This was a tough review for me to write. I finally settled on 3 stars, mostly due to the last half.It's an interesting premise. A has-been author in his early 60's is frustrated by his ordinary life. No one seems to appreciate his talent, realize how special he is. But he plans to remedy that with his next book. He's going to write a DIY manual: how to plan, execute & get away with the perfect murder. Or three.He's already chosen his victims, 3 women who have nothing in common except their hair colour. They're all redheads. He's been following them & documenting their lives for months. Then begins the psychological aspect to the project. They each receive a letter alluding to Little Red Riding Hood & the Big Bad Wolf (BBW). They're also told they will die.Karen is a doctor, living a quiet solitary life. The letter sends her into a tailspin, upsetting her orderly routine. Sarah's life is already out of control. She was a school teacher with a husband & child, content in their happy home. One car accident later, she is alone existing on vodka & pills. The last thing she needed was a cryptic letter. Jordan is in her final year at a private school, trying to stay out of the way of her parent's nasty divorce. Her grades are slipping & she has no friends to turn to when she receives her letter.Meanwhile the BBW (we never do learn his real name) is busy writing. There are long passages throughout the book as he details his steps, giving advice on choices of weapon, importance of research, motivation & relationship with the victim. This will be his opus. And part of the reason I gave this book 3 stars. I get that this is his obsession & the author needs to demonstrate this as well as BBW's narcissism. Ironically, it was the creation of this textbook for murder that left me feeling like I was reading one. I found these sections overly long & self indulgent and started skimming to get to a place where something actually happened.When he sends the women his next message, it leads to a pivotal development & this is where the book gets interesting. They find out about each other & meet. They couldn't be more different but at least they're not alone anymore. When they formulate & act on a plan in the last few chapters, it finally becomes a page turner.There are peripheral characters but only one of note & that would be Mrs. BBW. Her appearance came as a surprise & by the end, I found her more interesting than her husband.I won't spill the beans further except to say the ending was inventive & may take you by surprise. Just a little tighter editing & less space dedicated to our killer's writing process would have improved the flow & not interrupted the pace so much. Lord knows, it's almost impossible to come up with an original plot in this crowded genre so big kudos for that. Merged review:3.5 stars 2.5/5 Este libro tiene una buena idea, pero una ejecución decepcionante. No es malo, pero para ser un thiller psicológico es lento y demasiado largo. Encontré errores en la historia, o digamos que incongruencias e inconsistencias. También nos deja cabos sueltos. Pienso que debió ser más corto, lo que lo haría ser mucho más agil y "page turner". No es un mal libro, pero si es uno olvidable. No lo recomiendo porque hay thrillers mejores.
What do You think about Red 1-2-3 (2014)?
En realidad es 4.5 por que el final no es perfecto, pero igual me encantó todo el libro.
—bec
