Suspense / Psychological Thriller
SUPERB PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER MAKES FOR AN ENTHRALLING RIDE
A prologue. Just a whisper of one that lets us know an investigation is in progress. What transgression of the law was committed remains a mystery. But the stage is set and the taste of violence whets our appetite for more.
Thus begins GIRLS AND THEIR HORSES superbly written by Eliza Jane Brazier. While the lure of discovering what incident occurred makes us delve further into the story’s fabric, the method allowing us a peek behind the curtain is clever and unique. For what follows is a series of powerful character studies that introduce us to all the major players hanging out at the Rancho Sante Fe, a “show barn” for aspiring equestrians and their “barn moms”. Each chapter written from one of these lead character’s perspectives, the isolation allows a savage dissection of their psyches as each is analyzed in intimate detail. Hopes, fears, and penetrating failures have all left their mark and produced the bundle of neurotic complexities that drive them towards their goals … goals that revolve around new arrivals Heather Parker and her two daughters, Maple and Piper. And it is through Heather’s turn at the mic that we learn that she was forced to drop out of her riding lessons as a child due to her family’s lack of funds. But God has intervened and made up for the deficit. She and her husband are now stinking filthy rich, and she’ll use that money to buy her daughters success all so she can fulfill her dream through them. But what she doesn’t realize is that people have their own dreams and object to the seizure of power by some interloper. Not about to step out of the way, they are now gunning for her, and are not above using any method possible to ensure that she fails.
The result is mind game carnage and we get to watch the fun … if you can call shredding your opponent through sheer bitchiness fun. And you can thanks to Eliza Jane Brazier’s writing. It’s fluid and calibrated to dishing all the dirt and exposing all the lies. Done with laser-like precision, we can practically imagine the red dots appearing on competitor’s foreheads as the suspense builds and boils and brews. Somebody is going down … we just need that one more clue to tell us which.
Needless to say, I loved this book. I flew through the pages, pretty much unable to set it down. I was very much caught up in the drama of it all while admiring how it took me back to the place in time when I experienced my own love affair with horses. I relived what it was like to serve these four-legged magnificent creations that were born to romp and fly on Mt. Olympus, certain that sitting on the back of one of the purest of vehicles would lift me high enough to stare into the face of God. I’m sure this book will unleash lots of these sorts of treasured memories as the emotion never does go away.
As for criticisms, there were two. The first is that the thoughts of characters are often repeated. While a thought or idea may be reinforced, almost identical dialogue occurred in way too many places. The second problem was … the ending. It belonged in another book of a different genre and not a suspense/psychological thriller. I think part of the problem was that Eliza Jane Brazier has interpersonal relationships down pat, but has trouble with endings. You can tell because this one was too long and drawn-out and kept the same exact pacing when it should have built to a crescendo. As such, there was no big moment and no particular emotion associated with the tepid reveal. It was like a firecracker that fizzled instead of exploded. The ending really should be rewritten to reflect a storm brewing leading into the final storm hitting and not endless explanations. If this was done, the “peaceful” moment, the note this book ends on, would be appropriate because it would fit. But I did love the book anyway. Really, really a great read!
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