Bill Floyd

TW: Implied mother/son incest. By page sixty, I wanted to DNF the book. I wanted to read specific pages I remembered from when it came out, though, so I plugged on. This author...does not explore the kind of character the protagonist is, well at ALL. The prose is purple, the character is in love with herself and describes mundane actions for entire pages. Her incessant, bland, boring inner monologue unfortunately smothers real-life actions she's taking and real-time events that are show more occurring. Her thoughts WOULD NOT SHUT OFF. She whines at one point that she hadn't done enough to hide herself after the serial killer she married went to prison You self-pitying dingbat! You did TONS: 1. You changed your name and your son's. 2. You moved far away. 3. You dyed your hair. 4. You lost a little weight. 5. You shop at night and don't make friends. But sure, whine for attention, you windbag. Not once did I sympathize with her on -anything-. I wanted to a few times! Every character around her is super unrealistic and the plot is barely there. Nina has no sense of agency. Things just happen to her. She spends dozens of pages thinking subtly that she's better than everyone else.

TW FOR MENTIONS OF POSSIBLE INCEST
I have no idea if the author, at times, intended the following of his Supremely Amazing Mother Goddess character. Nina Mosley is so boring, flat, and lacking in agency that I really don't know. Her sole characterization is serial killer's wife, such that it's this book's title. But she also...has a weird fixation on her son. Like almost romantic. She frames him in terms that are used to describe partners a lot, and she compares her son to her ex--notice I didn't use the phrase "his father"--in ways that are increasingly uncomfortable. Her son is eight, and his father much older. Even for a single mother who's traumatized, the amount and -ways- she pays attention is bizarre. In the chapter transitions between five and six of the edition I read, she blabs and blathers about her son with some deeply unfortunate implications. The very next sentence that begins a new chapter is a sexual reference to her ex-husband, and the paragraph itself is about sex. There is -no- transition or indication that it's an ADULT MAN she's talking about because the last paragraph of the last chapter? was about her young son. AUTHOR, YOU ARE GROSS. I firmly believe someone pointed out the implication to the author before the book was published and he probably hollered that the person was a pervert, not his beloved, bland, boring (haha alliteration) poorly-defined creation.
TRIGGER WARNING OVER

So the book goes on like this for three hundred pages. The supposed action-packed final chapter was BORING. The villains are cardboard cutouts and provide heaps of exposition. A review I read stated that this book was boring and offered nothing new. The author tried for "wife knew and was too shocked and horrified to do anything," and did not succeed. Don't waste your time with this pointless drivel. show less

Leigh Wren is trying to make a life for herself and her son, six years after discovering that her husband Randy was a serial killer and turning him in to the police. She has changed her name and moved across the country (to my neck of the woods, in fact). The story begins with the father of one of her husband's victims "outing" her as the wife and questioning whether she played a role in Randy's spree.

Leigh must deal with the repercussions of this revelation at work as well as at her son's show more school. As she tries to do so, she is contacted by the private detectives who helped the father locate her. They repent of helping him, and they help Leigh to try to deal with her situation.

After all this, Leigh's son is kidnapped, and she receives a note telling her to meet the kidnapper alone. I won't say who the kidnapper is or how the kidnapper is connected to the rest of the story; this link is not made as strongly as the author could have made it. Perhaps he felt that foreshadowing it more clearly would have made it too obvious.

The story is told in Leigh's limited first-person viewpoint and is handled very effectively. We don't need to see things that aren't available to her at first or second hand. Her distress and desperation come through clearly and color the narrative. The story moves along quickly, jumping back to the past in a couple of places to provide the relevant history; these remembrances are placed where they are needed to shed light on what's happening in the present and help the reader to work with Leigh and her supporters to solve the mystery and rescue her son.

Since we stay in Leigh's viewpoint, we see all the other characters through her eyes; of them, only Randy is well developed, and the origins of his pathology are unclear because Leigh doesn't see them. I'm not sure Leigh gains any particular insights into herself from the experience; she deals with it and questions whether she saw what was happening with Randy, but we get only the suggestion of an answer and no indication of how it will affect her in the future. Nonetheless, the story is well told, especially for a first novel, and was well paced to draw the reader along in spite of the occasional gruesome detail. Recommended for those who like suspense. show less

SUMMARY: In his debut novel, Floyd explores the meaning of identity on a personal level and that of humanity on a general one through protagonist Nina Mosley, the former wife of a convicted serial murderer. After divorcing her husband Randy and changing her name, Nina settles into a generic suburb with her young son and tries for a semblance of a normal life despite being haunted. When a family member of one of Randy's victims finds her and exposes her true identity, Nina learns upon whom show more she can rely while she confronts the reality of becoming a victim herself.

WHY YOU'LL LIKE IT: The plot itself is morbidly fascinating. How much did Nina know about her ex-husband's activities, and to what degree is she herself accountable? What are the limits of personal responsibility and should instinct be paid as much if not more attention than reason? There are no easy answers, and Floyd doesn't proffer any, instead encouraging the reader to ponder these questions themselves. Gripping and harrowing action sequences and likable secondary characters.

WHY YOU WON'T: The style of the book is erratic and confusing, shifting back and forth between the present and the past, sometimes at points which are unnecessary and/or frustrating and causes the main action to suffer. The characterization of the protagonist is peculiar as it becomes more and more difficult to afford Nina the sympathy she allegedly deserves. Expending effort to read the three-hundred pages or so of this novel leaves one walking away with the feeling that they never truly came to know her and perhaps it wasn't worth it to bother. The ending is somewhat unsatisfactory and pat, but realistic.

BOTTOM LINE: Solid effort which very much makes clear this a debut novel but also competently demonstrates the author's immense talent and potential. show less

Fabulous, haunting, and realistic tale of a woman caught by her past and trying very cautiously to live her present as a single-mother on the opposite coast from where her life went sideways by marrying the wrong man.

Anyone who has been in a relationship, parented a child, or lost someone to a violent crime will relate to this tale of psychological suspense and family drama.