It takes more than a lie to hide the dark secrets of this picture-perfect family.
When the granddaughter of one of Florida’s most powerful judges disappears, it triggers a personal trauma for Detective Alice Garner: the kidnapping and murder of her own child. As a flood of painful memories comes rushing back, Alice sees herself in the guilt-ridden and emotionally fragile mother Charlotte Burke, who has become the target of a rush to judgment.
All too familiar with Charlotte’s situation, Alice is reluctant to cast any blame. Her gut instincts tell her that Charlotte’s anguish is rooted in something else—somewhere too dark for the truth to be seen. And Alice believes that it’s hiding behind the facade of the illustrious and guarded Burke mansion.
But uncovering Charlotte’s past comes with a risk. For Alice’s own life is becoming entangled in the secrets and lies of the picture-perfect family—an image that is about to be shattered in so many unexpected ways.
So, where should I start with this book? I’m really on the fence. At this time, it’s really hard for me to say whether I’m being pushed forward or falling back?
Let’s start with what was done well with this story line. It’s well written. There was great detail told from various characters pushing the story forward in the Burke household. They give us a glimpse into what happened weeks before Ruby’s disappearance all the way through the day she went missing. However, that’s about the best I can muster for this story. There were entirely too many characters to keep up with. Everyone had a voice and just as I was beginning to get into the head of one of them, I’d tap my Kindle for the next chapter and I’d have another personality to contend with. For me, this made the story a little disjointed. It begins to be too congested with information and confusing at times. And the amount of detail began to grate on my nerves. I like it when an author allows my mind to build the story somewhat, but unfortunately, I didn’t get to do that much.
Five-year-old Ruby Burke went missing. Needless to say this is tragic in and of itself when dealing with a child, but this wasn’t just anyone’s child. This child belonged to a very prominent family—the Burkes. In fact, Ruby was taken from a family of judges. After the child had gone missing, it was soon thereafter she was discovered murdered. Who on earth would want this child dead?
Well that’s what Detective Alice Garner wanted to know. Having firsthand knowledge of what it’s like to have a child go missing, her squad was concerned she wouldn’t be able to handle this case, especially since it was so high profile. But Alice had something to prove. Not just to herself, but to her squad as well. When Alice begins to dig further into what is going on in the Burke household, it becomes very evident that what they are projecting to the world, isn’t quite the way it is in reality.
The Burke women had a lot to hide with their broken souls, hence the title of the book, and Detective Garner did her best to figure out what that was, and when she does, the pieces of the puzzle begin to fit quite snug. I wanted to love this story. The synopsis certainly gave me the feeling I would be on the edge-of-my-seat with this one, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite make it. My biggest issue was too much detail, which is a huge pet-peeve of mine and can really work my nerves. It got to the point where I figured why should I read for the enjoyment, when the author was doing everything for me. What I find enjoyable about reading is when there is a balance of what the author is conveying and my mind’s eye converting the author’s words into a motion picture, if you will. When the author tells you everything, there’s nothing for me to process. At least, that’s how my mind receives information.
I could definitely see the potential with this story. There was so much promise, and in fact, it was a good story. I just wasn’t feeling the writing style of this author’s work. It’s nothing personal. I felt this story could have ended well before the 350 mark. Unfortunately, the story didn’t quite live up to the hype, which is sad, because I was so excited to get into it.
The Sexy Nerd gives Girls of Glass three extra broken pieces. Overall, the book is well written, from a technical standpoint, and the story line was quite interesting, but the detail of it caused me to lose interest. Of course, Nerds, this is my opinion. I never advise my followers not to read a book. Just because I’m not feeling something, doesn’t mean you will not love it. I encourage you to give it a try. Until next time, open a book and get mind blown. Keep it sexy, Nerds!
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