Hold Still by Tim Adler

It is Make Your Own Holiday Day!  You can make it whatever crazy day you want!  Get creative!  For me and my mother it is Get New Eyeglasses Day!  We had eye exams and then picked out new glasses (I got some pretty blue metal frames). On March 26, 1920 F. Scott Fitzgerald saw the publication of his first novel.  His first novel is This Side of Paradise.  Other events are the publication of the Book of Mormon in New York in 1830 and in 1934 the United Kingdom driving test is introduced.

Hold Still by Tim Adler is a clichéd suspense novel.  Kate Julia and her husband, Paul are in Tirana, Albania for the funeral of his uncle.  After the funeral, Paul steps out onto their balcony.  The next thing Kate hears is car horns and sees his body on the street below.  Kate cannot believe that her husband killed himself.  Kate had snapped a picture right before Paul disappeared and the picture does not add up with the information Kate receives from the police.  Kate had her husband cremated and returns home to London.  However, the more Kate looks into her husband’s death, the less it makes sense.  Then her flat is broken into and tossed.  What is going on?  Kate meets John Priest at a support group.  Kate contacts him after the break in.  John is understanding and sympathetic, but there is more to John than meets the eye.  What happens when Kate keeps (recklessly) probing Paul’s death?  Will she still be alive to tell the tale?

I found Hold Still to be a very predictable novel.  Once I started reading the story, I knew exactly how it would play out (I do not want to give away any spoilers).  Kate is a naïve, trusting women who does everything she is not supposed to do (like trust a man she just met).  I had trouble getting into this book (I actually never did).  I like to dive into a story and be drawn into that world.  Instead, Hold Still was a book that I read (to a reader there is a big difference).  There were no unexpected surprises or twists.  I give Hold Still 3 out of 5 stars.  It was okay, but nothing great.  There is some foul language and sex in the novel as well as extreme violence (fair warning).  

I received a complimentary copy of Hold Still from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of the novel.

I hope all of you are having a delightful Saturday.  I am off to enjoy dinner and finish reading Killer Reunion by G. A. Mckevett.  Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris
The Avid Reader