Century | December 2017 | 384 pgs
Source: Purchased
Dennis Danson was arrested and imprisoned for the brutal murder of an eleven-year-old girl Holly Michaels. He was barely eighteen years old then and the news had caused an uproar in his small hometown in Red River County, Florida. Dennis's adolescence years were considered an unhappy one. Living with an abusive father and a mother who could barely help herself, his only friend was Howard Harries, whose father is a police officer. Officer Eric Harries doesn't trust Dennis; he thinks he is a bad influence to Howard and whatever bad things Howard did, he would blame it on Dennis's responsibility in leading his son astray. It is also Officer Harries who was the first who interviewed Dennis after Holly's body was found. Whether if he has a personal grudge against Dennis, nobody knows.
Now an adult and still serving time for murder on Florida's Death Row, Dennis is the subject of a true-crime documentary and while there are people who detest what he had done, there are also supporters who feel he is wrongfully convicted. Samantha, a schoolteacher who lives a thousand miles away in England, is both fascinated and obsessed by Dennis's case. She begins to write him letters, while on the other hand campaigning for his release with the other supporters. And Dennis replies to all her letters; soon their relationship takes on to another level and Samantha decides to leave her old life in England to be with Dennis, even if they are separated by a pane of glass. Soon, Dennis ask Samantha to marry him and she say yes. Thereafter, the campaign is a success and Dennis is released but Samantha begins to notice a new side of him which have her wondering if she has made a terrible mistake in supporting the campaign and marrying him.
The Innocent Wife is Amy Lloyd’s debut and is the winner of the Daily Mail First Novel Competition. While I'd enjoyed this gripping psychological suspense, I also have a few issues with it. To avoid spoilers, I won't go into the specifics but here are a few issues which bugged me generally. For starters, I don't understand why Samantha is attracted to Dennis, or a convict in that particular? (Sure, he is handsome and charismatic, but...) Whether if Dennis is guilty or not, Samantha gave me the impression as being reckless and compulsive for leaving everything at home to meet a stranger. Even at the point where Samantha is suspicious, she doesn't leave right away. While I understand this is part of and allure of the plot, in reality it is totally a different thing. These aside, it was a compelling read - both character-driven and plot-driven. The ending threw me off a little, but then it wasn't too hard to guess if given much thoughts to it. I'm curious to know what Ms. Lloyd will have in store for her next book.
Now an adult and still serving time for murder on Florida's Death Row, Dennis is the subject of a true-crime documentary and while there are people who detest what he had done, there are also supporters who feel he is wrongfully convicted. Samantha, a schoolteacher who lives a thousand miles away in England, is both fascinated and obsessed by Dennis's case. She begins to write him letters, while on the other hand campaigning for his release with the other supporters. And Dennis replies to all her letters; soon their relationship takes on to another level and Samantha decides to leave her old life in England to be with Dennis, even if they are separated by a pane of glass. Soon, Dennis ask Samantha to marry him and she say yes. Thereafter, the campaign is a success and Dennis is released but Samantha begins to notice a new side of him which have her wondering if she has made a terrible mistake in supporting the campaign and marrying him.
The Innocent Wife is Amy Lloyd’s debut and is the winner of the Daily Mail First Novel Competition. While I'd enjoyed this gripping psychological suspense, I also have a few issues with it. To avoid spoilers, I won't go into the specifics but here are a few issues which bugged me generally. For starters, I don't understand why Samantha is attracted to Dennis, or a convict in that particular? (Sure, he is handsome and charismatic, but...) Whether if Dennis is guilty or not, Samantha gave me the impression as being reckless and compulsive for leaving everything at home to meet a stranger. Even at the point where Samantha is suspicious, she doesn't leave right away. While I understand this is part of and allure of the plot, in reality it is totally a different thing. These aside, it was a compelling read - both character-driven and plot-driven. The ending threw me off a little, but then it wasn't too hard to guess if given much thoughts to it. I'm curious to know what Ms. Lloyd will have in store for her next book.
© 2018 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.