Book Review and Goal Update

My Nanowrimo goal is to carefully revise my novel, The Seventh City. Seven chapters/22,000 words are completed at this point. 30% there. Gotta step it up.

Here’s my reflection on Stephanie Black’s latest LDS Suspense, Rearview Mirror. Back cover blurb:

On a rainy night eight years ago, Fiona Claridge lost control of her car and crashed, injuring herself and killing her roommate, Mia Hardy. Now, she strives to keep the painful past at bay by staying burrowed beneath the demands of her job as a college professor in a small New England town. But when someone starts leaving her gift-wrapped boxes containing malicious remainders of Mia's death, Fiona's guilt and grief come flooding back.
She assumes her stalker is Kimberly Bailey, a disgruntled student, and enlists the help of fellow professor James Hampton. But when Fiona encounters the angry wife of an old flame, it becomes clear her student isn't the only one with an eye for revenge. Cruel messages escalate to danger, then murder. As past and present become horribly entangled, Fiona struggles to unravel the truth about a determined killer--before she becomes the next victim.
What I thought:

  Black delivers the suspense from page one via the lives of interesting, imperfect characters—enough to keep you guessing who-dunnit. As details unfold, each character reveals reasons for targeting or protecting Fiona in a must read on manner. An exciting climax fulfilled my expectations (even though the title implied to me that the worst would happen in her car). A hint of romance rounded out the story, but the love interest seemed overly cautious. Even Fiona had her own understandably neurotic behavior, giving me the feeling that every character could have been in a soap-opera. I had to push that feeling aside occasionally and just let the suspense build. 

  I liked how most characters’s involvement, great or small, led to other choices that ultimately caught up to them. What goes around comes around and nobody’s secrets remain hidden forever. Another good book to put on your wish list. Click on BOOKS I'VE READ on my sidebar to see my Goodreads ratings and previous reads.