Title: Twenty-Seven Minutes
Author: Ashley Tate
Genre: thriller
Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.
Set in both past and present tense and starting with the death of Phoebe Dean, several lives are intertwined because of her loss. Her brother, Grant, was driving when Phoebe was ejected from his truck and killed. A friend, Becca, was injured in the back seat. And June’s brother, Wyatt, goes missing the same night.
As the story of what actually happened that night unfolds, we see just how tragic the event was. June and her mother were never the same, given June’s father left after Wyatt did, and neither returned. Becca never fully remembered that evening and has a lot of survivor’s guilt. And Grant chose to drown his memories in alcohol.
The author does a great job of shifting between the present and past timeframes, which all leads to a big reveal of just what happened that night. The only frustrating thing about this book was that the female characters were just awful. They nagged, were demanding, and generally insufferable. Not that the men were better, but I just am frustrated with books, particularly written by women, where the female characters are just negative stereotypes with no development.
Pleasant Nights 