Someone Like Me

This is a snappy, intriguing plot idea that gets bogged down by its excessive length. If you're going to write a supernatural thriller that borrows heavily from everything from Jekyll & Hyde to Rose Madder, keep it moving. And above all else, don't frustrate your readers with e-x-t-e-n-s-i-v-e inner monologues where the characters mull over their own cluelessness. About five minutes after Jinx was introduced, we all saw where this was going - skip to the further developments!I actually liked the development of Beth's character in many ways (the idea that umpteen iterations of being murdered would make you wiser and craftier, but also violent and psychopathic, the interesting take on Capgras syndrome), but she became increasingly stupid in a way that undermined suspension of disbelief. I guess some of it can be played off by her literal and figurative intoxication with having a body again, but I found it real hard to swallow her blunders like extensively keying a car *after observing there are security cameras,* keeping souvenirs of a killing and then *using the victim's cell phone from her own house,* and the cockamamie plot of the climax, which hangs together as well as the Underpants Gnomes' strategic vision statement.On top of that, Liz is such a dumb useless doormat I found myself rooting for the bad guys a couple times!To sum up: there's a very fine line between characters with Fatal Flaws and an Idiot Plot.Also, the incessant Britishisms are sloppy and distracting. “Washing up” instead of “doing the dishes,” “lounge” for “living room,” slight variations on prepositional phrases that jump out as stilted in ostensibly Pittsburghian mouths - it goes to show that “write what you know” is a cliche for a reason.Despite these irritants, I did find the story and some of the characters enticing. I wanted to know what happened next. And to be honest, I'm probably being extra harsh because this is [a:Mike Carey 9018 Mike Carey https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1334894864p2/9018.jpg], who can do SO much better than this!