Review: The Dangers of an Ordinary Night

Title: The Dangers of an Ordinary Night

Author: Lynne Reeves

Release Date: 11/9/21

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Find it here: Goodreads

Synopsis from Goodreads: On a chilly fall evening at the prestigious Performing Arts High School of Boston, best friends Tali Carrington and June Danforth go missing after auditioning for a play. They're last seen in grainy, out-of-focus surveillance footage that shows them walking side-by-side. Two days later in a town south of Boston, Tali is found disoriented and traumatized by the ocean's edge, while June is pronounced dead at the scene.

Tali's mother, Nell, is so bent on protecting her daughter from further emotional harm that she enlists the help of Cynthia Rawlins, a renowned therapist for families. Meanwhile, Detective Fitz Jameson is assigned to the investigation and dives into the lives of high-performing students who may be harboring dark secrets.

As Nell, Cynthia, and Fitz confront their own contributions to the tragedies and scandals that beleaguer them, their lives turn out to be more deeply intertwined than they'd ever imagined. And they must decide what lengths they're willing to go to protect the people they love while also saving themselves.

My Review: One of the things I can't stand in a book is completely unredeemable characters. If every character in the book is unlikeable it is really hard to keep reading, which was the case in this one. In addition all of the characters felt flat. The story is supposed to be about two missing teens but ends up being mostly about the adult characters and their abundant mental health issues. Overall this one was not for me.

*I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher. All opinions are my own.*