Jaclyn Goldis

The Main Character by Jacyn Goldis is a suspenseful mystery that just happens to take place on the newly refurbished Orient Express… how perfect is that!

The story mainly revolves around Rory and Ginevra, with Rory’s brother, best friend, and ex also taking some turns to give backstory and help move along the current events. Goldis is able to smoothly flow between each character's past and current story without it feeling choppy.

Besides the story being excellent, the descriptions of the Orient Express and the Italian countryside are fabulous. Even with a chance of murder happening, I would gladly jump on board for this ride.

There are lots of turns and misdirects with a couple of twists at the end. The one I thought I knew for sure was not correct, and that always makes me happy when an author is able to do that. And the final twist was not something I thought of at all, so to me, this is a perfect story.… (plus d'informations)

Review of eGalley

Ginevra Ex, with her newest manuscript, has planned a trip on the Orient Express, a perfect trip for Rory and the other characters in her book. She meticulously planned, but she forgot that often those characters have minds of their own and behave in unexpected ways.

Despite the extensive interviews, Rory is excited to have been chosen to be Ginevra’s latest main character. Now, she’s received this unexpected extravagance: a trip aboard the Orient Express. But she soon discovers that her brother, Max, her best friend, Caroline, and her ex-fiancé, Nate, are all aboard the train as well.

Why has Ginevra invited them? What secrets lurk, held close by each of the guests aboard the train?

And who will end up dead?

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Told from several perspectives . . . Ginevra, Rory, Max, Caroline, and Nate . . . the unfolding narrative holds several shocking secrets that the characters slowly reveal to the reader. An undercurrent of tension runs throughout the telling of the tale and tension builds throughout the narrative.

Intriguing [but not necessarily likable] characters, an extraordinary setting, and a truly twisted plot all work together to keep the suspense building as readers slowly unravel the mystery as they read “The Cabin on the Lake,” Ginevra’s fictionalized account of the characters.

Despite an ending that is likely to leave readers wanting something more, most of the questions are answered and the mystery solved. However, a plot point involving Ginevra and Orsola is likely to be a disappointment for many readers.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this book from Atria Books, Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
#TheMainCharacter #NetGalley… (plus d'informations)

The Chateau (2023) by Jaclyn Goldis. This is a story where old friends get together and you begin to wonder almost immediately why they are still friends. The events occur over the short course of an all girls reunion at the French chateau owned by the grandmother of one of the four women. The four became friends 20 years before when they studied at a college near the chateau. The chateau is where they spent many weekends and school holidays together, running around the countryside and creating what should have been life long bonds.
Grandmama has called the four women back to her huge home because she is dying and there are things that have to be said as soon as possible. There is a vast sum of money and property beyond the chateau that grandmama wishes to distribute, plus some personal issues to be hashed out. And although it is very important, it all can wait till the morning.
But it seems it will have to wait as grannie is stabbed to death during her sleep. The only suspects are the four women, plus a new gardner and the housekeeper for the past 60 years who is the grandmother to one of the four women.
Secrets abound within this group, not the least of which is the name of the killer. Then someone starts using the internet to intimidate that others in the group with photos that could only have been taken by one of the four.
This is a nice setup and some of it was handled very skillfully, but I had a devil of a time trying to tell one of the four women from the others. I ended up with a cheat sheet containing names, family members, jobs, success rating, jealousies, outright hatreds, lies told, lies told about them and why I should care about any of this. And there is also the great amount of things that have the greatest importance and must be discussed, but can somehow wait until after the shopping trip or the visit to the wine cellar.
I was not impressed with how the story played out although there was a good story here to tell. Jade, Vixen, Darcy and Arablle might have been more likable if they had less cutesy-pie Hallmark movie types of names. The author strove to have them painted differently (spinning instructor who wants to be a fitness mogul, painter who does’t actually sell very many paintings at all, jet setting cook book author and owner of a tremendous bed and breakfast in the French countryside, and mother struggling to become an internet superstar) but I found they were interchangeable puppets and I had to constantly look at my notes to remember who was who.
The murder eventually gets solved but it doesn’t really feel like the focus of the book. There is another theme containing horrors and atrocities that happened decades ago, but that also doesn’t feel like the main point either. And when all is revealed you might be lift wondering why these women got together in the first place.
I found the book took too much effort on my part to be enjoyable, but I suspect men are not the group that this book was meant to please.… (plus d'informations)