Ginny Frost
Rock Paper Scissors by
Alice Feeney fulfilled the category “Book
with the Name of a Board Game in the Title” for the PopSugar 2022 Reading
Challenge.
Okay, so it’s not a board game. It’s
still a game. I read plenty of other books with “game” titles. For example,
I read A Crafter Knits a Clue and Mrs. Jeffries Dusts for Clues. Just
about every cozy mystery fits this category. Instead, I picked a suspense book
because it had more meat. Oh dear, such meat…
Rock Paper Scissors has a
format similar to Gone Girl, where there is a diary and a couple. This
couple is going on a vacation that they won to northern Scotland during a
snowstorm. When they arrive at the tiny little church lodging, no one else is
around. They’re almost out of gas and everything is a mess. Weird events start
to happen. There’s only one cottage a hundred feet away from the church, and it
seems empty.
In the narrative, both main
characters, Adam and Amelia, throw jibes at each other. Then we have the wife’s
diary entries about their anniversary. She writes about what happened that year.
She gives every year a special word. This couple definitely is on the outs.
The mystery unveils with tons
of twists and turns. We must figure out if the couple likes each other, will
they reconcile, and the identity of the mysterious woman in the cottage. This
character pops up and seems to sabotage their weekend. I will spoil nothing,
but the twists are a-plenty.
Almost too many.
No, wait, definitely too many.
I’m not spoiling, but Gone Girl
is one of my favorite books. The twists were just right, and Gillian Flynn understands
when to stop twisting. Unfortunately for me, Ms. Feeney did not stop twisting
and ruined the story by the end of the book. I don’t want to be mean, spoilery,
or say “don’t read this story because of…” I’m still including it in the blog
because it has merit.
Lately, in suspense books, authors
bury readers in plot twists until you’re not sure which way is up. The 7 and
1/2 deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle also had that, but the author executed
it well. I’m not saying the execution wasn’t good in this book. I enjoyed it until
the last chapter when it became too much.
I don’t know if it’s a product
of editors telling authors to do it or it’s the author’s vision. Maybe suspense
books are all trending this way. I don’t read a ton of suspense and thrillers. I
like a plot twist. Every cozy mystery has “This is the killer. Twist! Nope, it’s
somebody else.” That’s fine. But to twist the tail so much? It reminded me of Harlan
Coben’s Tell No One—twisted to the point where the story would not have
happened if this last chapter was true. The rest of the tale was great. The
suspense was nail-biting. I couldn’t put it down. I needed to find out who
these people were, what their problem was, would they divorce or kill each
other.
Long and short, Rock
Paper Scissors is a good book. It has interesting characters, compelling plot
twists, tons of suspense. If you enjoy a thriller, this is a fantastic novel for
you. In my opinion, it hasn’t lived up to the hype of its bestseller status. (We
all know I don’t love best sellers.)
I give Rock Paper
Scissors by Alice Feeney Four Screenplays with a Twist.