Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

What did you think of the book; was your curiosity satisfied after waiting for a while to catch up with Penn Cage and family in this book five?

I am jumping over here to the end to post a final comment while the book's ending is still resonating in my head. I still have some summaries to do for the last two segments unless Carol beats me to them so will probably have slightly more coherent details on those threads.
The ending of this book blew me away in a similar manner to the ending of Natchez Burning the previous book. On the other hand, the ending was something we had been building up to for the entire time, and some of it was not as surprising as to "what happened" so much as the open question left now of, "what will happen?"
The loss of life, the sudden nature of some attacks, the unexpected pang of "oh no, not that that character", left me off balance for the last third of the book starting with the Friday chapters and leading into Saturday. A lot sure does happen in a day in Natchez Mississippi and the surrounding Louisiana and Texas area.

I too was blown away by the ending. The last quarter of the book just took off and never let up. It more than made up for the plodding through all the JFK assassination details.

So much happened to so many characters, and they all tied together somehow. We didn't talk about the fact that Tom's paternity of Lincoln was confirmed. I was definitely diverted by all the talk about Penn believing Forrest was Lincoln's father because he had dark skin. If Lincoln makes it to the end he no doubt will see Tom vindicated for Viola's murder and become an ally of Tom's. At least that's my fairy tale ending on that score.

I hate to contemplate this when Caitlin isn't even buried yet, but I wonder if Iles will give Penn another love interest. I hope not, at least not in this series. it would be too much.

I like your fairy tale ending Carol, at the least for Tom to be cleared of blame for Viola's death.
Lincoln most likely will play a role in the resolution, but how he can be less antagonistic remains to be seen; he did save Penn from the deputies planning to take him to Forrest I suppose.

I guess I'm hopeful because Lincoln doesn't seem to be a bad man, just an angry and bitter man because he grew up without a father and now because he thinks his father coldly murdered his mother. I don't see how he can remain so if Penn and Tom join forces to correct the record and then include him in the family in whatever way he wants to be involved, but time will tell.

Ann wrote: "I like your fairy tale ending Carol, at the least for Tom to be cleared of blame for Viola's death.
Lincoln most likely will play a role in the resolution, but how he can be less antagonistic rema..."

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "I too was blown away by the ending. The last quarter of the book just took off and never let up. It more than made up for the plodding through all the JFK assassination details.

So much happened..."

i totally agree with that- it picked up for me when caitlyn and jordan went to the bone tree, then bogged down a little again, but the last 1/4 was just page turning.
snake is one evil puppy for sure. i had forgotten he was planning on blowing up a plane but thought he was after people, not evidence. how is that going to play in the next book? (and i hope the next book isn't quite as long . lol)

i just finished this about 10 minutes ago and am not sure how i felt about the book as a whole. loved natchez burning, not so much this one. i felt like so many parts of the book bogged down in detail that it was hard for me to read so i ended up skimming sections of the book. i am sure i missed some details because of that. if the 3rd book were released next week, i'm not sure i'd read it. need some time between. although i don't think it's being released until 2016 so i've got time :)

Sherry: Yes, for me too, the motivation of reading this book together as a group read kept me going, as did the audio format which doesn't lend well to skimming.

It is so typical that the second book in a trilogy is less-than. I'm thinking of the Hunger Games trilogy, the All Souls trilogy, and could think of others if I took the time.

I agree, I hope the third isn't quite as long, but I wouldn't take odds on that, LOL.

Sherry wrote: "i just finished this about 10 minutes ago and am not sure how i felt about the book as a whole. loved natchez burning, not so much this one. i felt like so many parts of the book bogged down in ..."