able to hook us in right away, but towards the end it just becomes too damn predictable.
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