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A review by themysterymaven
The Echo Man by Sam Holland
3.0
3.75
I can definitely understand why readers like this thriller: it plays up people’s fascinations with serial killers while unfurling a new mystery for them to try to solve. It’s full of police procedure and CSI interests with it’s detailed series of steps, all in collaboration to catch a killer. And, it definitely doesn’t hold back on descriptive plot - readers beware.
But the story also relies on some overly-used stereotypes, the flawed woman who, bc she loathes herself, sleeps around; the heralded detectives who cannot spot the clues and connect the dots, yet a civilian seems to do so with whiplash speed. I didn’t think any of these devices were truly needed, and the mystery could have still stood tall with a skilled police force and strong female leads.
Overall, it was interesting enough to keep me invested, and the last fourth of the book kept a feverish pace that made me want to reach the end and the big reveal. I did have some accurate guesses along the way, but there are twists to make you second-guess your suspicions. Some of the final backstory did feel rushed and hugely unloaded in the epilogue, like the author just couldn’t carry the weight any longer. Not a total miss..upper middle-of-the road for me.
I can definitely understand why readers like this thriller: it plays up people’s fascinations with serial killers while unfurling a new mystery for them to try to solve. It’s full of police procedure and CSI interests with it’s detailed series of steps, all in collaboration to catch a killer. And, it definitely doesn’t hold back on descriptive plot - readers beware.
But the story also relies on some overly-used stereotypes, the flawed woman who, bc she loathes herself, sleeps around; the heralded detectives who cannot spot the clues and connect the dots, yet a civilian seems to do so with whiplash speed. I didn’t think any of these devices were truly needed, and the mystery could have still stood tall with a skilled police force and strong female leads.
Overall, it was interesting enough to keep me invested, and the last fourth of the book kept a feverish pace that made me want to reach the end and the big reveal. I did have some accurate guesses along the way, but there are twists to make you second-guess your suspicions. Some of the final backstory did feel rushed and hugely unloaded in the epilogue, like the author just couldn’t carry the weight any longer. Not a total miss..upper middle-of-the road for me.