Book Review: When the Corn is Waist High by Jeremy Scott

When the Corn is Waist High

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When the Corn is Waist High 〰️

When the Corn is Waist High by Jeremy Scott

Okay, so not going to lie; it took me a while to get into this book. It was an insta-buy for me because I love the author and his other works. But when I started the read, the pacing felt very slow. I kept reading because the MC was interesting enough to keep me engaged.

Then the plot twist happened.

When it was revealed that the MC (of which this story was told in first-person POV) was the killer behind everything, I was hooked. It was terrific how Scott managed to keep the information that the MC was a killer from us despite having it be in first-person. But if you look back, everything made sense, and if I were to re-read the book, I'm sure some clues pointed to it.

At first, I didn't like Solomon for his actions (cheating with a married woman), but he was such a well-written character that I overlooked that fact. And then when he shanked her after she discovered his murder stuff, well, my face dropped. But like I said, I was invested. Now I wanted to know how the bok would end with him trying to catch the killer, but the killer was himself!

And boy, did I not see the ending coming. Okay, so I predicted a bit that he would plant the evidence on someone else, and he did. I didn't think he'd get away with it, but he did, and it made sense. But what really blew my mind was the even bigger double twist of the story that happened right at the end. I did <i>not</i> see that coming. All I know is that I'll be thinking about that last chapter for days.

For the twists, I recommend it—you for sure need to see how the MC did everything and why. The pacing picked up once the first twist was revealed, so that was great. And the MC is really fun to read. Scott really knows how to write his characters.

Book Review: A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena

I applaud Lapena for her writing style. The use of short, easy sentences, all in the present tense. really help suck you into the world and dangers of the story. The book was written to pull you in and keep you engaged. Make you feel part of the events taking place.

And I gotta say, it worked.

Lapena had me believing Karen was innocent right until the end. I honestly didn't see it coming. Between Karen and Bridgit's story and everything that happened up to the end, I really couldn't tell who killed Robert but I thought I knew for sure it wasn't Karen. What a twist the ending was!

A Stranger in the House

by Shari Lapena

I will admit, though, that I wasn't expecting a "whodunnit" kind of story. I thought the whole book would be trying to figure out what happened as Karen recalled her memory after the car crash. And yes, it technically is that way, but she recalled most of her memory pretty early in the book and I was wondering what could possibly happen for the rest of the 50%.

I also was expecting more of a stalker-type story, you know, with the title being A Stranger in the House and all. And it sort of is. Just not in the way I was expecting.

I guess everything I was expecting, didn't happen, and this is a good thing! It shows skills on Lapena's part.

I was also impressed with Lapena's knowledge of the police force and lawyers and such. She other has some first-hand experience (like knowing someone) or she did her homework. It all helped make the crimes of the aftermath of said crimes more believable. I really felt like I was Karen going through this hard investigation and I felt like I was in jail alongside her.

Overall, a good, quick and easy read.