Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeney/Review by Liz Gatterer
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Alice Feeney
Flatiron Books
$26.00
978-1250266101
September 7, 2021
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Something is wrong with Mr. and Mrs. Wright, and it has been for a long time. Adam and Amelia’s marriage is on the rocks. Amelia wins a free vacation at a converted chapel at Blackwater Loch in the Scottish Highlands they think this just might be the event that changes everything. A weekend of crisp Highland air, rolling hills of heather. But they are heading into a snowstorm, and they know nothing about the chapel or the area. What could go wrong in an Alice Feeney novel with this scenario?
Interspersed between chapters from Adam’s perspective and Amelia’s perspective are anniversary letters that Adam’s wife writes to him. These letters are her true feelings about each past year of marriage, detailing how she really feels about their marriage and the way Adam treats her. But she never lets him read them. She knows that his job comes first, it’s everything to him.
Nothing is as it seems and with Adam and Amelia at such odds, before they even get to the chapel, it doesn’t help that so much doesn’t seem to go right once they are there. Strange things start happening, the electricity goes off, there are weird sounds, a face in a window, the phones don’t work, things are not right. Is it really one of them or is it someone or something else? I’d think I might have an inkling of what was going on but really, I was mostly confused, suspicious, and was totally clueless to the main twist. The way the chapters were presented worked to keep me from figuring things out and I really liked that about this story.
I love an unreliable narrator. The novel is narrated by both Adam and Amelia but there is a third whose identity isn’t revealed until the end of the book. Although I had an inkling of who she might be. But no “spoilers” here! Let it suffice to say it is a satisfying twist.
This might just be my favorite Alice Feeney book. Sometimes I Lie was a real page-turner, but while this novel is a bit of a slow starter, it really races to the epic conclusion. The characters were well described with multifaceted personalities. Alice Feeney fans and lovers of psychological thrillers will enjoy this one!
Liz Gatterer is a staff member at Killer Nashville.