End of Story

Two people disappear in New Year’s Eve in 1999. A mother and her young son vanish, each at a different location. Twenty years later, the husband, Sebastian Trapp, invites a young writer, Nicky Hunter, to assist him in writing his story. The story details Cole, the young son of Sebastian and Hope Trapp, as a sissy and sensitive boy. Sebastian feels his son as an inferior specimen. Does Sebastian kill his wife and son? Enter Nicky, trying to find answers to this twenty year old puzzle. A. J. Finn writes a beautiful novel rich in setting and characterization. The fog of San Francisco hugs the pages of the novel. The huge mansion of the Trapp family looms as the secrets of the past sliver through the rooms. So many rich clues and red show more herrings throughout the story, and what a surprise in the final chapters. Not what I expected! A novel that thrusts you from chapter to chapter. Of course, short chapters make you crave to continue reading. show less

While intriguing, I found myself often confused by the abrupt shifts in details or shift of conversation between characters … I usually do well with multiple narrators but this story seemed rife with weird shifts & odd comments or vague internal dialogue ( possibly to add to the mystery ? ) by several characters but especially the main character, Nicky. The most drawn out last chapter - the big “reveal” - I’ve ever experienced. Instead of working to enhance the suspense & catharsis , I was more annoyed .

Tõesti suurepärane krimka, absoluutselt ei sarnane autori esimesele raamatule, mis minul kahjuks pooleli jäi. Väga mängulises keeles ja ohtralt põimitud vihjete (ja tsitaatidega) klassikalisest krimikirjandusest, omamoodi ja üllatav. Julgen väga soovitada!

End of Story by A.J. Finn has all the elements I love in a thriller. A well-crafted plot, layered characters, brilliant prose, and a heart-wrenching ending I didn’t see coming, but should have. The clues were cleverly planted.

A reclusive author, Sebastian Trapp, contacts Nicky Hunter, who has been corresponding with him about his novels for years, and invites her to his home to write the end of his story. Nicky travels to CA, where she meets his wife, Diana, his nephew Freddy, and his daughter, Madeleine. There is an air of mystery around his home and his life as 20 years earlier, on NYE 1999, Sebastian's first wife, Hope and his young son, Cole, disappeared without a trace. Many think Sebastian is guilty of their murders, and Nicky is there to dig into the past. Both Madeleine and Nicky question Sebastian, and slowly he reveals more and more of himself.
I figured out part of the mystery partway through, as there are several obvious clues. However, I didn't show more know the final 2 mysteries. Not as tense as his first novel, but still an OK mystery. show less

This was okay to good. Occasionally found it a bit confusing and would have to re-read sentences trying to figure out what was the meaning was. I didn't expect the twist at the end so that was interesting. The description on the book jacket lays out the initial plot and then reads 'when a corpse appears in the family's koi pond...' so I thought hm, sounds intriguing. But I was more than half-way through the book before the corpse appeared. Setting up the plot therefore seemed to take forever, and nothing much was happening before that. So you need to have patience to read this book, and figure out that there are clues being given until the corpse appears. So, it was okay for the first half of the book and better during the 2nd half.

All I can say is wow. It drew me in until the very end, and so wasn't expecting where the story ended up going. I don't normally read crime fiction but will definitely keep this in my collection from now on.