Alice Feeney's
Rock Paper Scissors is one of the few genuine thrillers I have read for a long
time.
Adam and Amelia
are spending the weekend in the Scottish Highlands. Adam is a successful screenwriter,
and Amelia is his wife. The remote location is perfect for what they have
planned. But can they trust each other?
Though none of
the protagonists, be it Adam or Amelia, are likable characters, I think the
author is justified as he has made up for it with the twists which happen
towards the climax and explains why they are written the way they are.
As mentioned
earlier, though there are only a handful of characters in this 300+ page-long
thriller, the author gets full marks for making this one genuinely entertaining
with the suspense intact. There are a couple of killer twists she has reserved for
the climax, and the moment you think that you have figured it out, Feeney pulls
the rug under your feet with yet another killer twist. The tail end portion
with a tinge of horror is also dealt with nicely.
Coming to the characters,
though there are only a few, it's the character of Henry Winter, the best-selling
writer, who gets the reader's sympathy. Though in the initial portions, he appears
to be a self-centered man who is full of himself, how the character gets
revealed towards the climatic parts of the book blew me away. I think Robin,
the hermit, also evokes similar feelings in the mind of the readers. Though she
comes across as a lady with evil intentions, initially, you start rooting for
her once the mystery about her is revealed. Though some of her actions are
genuinely questionable, it doesn't matter as the author has managed to make her
convincing to a more significant part of the narrative. The writing is fast-paced
and is peppered with twists at regular intervals. Full credit goes to the writer
for getting the atmosphere right. The Scottish Highlands, the converted Chapel,
and the setting have come across well and set the Novel's mood right from the
beginning.
On the
downside, some of the great reveals were a bit contrived. The mystery around
the disappearance of an internationally acclaimed best-selling author like Henry
Winter was pretty hard to digest. Though Feeney has tried to make it sound
convincing by making him an introvert and hermit, the supposedly shocking twist
surrounding him became a cropper just because it appeared silly and illogical.
On the whole, this
one is an entertaining read.
-nikhimenon
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