Senior Lucas Vega is obsessed with the death of Candace Swain, who left a sorority party three years ago and never came back. Her body was later found, but the culprit never was. Lucas thinks he has uncovered new evidence, but to prove it he creates a podcast that traces Candace’s last hours. Listeners crowdsource what they remember as college lecturer and former US marshal Regan Merritt adds her expertise.
Then one caller turns up dead. Another hints at Candace’s hidden life that may implicate other sorority sisters. Regan uses her sources to bolster their theory but discovers that Lucas is hiding his own dark secret. The pressure is on to solve the murder, but first Lucas must come clean about his own motives before the killer strikes again.
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
A lie for a good reason is still a lie.
When there is no place to go, you go home.
Regan had to really dig down to dredge up sympathy for her. A pathetic, selfish, sociopath. Maybe she didn’t have any sympathy.
My Review:
I preface my review with the confessions that it has been decades since I stepped on a college campus, I have always had a negative opinion of Greek life, I have never listened to a podcast, and I had to Google what crowdsourcing and capstone projects were. This tense written and slowly developing tale has me convinced that I have become a complete and total goober!
The writing was tensely emotive and highly evocative although I often felt frustrated with the pacing. The story seemed to be progressing at a turtles pace with the main characters going off in all directions while battling to gain ground by inches and thwarted from every side. Yet despite my impatience, I was invested, engaged, and incurably curious and hooked into Allison Brennan’s fiendishly confounding storylines.
My cuticles became increasingly ragged as I worried for the determined and tenacious young podcaster and spun and discarded my own useless theories. The reveals exposed events that were realistic and relatable as well as clever with the final chapters being a maelstrom of peril. Allison Brennan took me down a rabbit hole. I may need to wear gloves for a while…
Allison Brennan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of three dozen thrillers and numerous short stories. She was nominated for Best Paperback Original Thriller by International Thriller Writers, has had multiple nominations and two Daphne du Maurier Awards, and is a five-time RITA finalist for Best Romantic Suspense. Allison believes life is too short to be bored, so she had five kids. Allison and her family live in Arizona..
The Sorority Murder sounds like an interesting read. Pacing issues aside, it seems like my kind of book. I might give it a try.
Great review, the book sounds intriguing and I like the idea of a Podcaster looking for answers (even if I’ve never listened to a Podcast).
I agree with you about the pacing. For that matter I concur with your review.