The Back Road (Tom Douglas Thrillers Book 2)

My opinion is conflicted about books by Rachel Abbott. I have a Kindle e-reader and so I can get samples sent to me before buying. When I read the sample of Sleep Tight, the first Abbott book I read, I was immediately drawn into the plot and was very much looking forward to reading the book. However, as I continued to progress to the meat of the book I was annoyed by the over emphasis on the emotional agonizing of the female character. I am a mystery book afficionado and have read hundreds in my lifetime so I definitely know what I like and what I don't like and what I DONT LIKE is delving endlessly into the wishy washy, tear stained, weak kneed, wavering psyche of any character, especially a female one. You just want to yell "Get a grip, girl"! I finished Sleep Tight because there were interesting characters and an excellent plot line and it didn't wander off unbearably far into this emotional morass. Next I read The Back Road, and this one REALLY started to drive me crazy! Such a large part of this book was devoted to the blubbering internal life of the main female character that I was BARELY able to finish it. It was MUCH WORSE than Sleep Tight in this regard. I just skimmed much of the last half but, yes, I finished it because the essential plot and characters are so interesting. Unless you want to just skim a large part of this book or you don't mind these soap opera-y meanderings, I can't recommend this one.

What a disappointment! I'm a big fan of this author and ordinarily enjoy her work, but this book fell well short of the mark! Although the plot line itself was actually very intricate and well worth pursuing, the writing was hopelessly melodramatic. The events were overly romanticized, and the dialogue was sickeningly sweet! Ugh! The pacing was off, too, and so the story really dragged at times with so much repetition that it became boring. This book could have easily been 50 pages shorter and would have resulted in a better product. Overall, the book would have been much more interesting if Tom, the former policeman/neighbor, had played a more central role as he usually does in Abbott's other novels in this series.

This is the second book in the series about policeman Tom Douglas. Unfortunately, it didn't hit the spot for me. For one thing, it was way too long and for another it had too many characters embroiled in ugly and unnecessary lies not to mention plain stupid behaviour. I did like the quotation it used to emphasise being truthful though _ Friedrich Nietzsche " I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you." 3 stars.

I did enjoy this book but not quite enough to give it 4 stars. The start was quite shocking and gripping but it didn't live up to its expectations quite so well after that. The plot itself was very good and I didn't work out who it was which was good and I really did want to keep reading towards the end to find out what happened. That aside this book was too lengthy for me. There were too many sub-plots, sidelines and red herrings that just took from the story rather than enhanced it. There were too many characters for the author to be able to develop any of them well. Characters that briefly flitted in and out of the story became main players at the end but we didn't learn enough about them for this to be very plausible. I did find Leo's character a bit irritating. She stressed she was a life coach, not a counsellor but yet she spent a lot of her time trying to 'reach' the female characters and have them open up to her - she came across as more of a nosey-parker than anything else. She was also portrayed as a very private and guarded character, yet she was telling her life story to the neighbour as soon as she met him and forever calling in to discuss issues with him. The story plot was good but the characters in this book didn't work for me.

It was an enjoyable read. The book takes place in a small English town where all the people seem to be healthy. A young girl is hit by a car and the pursuit of the car and driver begins with the town gossiping. Rachel keeps the reader in suspense as the storyline revolves around two half sisters and one of them is in the vicinity of the accident but does not quite recall the details even though she is the lead nurse of the injured girls. With all the friends of the two half sisters one is manipulated by the author to get what is really going on. What I found fascinating is the party conversation all these friends have as if Rachel has been to many of these get togethers. There are many twists and turns to keep the reader engaged and guessing. The ending is quite melodramatic and I was surprised who the culprit was.

I really enjoyed reading several other Rachel Abbott books so I was hoping this would be enjoyable as well, but instead I was pretty disappointed. I hate not finishing books so I kept reading through the boring beginning in hopes it would get better, but sadly it didn't. A few of the main reasons why I couldn't get into this book included the ever so slow pace, the abundance of characters (making it confusing and hard to follow), the difficulty I had liking or even connecting with any characters, and the lack of excitement/energy in the story. Although I like the idea of blanks in stories in which the reader must begin guessing the answers.. there were almost too many in this story and instead of feeling suspenseful it just felt empty. So overall although I think Rachel Abbott is great, this book just didn't do it for me. On to the next...!

I think it is the way she plots the story. It is captivating to the core. Started off with its first chapter that made me gripped on my armrest. Eyes stinging with sleep, but I kept flipping the pages. Intense and dark.As it turned out, however, this book reads like another Agatha Christie's whodunit. A lot of characters where it keeps you guessing who will be the next victim and everyone seemed likely to be the killer. It is a new way of writing, so be ready for more gore and blood for readers who like the dark. It's a new century, less 'upper lips' style.Rachel Abbott never once falters. Every book I've read so far, this is my third Rachel Abbott and I love every bit if it. Writing is perfect, easy to read, yet the words occasionally tear into me, ripping me emotionally. The plot - super plotting to the max. This is the way I would like to write too.Love it!

First of all, I am amazed by the review that she had worked out the whole plot very quickly! Perhaps she is brighter than me but as an avid Christie fan from the age of 14 I really don’t think I’m unpractised. Yes, there were a number of characters (as in life, not all likeable) and, yes, you have to concentrate so it’s a book it’s best to keep going with. Of course I had my suspicions - some proved right, some wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed it as the second in the Tom Douglas series and well worth a read. This is my fourth book by Rachel Abbott as first of all, I did not realise there was a series, so one or two things maybe I know about in advance so if you have the chance, read them in order. Already started the third!

OK, I understand the main title because the characters keep mentioning THE BACK ROAD as the scene of the prevailing incident that the story spends a great deal of time hinting at which character had used it at the relevant time.The rest.... Starting with the Tom Douglas. He is barely obvious for a long way into the story and is not involved in solving the various problems thrown up.Thrillers!? For long periods this rather reminded me of some Judy Astley stories but without the complications being intentionally humorous. The description as a thriller is only partly earned in the closing chapters.It is a book and the second in the series so those aspects of the title are accurate.

Yet another Kindle book that would hugely benefit from the attentions of a good editor. The central idea is Christie-esque: a selection of friends sit round the dinner table. A heinous crime has been committed and any one of them could have dunnit. But who? And why? So far, so good, as far as this reliable old friend of a genre goes. Unfortunately, the author brings in a tangled number of plotlines - everyone has something to hide - and they meander flaccidly to a hurried final reveal. The characters are one dimensional, the plot(s) predictable and the villain eminently guessable. I love a good whodunnit and, with better characterisation and a much taughter plot, this could have been a good one. Sorry to leave a negative review, but I was really disappointed in this book and would not read another by this author.

Dreadful. I forced myself to finish it, as I don't like dumping books. But it was a struggle, as I didn't care about it any more. There is a long central section where virtually nothing happens, except people remembering, or imagining what would happen "if". Or recounting things to other characters. Nothing happening - nothing worth writing about anyway. I was bored stiff, frankly. I have read about four other books by this author and they were all better. I hope this isn't her second last book, as it would mean she has seriously gone downhill.