Review Catch Up Time - He Started It

 

TITLE: He Started It

AUTHOR: Samantha Downing

PUBLISHER: Berkley

PUBLISHING DATE: July 21, 2020

FROM GOODREADS: 

From the twisted mind behind mega hit My Lovely Wife comes the story of a family—not unlike your own—just with a few more violent tendencies thrown in.... 

Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan haven't all been together in years. And for very good reasons—we'll get to those later. But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final message in his wake, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross-country road trip to fulfill his final wish and—more importantly—secure their inheritance. 

But time with your family can be tough. It is for everyone. 

It's even harder when you're all keeping secrets and trying to forget a memory, a missing person, an act of revenge, the man in the black truck who won't stop following your car—and especially when at least one of you is a killer and there's a body in the trunk. Just to name a few reasons. 

But money is a powerful motivator. It is for everyone.… 

MY THOUGHTS: I actually read this one in September but as I alluded in the title, I need to do some catching up.  I flew through this book and can't wait to pick up Downing's debut book to see if I like it as much.

So when the book starts out, we learn that Beth, Portia and Eddie's Grandfather has died and in order to claim his sizable fortune, he has one final request of the grandchildren who never really liked him.  They have been tasked to take a trip exactly like the one they did when they were kids.  Upon completion of the trip, the inheritance will be divided between the three of them.  So they set out along with Beth's husband and Eddie's wife.  Now it needs to be noted that these three siblings do not really get along and haven't seen each other in years.  So needless to say, each of them has their own baggage to unpack along the way.

This thriller was just plain fun.  I didn't really like any of the characters but this is a great example of where not liking them didn't damper my enjoyment.  The closest I came to liking anyone was with Portia, the baby sister, who is a "dancer" trying to work her way through college.  Even the spouses were annoying.  But I loved the fighting and drama going on between all of them and Downing delivered twist after twist.  

So as I was rapidly devouring He Started It, I could see a 5/5 rating formulating, but, then there was that last page!  Never have I experienced a read when the last page alone changed my rating but yep, there's a first for everything.  I didn't quite like where the book headed at the end.  And because the book was so fast paced, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that there was one final wham at the end.  It wasn't even a FULL last page.  

That being said, I still loved the book.  I would recommend it to anyone and everyone and if you like family drama, suspense, dark secrets (there's a lot) and twists and turns, this is definitely the thriller for you.  Now I just need to make some time for The Lovely Wife.

RATING: 4 Paws (could have been 4.5 but you know Goodreads and their inflexibility.