Customer Reviews

Little Town Lies

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Sometimes, a book will fail to grab my attention and have me wondering whether or not it's worth continuing to read it. If I don't like a book, I abandon it and go on to something else. `Little Town Lies' is a book that, on balance, I decided to persevere with. It just about warrants three stars in my opinion, but I did not find it an absorbing or compelling story. However, I did want to find out what how things would end, so I suppose it must have had something going for it.

The story follows social worker, Sally Hopkins. She is at a turning point in her life: about to hit forty and bored with her career and lack of social life in Houston, she decides to return to her hometown of Maryvale in Texas. Her uncle is Maryvale's sheriff and he offers Sally a job. The town is bedevilled with acts of animal mutilation, murder and child abuse and suddenly, Sally is advising the police on the likely profiles of the culprits. Now, this strikes me as a little unbelievable. Admittedly, I'm no expert in social work or police profiling, but is it really likely that someone of Sally's background would be qualified to perform such a job?

It's also difficult to tell what readership this novel is aimed at. It seems to be a straight-ahead thriller one minute before veering off into cozy mystery territory with its romantic angle and relationship issues. Not that I've got anything against cozy mysteries or romances: I read plenty of both types of fiction myself. However, the content of `Little Town Lies' is quite nasty and does not fit into the cozy realm very comfortably.

The novel's author, Anne Strieber, is a fine writer. In my opinion, she could be successful as a thriller writer (with better material), or a cozy mystery writer, but not both in the same book.

Superficial, trite and predictable. What about this book isn't preposterous? A social worker somehow morphing into a serial killer profiler? The protagonist's self-pitying attitude coupled with her fantastic leaps of logic? Every thought that springs into Sally's head is taken as fact, with no substantiation, and after a while the improbability of all these "thoughts" just becomes wearying. There is no character development, no insight and scene transitions are handled in a clumsy and confusing way. A BIG disappointment.

I think her sophmore attempt out was better than her first. Do not get me wrong, her first book was incredible. If any of you know this woman's backstory you would be amazed. She is a strong woman who writes very well. The copy I have is signed and I will be holding on to it because I feel she will only get better! She keeps you on your toes. I was so wrong about the end of this book. I figured it differently. I loved it. Please indulge yourself and buy this book. I truly took every free moment I had to read this book. I received it as a gift and am eagerly awaiting her third book. Just a side note, her husband is Whitley Strieber and he writes many books as well.

Burned out at almost forty and tired of being AN INVISIBLE WOMAN to groping men, Houston social worker Sally Hopkins quits her job. Feeling more like Ms Dyingly Sad, the depressed Sal seeks solace by returning to the only place she ever felt was home in her troubled life Maryvale, Texas. The town sheriff Sally's Uncle Ed provides her work in his office though she has no experience.

Her first case is a disaster as she fumbles and bungles her investigation into animal mutilations. However, she begins to uncover that the town that she thought was her childhood haven is filled with criminal predatory activity. Besides the animal mutilations, sex with a minor, alcohol misuse, illegal drugs and spousal abuse are prevalent. Beneath all that is an apparent serial killer who has murdered three women with a baseball bat. Not trusting even her beloved Uncle, but instead teaming with State Trooper Rob Farley, Sally makes inquiries on all these sinister happenings.

Though well written, readers will have a hard time accepting nepotism (of course the White House cronyism makes it a bit more plausible) of a law enforcement official placing an amateur into investigative scenarios even if it is his niece. The story line is all over the place as Supergal Sal works on five major crimes and the homicide case. Still Sal is an intriguing protagonist who does the yeoman's job of keeping the plot somewhat focused as she solves case after case and finds time to fall in love.

Harriet Klausner