Tag: Karen Cleveland

Book Review

Keep you close by Karen Cleveland

Keep You Close by Karen Cleveland, paperback, 400 pages, £7.99, Waterstones

This novel is about work/life balance and what happens when they intertwine. Steph works for the internal investigations department in the FBI whilst her son is finishing his studies before heading off to college/university. However it takes just one knock at the door to flip everyone’s life upside down.

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Background

During the novel there are several flashbacks of Steph’s life before the FBI. Although this information is vital to know, I found that this distracted my attention from the original plot I was trying to follow. This could have been resolved by using chapters to represent the past and present of Steph’s life. The constant change of flashbacks within chapters began to hinder the pace of the novel and ultimately my interest.

Characterisation

Cleveland can create some fantastics characters, especially in her first novel Need to Know. However the characters in Keep You Close needed more personality. I didn’t like a few of the main characters, particularly Steph as I felt like she had too many flaws. My favourite character was her son, however I felt like his background and personality was overlooked. This could however emphasise what Steph see and believes. Therefore questioning the readers own judgment of Steph’s son.

Prequel or sequel?

My biggest issue with Keep You Close is how it has tarnished my memory of Cleveland’s first novel. I loved Need to Know and was over the moon to find out that previous characters were in this book too. However I was crestfallen once I had read the epilogue. For this reason I would strongly advise reading this book first and then Need to Know. Otherwise, don’t read the epilogue as it made me as a reader lose hope and feel a defeatist.

If you love twists and turns regardless of characterisation then you may find this book a real head turner. You can purchase Keep You Close here.

Book Review, Uncategorized

Need to Know

Need to Know by Karen Cleveland, Hardback, 304 pages, £12.99 at Waterstones.

Cleveland’s debut novel has been praised by various thriller novelists and for good reason. Need to Know is situated in America and tries to keep up with the lives of Viv and Matt. Oh and when I mean keep up, I mean running behind.

The novel begins extremely fast paced as the reader is thrown into the action and tries to help out Viv in her most difficult decision. Of course, Vivian’s situations may always seem difficult when working for the CIA but when she uncovers something that throws her life off balance, it is difficult not to try and help.

“you’ll miss dinner, stay up far too late, and feel tired at work tomorrow. This is that kind of book. Superb.” – Lee Child

Cleveland’s ideas are thoroughly researched and her characters are likeable and seem so real that it is difficult to just acknowledge them as characters in a book. It is for this reason as to why the reader will find them so attached to this novel.

 

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When reading Need to Know it is clear to see that Cleveland knows her readers well. She understands what we’re thinking and knows how to throw the readers off track. By the end of this novel you will be locking yourself in your room, desperate not to be disturbed whilst you finish the last few chapters.

After being an avid reader or both thriller and crime novels, Need to Know has by far been one of my favourite books to review. That hungover feeling of finishing a book never really came for this book because the closure given to the reader was just right. Her plot and narrative are so well written that the only type of questions you will have once finishing the novel are, Who is Karen Cleveland and what else has she written?

Guaranteed to keep you guessing on information you Need to Know.

Please follow the link here to purchase a copy today!