Before I go on a semi-rant, I should probably let you know that I don't dislike this book. For what it is, a typical thriller, it's well written and I really do enjoy the characters. There was nothing about it that surprised me, but it kept me entertained enough to finish reading it. Who knows, I may even reread it at some point in time.After reading this book, and comparing it to the various thrillers I've read over the years, I think I'm finally figuring out the problem I tend to have with them. When I say "them", I'm really talking about the books that feature a female protagonist, who just happens to have a deep dark secret in her past. They all seem to use a particular plot point, and it's getting rather old.I'm trying to figure out why, when the female protagonist starts to have their lives fall apart, they start to suspect their boyfriend/husband. Whether it involves people around them getting killed, harassing phone calls/letters, or odd occurrences, the suspicion ends up falling on the man in their lives. Normally the man tends to be a second husband, or the first serious boyfriend after whatever traumatic event happened in the past. I will have to admit that the suspicion seems to come naturally to the women, normally because it was at the hands of a previous relationship that the bad thing happened to them. But that doesn't excuse the laziness of the author, and I do think it's lazy.I think plot points that are as predictable as rainfall during a hurricane hurt a book. Is there really no other red herring you can throw in there? It rarely ends up being that the new bad guy is the new man in the protagonist's live. In these books, the new guy is really just a stooge thrown into the book to divert the woman's attention away from the real threat. Just once, I would like to read a book where the new guys is a fully drawn character, integral to the woman's life, and never comes under suspicion. I'm not going to be holding my breath, cause I think I would suffocate before it ever happens, but a guy can dream.
Years after a serial killer is put to death, women involved in his case receive a "happy anniversary" message. Good opening, and the unfolding story was not bad either. A few twists and red herrings...somewhat predictable but not so much as for the ending still surprised. But the characters...to me, they were all steeped in one dysfunction or another, handled them poorly, and I just couldn't muster much empathy for any of them. I'm not sure what the author was trying to prove with all the flaws but it just irritated me. I found myself yelling at the characters to stop being so stupid, stop living in denial and DEAL WITH IT!
What do You think about The Anniversary: A Novel (2003)?
The Anniversary is a thriller heading in so many different directions that the reader just can't put it down. That is what The Anniversary did for me in any case, what a great book!! Five years ago a serial killer was executed after he murdered one woman and tried to kill 2 others. Now these women are being stalked by someone who seems very closely tied to this serial killer but who is it? The Author makes you think you know who did it but wait until the end, because you really do not know until then. An excellent suspenseful read that is very well written and keeps your interest until the very last word.
—Tamara
SUPERB THRILLER!!! Kept me guessing until the killer was revealed...about 5 pages from the end of the book.Good story about a woman who had been the girlfriend of a serial killer....but she didn't realize he was, right away. She starts putting 2 and 2 together, and becomes the star witness for the prosecution. Killer-boyfriend is convicted, and executed. She moves to a different State, and begins a new life, with a new name. That's where the book begins.Then, things start to get scarey. Notes, flowers, and other things begin arriving....and someone who was connected to the trial is killed, and another is attacked. Who's the stalker now? Was the serial-killer really put to death, or not? Or, is this killer/stalker someon else? The escaped ex-con , the cop-boyfriend, the neighbor, the ex-FBI profiler, the nerdy college student....who???
—Sandy
