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A review by pagesplotsandpints
Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea
2.0
<b>Read Completed 7/27/24 |</b> 2 stars
This is just going to be one of those "sensational" books that I don't get. There were some shocking moments, but for me, they went too far and they just didn't make any sense.
<b>I tried not to spoil things but SPOILERS BELOW anyway!</b>
Firstly, this book was maybe only a 3 star book to begin with, as I was reading it. I was interested for a while but there was kind of a lot going on and each character seemed to have their own baggage, but I didn't really like any of the characters or connect to them, so I started to lose focus. Then add in a dash of each character having their own hidden motives and it started to get confusing. I was interested to see where things might go, but with so many plots being pulled in different directions, I wasn't really sure how it was all going to wrap up.
The answer is.... it wraps up messily. I was hoping *everything* was going to be tied together and it was going to be this cool reveal about how everyone was connected, but they really weren't. Avery's story really didn't make sense when she was some amazing report worth paying millions of dollars, and somehow in 2021, no one was able to know that she was the daughter of the most famous Ponzi scheme criminal out there. I watch History & Discovery and whatever other channels make these kinds of shows that my husband loves to watch 😂 They always have shows on the mob and stupid criminals, etc etc and they 100% would have had some news or video or social media post or documentary about this guy and Avery / Claire would have been allllll over it.
The perspective of the former FBI agent was a little boring. An unreliable, out of work, forced to retire agent was sent to follow this reporter girl why? They wanted him to get close to her to get to her dad, but remind me why again that he's the only person who can do this? I get that he worked this case in the past, but so did a lot of other people. Why is he uniquely qualified? He had an affair from the past that really had nothing to do with anything... He gets involved with Avery which didn't work for me. It was pointless and didn't help any part of the plot except for the fact that it motivated him to break laws to help her with something else.
The main scandal has to do with Victoria, who was accused of murdering her lover, Cameron in a past timeline in 2001. She had an affair with him, got pregnant, got forced to have an abortion, and now Cameron's wife is pregnant. When Cameron turns up brutally murdered, it looks as though Victoria killed him but she maintains she's innocent. Avery visits her sister in 2021 and believes she may be innocent as well, but she's been missing presumed dead since she disappeared during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
So I was mad about the inclusion of 9/11. It wasn't a trigger for me but I was mad because it didn't serve any other purpose but being a means for Victoria to disappear, and I just wasn't buying it. It seemed like a sensational grab when this could have happened in any number of different ways. Lost at sea, lost in the woods, etc etc etc. It being 9/11 literally had no other purpose and I wish it was included in some other way. The only other reason for it was that they said all investigations stopped because of the attack so it wasn't worth pursuing the case.
The ending was wild and wacky. Not one but TWO people faked their deaths? And one was pointless because it was an off-page character that meant nothing to me. I didn't care about the final jab at the end to reveal one last twist. By that point, I didn't care.
I don't normally rehash plots in my reviews because you can just read the book, but I feel like I needed to lay it all out in order to talk about my fury 😂 It just all felt sloppy. Victoria wasn't connected to anyone except her sister. Avery was BARELY connected to Walt and that's only because he was sent to investigate her because of her father. It just wasn't even connected and I thought there could have been something cool to make it all fit together, but it was one more disappointment. This one just didn't work for me on almost every level.
This is just going to be one of those "sensational" books that I don't get. There were some shocking moments, but for me, they went too far and they just didn't make any sense.
<b>I tried not to spoil things but SPOILERS BELOW anyway!</b>
Firstly, this book was maybe only a 3 star book to begin with, as I was reading it. I was interested for a while but there was kind of a lot going on and each character seemed to have their own baggage, but I didn't really like any of the characters or connect to them, so I started to lose focus. Then add in a dash of each character having their own hidden motives and it started to get confusing. I was interested to see where things might go, but with so many plots being pulled in different directions, I wasn't really sure how it was all going to wrap up.
The answer is.... it wraps up messily. I was hoping *everything* was going to be tied together and it was going to be this cool reveal about how everyone was connected, but they really weren't. Avery's story really didn't make sense when she was some amazing report worth paying millions of dollars, and somehow in 2021, no one was able to know that she was the daughter of the most famous Ponzi scheme criminal out there. I watch History & Discovery and whatever other channels make these kinds of shows that my husband loves to watch 😂 They always have shows on the mob and stupid criminals, etc etc and they 100% would have had some news or video or social media post or documentary about this guy and Avery / Claire would have been allllll over it.
The perspective of the former FBI agent was a little boring. An unreliable, out of work, forced to retire agent was sent to follow this reporter girl why? They wanted him to get close to her to get to her dad, but remind me why again that he's the only person who can do this? I get that he worked this case in the past, but so did a lot of other people. Why is he uniquely qualified? He had an affair from the past that really had nothing to do with anything... He gets involved with Avery which didn't work for me. It was pointless and didn't help any part of the plot except for the fact that it motivated him to break laws to help her with something else.
The main scandal has to do with Victoria, who was accused of murdering her lover, Cameron in a past timeline in 2001. She had an affair with him, got pregnant, got forced to have an abortion, and now Cameron's wife is pregnant. When Cameron turns up brutally murdered, it looks as though Victoria killed him but she maintains she's innocent. Avery visits her sister in 2021 and believes she may be innocent as well, but she's been missing presumed dead since she disappeared during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
So I was mad about the inclusion of 9/11. It wasn't a trigger for me but I was mad because it didn't serve any other purpose but being a means for Victoria to disappear, and I just wasn't buying it. It seemed like a sensational grab when this could have happened in any number of different ways. Lost at sea, lost in the woods, etc etc etc. It being 9/11 literally had no other purpose and I wish it was included in some other way. The only other reason for it was that they said all investigations stopped because of the attack so it wasn't worth pursuing the case.
The ending was wild and wacky. Not one but TWO people faked their deaths? And one was pointless because it was an off-page character that meant nothing to me. I didn't care about the final jab at the end to reveal one last twist. By that point, I didn't care.
I don't normally rehash plots in my reviews because you can just read the book, but I feel like I needed to lay it all out in order to talk about my fury 😂 It just all felt sloppy. Victoria wasn't connected to anyone except her sister. Avery was BARELY connected to Walt and that's only because he was sent to investigate her because of her father. It just wasn't even connected and I thought there could have been something cool to make it all fit together, but it was one more disappointment. This one just didn't work for me on almost every level.