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A review by andrewspink
Law of the Jungle by Christina Hoag
3.0
The book had a nice plot, and I enjoyed reading it, but some details were a bit unconvincing and contradictory. For instance, why is a pharmacology student suddenly attending lectures in French literature? At one moment we are told that the protagonist doesn't drink, but shortly after and then for the rest of the book she is drinking various different alcoholic drinks.
More importantly, I had difficulty suspending belief that a researcher would do years of field work and not make any backups of their data to a secure location, nor show any interest in publishing their results. Publishing is what researchers live for! Although I understand it was necessary for the plot, it was also a bit unlikely that she would be working all alone, unfunded and unaffiliated for years. And why did she not make any friends or at least social contacts with the people in the village very close to her fieldwork site? If she was so lonely, surely she would have done that.
That meant that I struggled for the first half of the book, I just had too much difficulty suspending my disbelief. But after that, it picked up. Perhaps because the typical thriller type plot elements were further from my personal experience, it was easier to accept them and get caught up in the thrill of the chase. The plot had some nice twists and I raced through the short book in no time at all.
Disclaimer: The publishers provided an advance copy of this book via Book Sirens in return for an honest review.
More importantly, I had difficulty suspending belief that a researcher would do years of field work and not make any backups of their data to a secure location, nor show any interest in publishing their results. Publishing is what researchers live for! Although I understand it was necessary for the plot, it was also a bit unlikely that she would be working all alone, unfunded and unaffiliated for years. And why did she not make any friends or at least social contacts with the people in the village very close to her fieldwork site? If she was so lonely, surely she would have done that.
That meant that I struggled for the first half of the book, I just had too much difficulty suspending my disbelief. But after that, it picked up. Perhaps because the typical thriller type plot elements were further from my personal experience, it was easier to accept them and get caught up in the thrill of the chase. The plot had some nice twists and I raced through the short book in no time at all.
Disclaimer: The publishers provided an advance copy of this book via Book Sirens in return for an honest review.