Darlene's Book Nook: Book Review: Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Book Review: Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason

PUBLISHER: Gallery Books
PUBLICATION DATE: February 12, 2013

FORMAT: Hardcover, 307 pages
GENRE: Thriller
ISBN: 9781451685039

For fans of the Coen brothers’ films or for those who just love their thrillers with a dash of sharp humor—an engaging and offbeat story about a man driven to murder, who then buries the body in his backyard only to discover that there are two other shallow graves on his property.

"There is very little peace for a man with a body buried in his backyard.”

But it could always be worse. . . .

More than a year ago, mild-mannered Jason Getty killed a man he wished he’d never met. Then he planted the problem a little too close to home. But just as he’s learning to live with the undeniable reality of what he’s done, police unearth two bodies on his property—neither of which is the one Jason buried.

Jason races to stay ahead of the consequences of his crime and while chaos reigns on his lawn, his sanity unravels, snagged on the agendas of a colorful cast of strangers. A jilted woman searches for her lost fiancé, a fringe-dweller runs from a past that’s quickly gaining on him, and a couple of earnest local detectives piece it together with the help of a volunteer police dog — all of them in the wake and shadow of a dead man who had it coming. As the action unfolds, each discovers that knowing more than one side of the story doesn't necessarily rule out a deadly margin of error.

MY REVIEW:

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own.

This debut sounded so promising, but I struggled with this one.

The protagonist, Jason Getty, is plagued with nightmares over a murder that he committed and got away with. He cannot even bear to look in his own backyard, where the body is buried. Some landscapers are working on his yard, and one of them rings the doorbell and asks Jason to come take a look at something. Right away, Jason fears that his dirty little secret is out. Only, it’s not! The landscapers have unearthed the remains of a different body that was buried under his bedroom window. When the forensic team comes out, they find another body buried on the other side of the house. Just how long will it be before Jason’s secret is uncovered, and what will he do to ensure that it will stay buried forever?

I like dark tales and flawed characters, and this book sounded like it would be right up my alley. The premise of the story sounded so good, but I had a really hard time getting into it. It took me nearly a month to finish reading it because it failed to hold my interest. I believe that my inability to become immersed in the story was due to the fact that I did not really care for any of the characters. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying that I have to like a character to enjoy the story. Some of my favourite books are because I loved to hate the villain! I just didn’t care enough about the characters to feel strongly about them one way or the other.

MY RATING: