‘Say You’re Sorry’ a creepy read
Serial killer thriller is perfectly imperfect.
Readers looking for a female-led thriller that will keep your pulse racing may be drawn to Karen Rose’s “Say You’re Sorry,” the first in the USA TODAY best-selling author’s Sacramento series (Berkley, released Tuesday). But if you’re assuming the speedy murdermystery from the romantic suspense novelist will illicit a similar experience to plowing through a Gillian Flynn novel (a la “Gone Girl” or “Sharp Objects”) you’d be both right … and sort of wrong.
Rose’s serial-killer story begins with the torture of a woman named Miriam, told from the point of view of the man inflicting the pain, who has a penchant for carving letters into his victim’s bodies. But the protagonist of this story is Daisy Dawson, the rapist/killer’s next victim, who manages to escape his grasp and snatches Miriam’s locket in the process, which holds a mysterious connection to a cult that Special Agent Gideon Reynolds has been trying to track down for more than a decade. Daisy and Gideon embark on a mission to find the cult and unearth the killer, all while he stalks them in return.
Upon reading a summary of this book, it’s clear the reader is heading on a disturbing roller coaster. The book takes on such tough topics as the serial killer, the cult – plus alcoholism, child molestation, kidnapping, sexual harassment and rape.
Rose also throws in a romance that includes racy and vivid sex scenes, more often than not at a time where it couldn’t make less sense that the characters would be in the mood. This is so much the case that there is a dialogue between the lovers regarding why on earth they want to have sex when they are both in hysterics (literally, taking turns crying) as yet another graphic murder is unearthed. Of course, they do it anyway.
Like in many of Flynn’s works, Rose has a female character leading the charge, and the heroine isn’t without her flaws, though it’s fair to argue Daisy comes pretty close. She’s beautiful, charitable, kind, loving, an athlete and an artist. Anything else? Yes, she’s great at puzzles and great in bed and can fire a gun with better aim than an FBI agent. So, Rose makes her a recovered alcoholic; a plot that seems like an afterthought with a few obligatory mentions throughout reminding the reader that she isn’t perfect.
If all this sounds like a lot, it’s because it is, but remember, “Say You’re Sorry” is the first in a series, so that could explain the clunky back stories.
One thing fans of Flynn’s and similar works will find familiar with “Say You’re Sorry” is the pace. To call this book a page turner is an understatement, but does that make it easy to race through it? Not quite. Similar to the creepy “Sharp Objects,” even horror aficionados may need to put the book down from time to time because it’s just that disturbing. Plus “Say You’re Sorry” diverts from similar tales by the sheer fact that it’s more than 600 pages. Every 100 pages, you need to take a breather to remind yourself there is hope outside this dark world that Rose has created.
At the end of the day, Rose’s “Say You’re Sorry” delivers on the promise of a pedal-to-the-metal thriller with plenty of developed characters and converging mysteries. But is it the quick, creepy read that Flynn has perfected? Not exactly.