Review: The Boss

The Boss by Caz Finlay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Boss is a crime syndicate novel which has a good story, strong characters and pace. The development & unveiling of Grace’s character through the novel is especially good.

Grace falls for Nathan, who runs a gang which does drugs and has other businesses. He is good looking and a charmer. Once married, however, there is a violent streak to Nathan which terrifies Grace. She learns later that Nathan has had a difficult childhood – adopted and also faces abuse. There is very little she can do, but she also knows she cannot survive her marriage. Nathan goes to prison and Grace has her freedom for a few years. She uses the period to fortify her position – divorces Nathan, builds - mental strength, contacts, friends and a business. She also has her son Jake who provides her purpose and determination. As Nathan comes out of prison though, and continues to meet her regularly, she is not sure how she is going to cope. Nathan knows her weaknesses, and is ruthless.

The story shuffles between past and present and converges very well towards the end. The build-up and the ending are very good as well. The development of Grace’s character, and her determination to cope with her position makes for excellent reading.

My rating: 4.5 / 5.

I had quite recently read Boss Girl which also had a crime syndicate backdrop, and liked that as well. The stories are quite different, and yet both have good characters & pace.

My thanks to NetGalley, Killer Reads and the author for providing me a free copy for a review.

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Review: Once Upon a Reunion

Once Upon a Reunion by Nithya Sashi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Once upon a Reunion combines large portions of general fiction with a touch of crime & suspense. This book is an easy read and one you can relax with – it moves fast. While the story is good as are the characters, it falls a little short in tying all the pieces together.

Nirmala works at an IT job and has a hard boss. She is married to Sreeni and tries hard to make their marriage work, especially since there are relationships from the past (Suresh, in college), she would like to get over. It is however, not easy, and a lot of hard work.

Nirmala is invited to a school reunion and is in two minds on whether to as Suresh will be there as well. Her good friend Aarti however insists she should come. After much agony, Nirmala decides to go, though undecided on what & how she will speak to Suresh, especially since he leaves her abruptly and later gets married. At the reunion, Suresh is found dead. As the police investigate the cause of death, and all his college-mates are suspects.

The writing is good considering that this is a first book, but in places the author tries too hard leading to weak metaphors & complex sentence structures. The book relies more on the element of surprise for the crime & suspense element (which there certainly is) thought the sleuthing involved in uncovering the truth is weak.

Overall, a book which has a decent story and moves fast, so well worth a read.

My rating: 3.25 / 5.

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