Do You like book Absent Friends (2005)?
Well, I tried to really like this book. The story was there, but I almost felt that everything could have been told with much less. If you are listening to this as I did in audio, be prepared to be throughly confused. There are several characters, and the story jumps from present day (2001) to the 1970s when our characters were kids/teens/young adults. I still don't see why the years with the kids was included, except maybe to develop the characters. I just had a hard time following this storyline, wish I would have read the book instead.
—Malina
I'm not going to review the story as many reviewers have already done so. I will say it is a confusing book. This is the first story I've read by SJ Rozan and had no clue as to what it was about; I had read a review of the author and thought I would try her book. It took quite a few chapters before I grasped what the book was about. The author takes us back and forth between 1979 and Sept. 12, 2001 but I had to ask myself why? Just as I was learning about a character, time shifted. It wasn't until I was deeper into the story that the relevance between their lives in the late '70s and the characters' personalities and achievements in 2001 began to make sense. After reading the book I felt like I walked through a maze trying to find my way out...and did. In hindsight, knowing the ending and how we got there, it was an ok book. I understand why the author chose to piecemeal out information to us; but it still resulted in a stop-n-go flow of the story. I'll probably read another of her books as other reviewers have stated they did not disappoint.
—Alison
I listened to this audio book in my car exclusively, and since I haven't been going many places in that car lately, it took forever to get through 12 CD's. It was way too long, in my opinion, and I was just determined to get to the end of it. I bought it from the library book sale and therefore didn't have a time incentive to get it back, otherwise I would have abandoned it midway.The story goes back and forth between close childhood friends and then to their lives post-9/11/2001. It seemed repetitive to me, with way to much extraneous information and descriptions. Frankly, I'm just glad to be done with it. Your mileage may differ.
—Diane