Peter Swanson: Her Every Fear

Peter Swanson shows the readers that you can never really hide from your past:

Kate Priddy always had bouts of anxiety, but things are taken to the next level when her ex-boyfriend kidnapped her and left her to die after killing himself. Kate never thought that she would recover both mentally and physically after what happened to her but she wants to try. When she is accepted in to an art program in Boston, her distant cousin Corbin Dell suggests a flat switch for 6 months. kate really cannot say no. What Kate does not know is the Corbin is trying to fell Boston as she is London and when Kate/Corbin's Boston neighbour turns up dead, Kate has all these questions of who Corbin really is.

I really wanted to LOVE this book. It had such an interesting premise and I really enjoy when a main character has a flaw that is very real life and affects so many people out there but overall I found this book fell flat. This mainly had to do with how the story was told and which characters Swanson chose to have points of view from.

I liked the back and forth between the characters' points of view as well as the shifts from the past and present, but I think that this was also a major flaw in the book as it gave too much away as to what was occurring in the present. This made the book predictable and the major punch line about what was occurring not happen, as you're like "yep figured that out about half way through the book." And trust me it is really obvious.

Kate was the most interesting character in tis book. The paranoia and basically agoraphobia (not wanting to leave the house) that she has was a really interesting aspect to her character. I also liked the incorporation of having her as an artist to try and overcome these issues but they also contribute to them as well in this book. However, I wish that she was a more developed character and these aspects seem to get lost in the second half of the book and it is not due to her suddenly recovering.

Overall, Swanson's book was a miss for me. It had a great premise and great potential and I think executed in a different way I would have enjoyed it. This does not mean I will not read another book by Swanson, I can tell he has something there as an author, but as this is the first book I have read by him I am disappointed.

Cheers!!!

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