QUICK REVIEW: Die For You by Lisa Unger

Synopsis

Isabel Raine thought she had everything–a successful career, a supportive family, and a happy marriage to the man she loved. Then one ordinary morning, her husband, Marcus, picks up his briefcase, kisses her good-bye, and simply vanishes.

That day, all her calls to him go straight to voice mail; the messages she leaves at his office go unreturned, too. Panicking after finally receiving a call from his cell phone in which all she can hear is a man’s terrified cry, Isabel calls the police. But they aren’t interested. Men leave, they tell her. They leave all the time. Desperate to find her husband, Isabel races to his office. But instead of finding him, she finds herself in the middle of an FBI raid. Hours later, she awakens in the hospital with a severe concussion and a homicide detective by her bedside waiting to question her about Marcus Raine–the real Marcus Raine.

Now the only thing Isabel knows for sure is that her husband of five years is gone. Where is he and who is he are questions no one seems able to answer. But Isabel will not rest until she discovers the truth about the man she loves, even if it means risking everything–including her own life.

Bestselling author Lisa Unger takes us on a nightmarish journey from bustling, glamorous New York City to the murky, twisted streets of Prague, seeking the answer to one bone-chilling question: What if the man you love, the one sleeping beside you, is a stranger?

Hardcover, 368 pages
Published June 2nd 2009 by Crown (first published January 1st 2008)
ISBN 0307393976 (ISBN13: 9780307393975)

My Thoughts

We read this book for my book club, and it was my first exposure to author Lisa Unger. One of my issues with this book is the constantly changing perspective. This person to that person to this person to that person. I always have trouble with shifting perspectives. There is always a moment of disorientation as I realize that someone else is now speaking, and figure out who it is. Add to that the fact that it would shift from past to present, and I found myself often left confused.

I began the book enjoying the first half. It was gripping, keeping me turning the pages, wondering what would happen next.

She knew then that he really saw her, that he might have been the first and only person who ever had, other than her sister. The face she wore for everyone else, the demure and polite smile, the unfailingly kind demeanor, the proper girl who did everything right...he didn't even notice it. When he looked at her he saw straight to the heart of her. (p. 123)

At moments I loved the turn of a phrase and where the author was taking me.

She never thought of that night anymore. It lived inside her like a room she never entered in a big drafty old house. She might walk down the dark hallway might even rest her hand on the knob, but she never opened the door. (p. 170)

But then the last half of the book took over, and the story just wound up sort of preposterous.

In the end, most of the book club rated this book around a "C". I said that I would give the first half an A-, and the last half a C+. So maybe a B- overall.

My Rating: