Kyle Lybeck's Literary Lair
Book review

Andrea is enjoying a relaxing lunch with her mother, Laura, at the Belle Isle mall when all hell breaks loose. A young man has opened fire on the crowded space, bullets scattering the patrons from their seats. When he stops, Laura stands to face him, all in the name of protecting her daughter. She walks towards him, knowing he doesn't have enough bullets left to take out both her and her daughter. What she does next is beyond comprehension for both the shooter and Andrea, and puts the lives of Laura and her daughter into a complete tailspin.

Who is Laura? How did she do what she did in order to save her daughter's life, with stone cold nerves? Where did the car full of cash come from that she sends her daughter to find? When a previous life catches up to you, do you let it all go, or confront it like an out-of-control steam engine? All the answers are revealed as the pages turn, until it all comes full circle at the end.

Pieces of Her, a standalone novel from one of my top three thriller authors, Karin Slaughter delivers a piece of fiction that doesn't quit. From start to end, you're enthralled with what is going to happen next, who the characters truly are, and when the dust settles if anyone can truly find peace.

Overall, I'd give this one a solid A and highly recommend it.



Adaptation review

After reading the novel, I made it a point to check out the Netflix adaptation. As is all too often the case with adaptations, it took liberties that try to make it better to digest in a visual form, but can take away from the written source material.

While not bad, I would have enjoyed it more had I not read the book first. It portrayed the characters well enough, but drug on too long at points I wouldn't have expected it to, definitely a point to set it up for a future season. I would have much rather seen the creators go for a ten instead of eight episode series, and kept it at that start to end, instead of slowing it down to further keep viewers going to season two. But hey, that's the point, right? Keep viewers watching for more seasons. The problem is, this is Netflix and they cancel shows on a whim just because. Even the Netflix callout printed on the book is four years prior to this coming out on the streaming service.

Would I keep watching though if they continue it? Sure, because I'd still like to see how they finish it out. I'm still giving this a C though, although if I hadn't read the book first, I'd probably have given it a B.

Written by Kyle Lybeck

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