Home » Posts tagged "Karen Katchur"

Book Review: The Greedy Three by Karen Katchur

 

The Greedy Three by Karen Katchur

Podium Publishing, Feb. 2023

ISBN: 9781039416307

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

(  Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

Poor Noah Weber!  All he wanted to do was transport an illegitimate baby (complete with a teenage stand-in mom) across the US border to sell to a wealthy Canadian couple.  A simple plan like that: what could possibly go wrong?  

 

Well, plenty!  When the money drop part of the deal goes bad on the US side, a local hermit (who happens to be baby-obsessed) wanders across the aftermath, takes the money and hides it.    Her cabin becomes the site of most of the book, as all three characters wind up there with their own agendas.  The hermit, Hester, wants the baby; the teenage fake mom, Eve, has the baby but wants the money; and Noah wants both, so he can complete the deal.  None of them trust each other, so it becomes a bizarre version of a Mexican standoff, with each of them looking to get what they want.  There is a bit more to the plot, but that covers the basics without spoiling anything.

 

It’s a fun read. Katchur has proven herself to be a good writer over the past few years.  The book varies between predictability, and wild unpredictability.  There are twists that the reader won’t see coming, and there are some that you can easily guess.  Example: since there is a baby in the book and most writers tend to loathe hurting kids or infants in fiction, you can probably guess what will happen.  But the fun maneuvering between Noah, Hester, and Eve doesn’t go where expected, and there is some darkly amusing humor throughout the story, which gives the book its own flavor.  The scene with the three of them fighting, while they are all suffering from a bad case of the trots and have to keep dashing to the bathroom is hilarious, warped fun.  The interactions and squabbling between the three of them are the best part of the book. They are quirky, fun characters, Noah being the most entertaining.

 

It’s the book’s unpredictability that may work against it for readers that expect realism.  One example is Noah and Hester.  She hid the money and won’t tell him where it is, but he has the gun and control of the situation.  Why not just beat it out of her, or threaten to shoot the baby, which Hester is obviously attached to?  But…he doesn’t.  Perhaps he really isn’t that bad of a guy after all, despite being involved in a sleazy business?  Or, is it just too unrealistic to be plausible?  That will depend on the reader.  There are a couple other scenes along the same line, but by not taking the obvious path, Katchur allow the unexpected to happen, and it helps the storyline.  Again, it may be too much for some readers, but most will probably enjoy it.

 

Although it is uneven at times, The Greedy Three is an engaging story of three people trying to double-cross each other, and the interactions between them are enough to carry the story across the finish line.  The majority of readers will likely get a kick out of this.

 

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on March 17, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: River Bodies by Karen Katchur

River Bodies by Karen Katchur

Thomas and Mercer, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-5039-0239-8

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

River Bodies is being billed as a thriller, and… it isn’t.  Really.  Calling it a thriller is pigeonholing a book that has a lot more to offer. It’s not “blow you away” exciting, and it doesn’t have simple characters, like most thrillers.  This book is a good deal more.  With its beautifully drawn characters, interactions between them, and outstanding writing, you have a story that is a bit of everything: excitement, intrigue, romance, and characters learning what’s really important to them.  If anything, it’s a study of three very different people who grew up around the same time, in the same place, but wound up walking very different paths.

Becca is a 30 year old veterinarian in New Jersey.  Her life is going fine, minus her struggles with her boyfriend’s infidelity.  She learns that her father, who she despises, is on the last legs of his battle with cancer, so she crosses the river to her childhood home in Pennsylvania to see him.   Unbeknownst to her, the morning she crosses, she sees John Jackson, who she grew up with, at the scene of a murder he just committed (telling you that Jackson is the killer does not give anything away: the author reveals that Jackson is the guilty party in the second chapter).  On Becca’s return home, she runs into Parker, her childhood flame, now the chief of police in her hometown, and in charge of the murder investigation.

The story builds through the perspective of all three characters, as they find themselves drawn back into each other’s lives, through a complex web of events, circumstances, and relationships.  The backstory of the characters is also prominent, as it turns out that a similar murder happened years ago.  Becca’s dad was chief of police at the time, and he may have hidden information that could have brought the murderer to justice.

As noted before, this isn’t a roller coaster ride with desperate chases, wild shootouts or breakneck car chases, like most thriller novels: there really isn’t that much action at all.  What carries the story is the author’s excellent writing, especially as shown in the character development.  All three of the leads are extremely well done, with a lot of emotional depth.  The best, and the most intriguing, is John Jackson, the killer, who is an enforcer for a local motorcycle gang.  As one would expect, he isn’t a good person, living the standard biker life of drinking, skirt-chasing, and terrorizing other people.  But he does have his good qualities, ones that become important later in the book.  Flashbacks provide understanding of how the characters developed: they are handled smoothly, and written well enough that you don’t get confused with the back and forth between the two time periods.  There are a few implausible moments in the book where you will have to suspend disbelief, but they are easily overlooked and don’t detract from the story.

Overall, it’s a well written story that should appeal to a wide audience, and at only 290 pages, one that is easily digestible and doesn’t require a substantial investment of time.  Recommended.

 

Contains: mild violence

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on January 18, 2019 by , Reply