Book Review: After Anna by Lisa Scottoline

There’s no denying that Lisa Scottoline writes a compelling, easy-to-read story. She is a storyteller – her style and voice(s) are strong and clear and crisp and very engaging. I really liked the format – the back-and-forth in time (separated into “before” and “after” segments for each narrative character) and setting was an interesting way to set the stage, and I liked that one story/narration ran backwards in time while the other ran forwards, it made for clever imagery as the secrets unfolded.

That’s what I liked.

What I didn’t like, and didn’t altogether buy, was the actual plot and storyline. Parts of it were alright – a mother who lost her daughter and then got her back, only to lose her again; the difficulties in blended families; the secrets and lies that piled up one upon the next. But those concepts, while all interesting and suitable to the genre/mood, somehow felt a bit cobbled together, like piecework. There was never a moment when the book felt unreadable – I just occasionally found myself rolling my eyes after some new revelation required yet another suspension of disbelief, but I did it while still turning pages. That’s a testament to Scottoline’s skill as a best-seller writer. But come on – this was an incredibly detailed retelling/rehashing of multiple perspectives, and you just KNEW a Big Twisty Something was coming (because that’s the type of book this is), but I suddenly realized the book was at 89% (I read it on kindle) and that BTS hadn’t come yet. That’s when I eye rolled in a big way, because I knew one of two things would happen (both of which I hate): either it would turn out to be a book where the revelation comes on the last page and you have to read the sequel to find out how your story ended OR it would rush-rush-rush through the end in a flurry of actions and explanations and impossible timeframes and no details that felt like somebody called “Pencils Down!” and the author had no choice but to scribble out the end, exam-speed-writing-style. This was the latter – and I was very disappointed by it, perhaps more so because I actually liked the idea and if it had been written in the same pacing and level of detail as the rest of the book, would probably have determined it to be a solid courtroom/family drama thriller combo… Instead the ending felt rushed, which made the book even more uneven, and resulted in three stars.

Takeaway: it’s an easy book to read, there’s a lot of juicy stuff going on, and the characters and action-level are, for the most part, exactly what you’d expect to find here. But I think the ending short-shafted the book as a whole…

My review copy was provided by NetGalley. After Anna releases in the U.S. on April 10, 2018.