Stranger on the Shore

By now it is safe to say I can rely on Josh Lanyon to deliver a very cleverly woven mystery plot with just the right amount of romance. Stranger on the Shore sure is a page turner, but I don't think it is for everyone. Actually, the more novels by Josh Lanyon I read and the more I read other reviews, it's clear to me that one either loves Josh Lanyon's books or doesn't. Luckily for me, I am in the 'loves' part of the fence.

The real identity of Brian Arlington is obvious really early. There is no question on who is who, but there still is a nagging 'why?' and 'what happened exactly?' that makes you want to read more and find out how it all played out. While at first it all seems obvious, as you advance reading, the plot gets more complicated, there are new developments and a lot of new questions. I could not figure out exactly what happened and my suspects list was way off. And I really love that. Josh Lanyon managed to beautifully make me look the wrong way more than once so the conclusion was so much more surprising.

I didn't really like any of the Arlingtons, apart from Jarrett; and Brian, I guess. They were definitely the most likeable ones.

And then, of course, I liked Griff a lot, and I liked his reactions to finding out more and more about the subject of his book. He was struggling with it and I liked how natural it felt. His reactions were the exact kind I would expect from a genuine person.

And there's Pierce who I also liked a lot. Hotshot lawyer is my other character weakness and Pierce fit the bill perfectly. He was serious, suspicious, cold, but also kind, and good looking. What else could I ask for? That's the whole package right there.

I liked Griff and Pierce together. Their relationship evolved naturally, the focus was definitely not the romance and I wouldn't have it any other way, but as far as it went, I loved it. There was not too much of it, and not too little, just the perfect amount for this kind of plot.

Although I won't rate it 5/5 because I had trouble to really get into it, Stranger on the Shore is a really good novel. It really kept me guessing and glued to every page.