„Retreat“ by Liv James is a contemporary
fast-paced adventure – almost a thriller – with a business background
and a romance as well as family troubles thrown in for good measure.
Clara is engaged to marry a
man she thinks she knows well – until one day, completely out of the
blue, her ex-lover turns up with information about her future husband
that makes her break off the engagement – a step she
had no idea would have such wide and dangerous implications.
Only
gradually does Clara find out how and why it is all related to her
father’s business, the company her fiancé runs, and her own work
before she was fired and kicked out by her ex-lover
a few years ago. Much more disturbing is what she learns nearly too
late: her own family is involved in all this in a way she would have
never thought possible. Clara’s life is in serious danger, but you bet
her knight in shining armour turns up just in time
to save the day.
When everything finally comes to light, Clara feels ready to start over with the man she never truly stopped loving.
A lot of the action happens
during a company retreat in the mountains. Places and people are
described well and (mostly) credible. I liked the parts that described
work and business aspects, something I find always interesting
to know about.
Seemingly mundane details are mentioned, but they don’t
unnecessarily blow up the story nor distract from what’s going on;
instead, they add to the atmosphere for me, enabling me better to set the
inner cinema in motion.
While I did not entirely
warm to any of the major players, I did care enough about them to want
to know what was going to happen next. Had I not been reading this free
ebook on my kindle, it would have been a real page-turner. Instead, I
found the culminating events so gripping that
one morning I almost missed my stop and would have stayed on the train
instead of getting off for work. And that, surely, is a sign of a good
read.
I’d not heard of the author
before, but if I should happen to come across another free ebook by her,
I will download and read it.
I could not learn much about the author; this is what Amazon says about her: "Liv James is a Pennsylvania native who enjoys hiking, biking, traveling on an expense account, and, of course, writing fiction." The author's homepage, livjamesbooks.com, seems to be deactivated. So maybe she has given up writing, or is taking a break from it.
Sounds intriguing, more like a romance than a mystery but it sounds as though there is lots of mystery, too. The author's name sounds familiar in a vague way. I will go see if the price is right!
ReplyDeleteI downloaded this a long time ago, Kristi, and as far as I could see now when I was looking it up again for this review, it is not available for free any longer, and maybe not even as an ebook anymore.
DeleteHello Meike,
ReplyDeleteLiv James sounds every bit as much of a mystery as her book! We have certainly not heard of her.
Such a pity when one finds a book that one enjoys only to find that other novels by the writer do not seem to be available.
Hello Jane and Lance,
DeleteI am not going to lose any sleep on finding more books by this author, but if I happen to come across another one for my kindle (and it is for free), then I'll have it.
Sounds good enough that maybe HBO will find her.
ReplyDeleteWho is or are HBO, Christopher?
DeleteSounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt was, Sheila! Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting - I believe this is your first time here?
DeleteI went a bit overboard downloading free books by unknown authors in the beginning (a lot more than I've found the time to actually read)... So I'm restraining myself a bit now in that department ;) Classics is a different matter, though, because those one might want to take a peek at now and then even if not reading the whole thing... I have started reading 'Radetskymarsch' in German by the way, which you reviewed not long ago - and am finding it easier than I thought, although it's been a long time since I last read much in German. However I also have a book in English book going which has at the moment "taken over" as I also have that one as audio (so can shift between reading and listening)... We'll see how it goes! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased to hear that you have started on "Radetzkymarsch", Monica! Your German must be really good for you to tackle a whole book in this rather complicated language. It will be interesting to know your opinion of "Radetzkymarsch".
DeleteOnce upon a time I did study German as well as English at University, Meike. My teaching career was cut very short though and the only German I ever got to teach was one beginners evening class. As there weren't any steady teaching jobs to be found when I needed it, I ended up going back to secretarial work. English has been easy enough to keep up anyway but German is a different matter and takes more of an active effort to keep up with as we're not surrounded by it in the same way. I also found the German literature we read at Uni rather 'heavy' - in spite of the books themselves being very thin compared to most of the English novels! And of course you don't find German books in our book shops, and not a whole lot in the libraries either. - But reading Roth's novel now, I notice that I do still retain a lot of passive vocabulary (and it probably helps that German and Swedish are rather closely related). So I understand most words although I would have trouble finding them when talking or writing (not to mention remembering their gender!) And of course, now reading on Kindle is very helpful as I have added a German dictionary and can just click on any word that has me puzzled...!
DeleteNow that you mention it, I have dictionaries on my kindle, too (they were pre-installed), but never use them. Instead, when I come across a term I really can't work out (which is rarely the case; usually I know from the context what is meant, but sometimes I want to know the correct equivalent in my language), I go to www..leo.org. I have learned some very nice terms that way, such as persnickety :-)
DeleteIt’s only via free ebooks that I am beginning to learn about the many many US authors there are, good, bad and indifferent. There are reams of them. Do they all find a paying audience or do they eke out a precarious living from their books before they become free?
ReplyDeleteI have no idea. I may download one now and again but I rarely find them worth bothering with.
PS: What is your sister trying to do to you? EM Remarque? Bit different from the one you describe here.
Many of them, I suspect, can't live off their writing; they are largely self-published (with explains the lack of proper editing) and either work on some day job and write in their free time, or they are stay-at-home wives/husbands who finally have the chance to not only indulge in their hobby but publish the fruit of their hours of leisure.
DeleteMy sister has been trying to improve the quality of my reading material, and of course she has succeeded in that I would have never picked up any of the books she gave me for myself. But for me, reading is a bit like eating: sometimes I want something substantial, a "proper" home cooked meal (like reading non-fiction or something a bit more high brow), but sometimes I like to snack on crisps or have an entire bar of chocolate, knowing full well that neither is particularly good for me.