It’s a pity I’m not releasing this review on a Friday. I’m sure I’d have included a number of witty puns in the introduction. But it’s a Saturday and I feel deflated now so let’s go for something basic but impactful instead: this is an excellent book!
Goodreads Blurb
Friday Edition by Betta Ferrendelli
Christmas is coming to Denver, Colorado, but it isn’t only snow that’s falling.
A beautiful young woman, who also happens to be a Truman County Assistant DA, tumbles from her apartment balcony to her death on Christmas Eve.
The incident is ruled a suicide, but the DA’s sister, newspaper reporter Samantha Church, isn’t buying it.
Feverishly Samantha throws herself into finding out what really happened to her sister. She pursues her sister’s killers, maneuvering through a minefield of intrigue deliberately set out to divert her from the truth. She invariably stumbles when confronted by the inescapable specter of a greater enemy: the alcohol dependency that has already cost her the respect of her peers, and, worse, custody of her daughter.
Samantha must summon the courage to face not only a cartel of criminals, but also her own demons. Physically threatened and betrayed, she nearly defeats herself through her own insecurities and fears. She not only must summon the courage to get beyond her own shortcomings, but she must work quickly to beat her nemesis – a reporter at the major metropolitan daily newspaper, who is also in close pursuit of the developing story.
Can Samantha ultimately prevail, write the biggest story of her career, and finally begin to change her life before it is too late?
Review
This is a classic who-done-it filled with twists and turns. Call me a basic b***h but I loved it. Sometimes you just want to read to be entertained. Not to learn or show off by reading something complicated, just be entertained. And by golly was Friday Edition entertaining. I read a lot of books over the Christmas period but this one was by far the best. It was fast-paced and engaging and many a great hour I spend snuggled up under the duvet cover reading it.
It’s also the first time in a while that I really liked a character, especially a character that I couldn’t really relate to. I liked Sam not only because she wasn’t perfect, but because she was trying to be a better person. It didn’t work out for her all at once but she put in the effort to make gradual changes. Isn’t that what life is all about? Taking one step at a time.
Through Sam, I also got a good insight into alcoholism, or functioning alcoholism, to be precise. The author really understood the psyche of an alcoholic really well and, I felt, dealt with a difficult topic with a great level of compassion and respect.
If you haven’t guessed by now, I loved Friday Edition. I hope my TBR of 2020 will offer some similar crackers.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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