A Stranger's Game by Colleen CobleMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
Let me preface this by saying I love Christian fiction books. They are some of my favorites I've read through the years. I've even liked some of Colleen Coble's books. However, I have not found many to love in recent years. Especially by established authors. I feel like they are either 1) trying to push out books so quickly they lack a compelling, cohesive story line and/or a good editing process or 2) they feel like they have enough of a loyal following that they don't need to put out quality writing. Just my opinion. And this book is no exception.
I had read such great reviews on A Stranger's Game that I even moved it to the top of my TBR. From the start, I was baffled by how it's received an average of 4.14 starts on Goodreads. So I kept reading, thinking it surely had to get better. It didn't. At least not for me.
In A Stranger's Game, Torie Bergstrom is a hotel heiress who decides she needs to research her friend's death. So she goes undercover at the hotel her aunt manages and her father and she own to figure it all out.
Wait! What? Your telling me NO ONE on that island or at that hotel recognizes her through 300+ pages of this book. When she's the owner's daughter...on the board...in national newspapers. Oh, and spent summers/grew up (it was never clear which) on the island and in the hotel until she was 10. Apparently not. The only one who recognizes her is a guy who works in politics in DC.
So many plot lines. Definitely an instance of trying to do too much and none of it well. We're left floating on the war games/sub stealing plot. The Torie's mom's death plot is just like "meh...I pushed her; it was an accident."
So many loose threads. Who killed Bella? What business did the guy who "masterminded" this plan (or was it his mom's plan) have that failed that caused him to develop this elaborate plan to take out everyone in the Federal Reserve? It just...none of it made practical sense.
And, whoo. Don't get me started on Torie and Joe interfering with all the evidence all the time and the investigation. Shouldn't they be in jail too? There's no way a self-respecting police force would let that happen. And let's just talk about Joe. Really? How does he know how to do all the things in security and the military. He's a marine biologist who works 20 hours a month in security at the hotel??!?!
Why would the guy booby trap the tree house and lie in wait to abduct Torie and Hailey? How could he know they'd be there? Climb it? Not to mention the minor thing where Torie just climbed the tree the first time but uses the step boards the second.
Just so much about the entire book doesn't make sense. I could go on and on with holes and contradictions that should have been caught in editing.
I hate to say it, but I'm starting to give up on Christian fiction by well-rated authors. I've read fewer and fewer over the years and become more and more disappointed.
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