Closet Full Of Bones

This book is definitely not the genre of choice for my pleasure reading but once in a while I leave my normal reading pattern just to break the monotony. Closet Full Of Bones was a great read, kept me entertained and guessing every step of the way, and delivered that "twist" at the end that I had no idea was coming. I've never heard of the author but like their style of writing and would probably read more by them.

Aalto definitely uses her voice well to flow through a "who is the mysterious stranger harassing me" story. The book read quickly, and it did its job of making people question what they knew about what was going on as she wove her story to its conclusion. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read stories of this genre.

•••NOT for the homophobic, transphobic, closedminded, or faint of heart!•••

I am fairly certain this is a stand alone novel. If it isn't I will be pleasantly surprised :)

Gillian is her sister's keeper in more ways than one. Frankie is flighty and fragile and impossibly optimistic... She refuses to see the flaws in people until it is way too late. Between her grief and her injuries it is a wonder Gillian can even take care of herself, much less clean up Frankie's messes. Maybe one day she will have the strength to make her sister deal with her own problems all by herself.. But that's doubtful. For as long as she can remember Gillian has been keeping her sister's secrets and cleaning up her messes. Can she resolve this latest crisis without compromising herself more? Why is Bobby back? What does she want? Why can't Frankie ever just make the right decision in the first place? How much longer will they be able to hold everything together? Will her dream of a Bed and Breakfast become a reality? Or will it become a scrapped dream? How can these things keep happening? How much more unstable can Bobby really be? Will she crack and destroy everything?

***This is a dark psychological thriller full of action, suspense, deep dark secrets and hidden motives sure to keep you in the edge of seat for the entire time! Suitable for adults who enjoy horror and suspense as well as unconventional antiheroes :)

My Impressions: The character of Gillian has a very unique voice…an odd mixture of sarcasm and macabre which is what first peeked my interest. Lots of characters (too many, I think) and we see a variety of different POVs. The characters are introduced fairly quickly. I had to make a list to keep them straight since I had no way to know who was important and who wasn’t.

Bones, Thugs-n-Disharmony: OMG…Frankie has no normal people around her besides her sister. Which begs the question…Is Frankie normal herself? She has to be a little nuts to attract the crowd that she does. Travis, the crazy stalker ex. she just broke up with won’t leave her or Gillian alone…non-stop phone calls, texts, creepy notes, home invasions, etc. But the sisters hesitate to call the police because of Mike, a previously abusive ex-fiance’ of Frankie’s, whose disappearance and presumed death the sisters’ are implicated in. (The body was never found). Aaron, yet another crazy ex-boyfriend of Frankie’s has transferred his weird affections to Gillian and thus she acquires a stalker ex that’s not even hers! And still that’s not all. There’s also Henry, Frankie’s gambling ex-husband (he’s a loon too). And last but not least, toxic ex-friend Bobby, the only female of the group, but no less certifiable. She too, has a weird fixation on Frankie.

All of Frankie’s relationships are unhealthy in some weird or bizarre way. Even her relationship with Gillian. She is totally co-dependent and Gillian is an enabler. Neither makes any attempt to cut the cord…which results in tragedy. The whole situation could have been avoided with some tough love early on. But alas, I digress.

Twisted Logic: It becomes more and more difficult to have sympathy for either Frankie or Gillian because so much of their increasingly precarious situation(s) is self-inflicted…brought on by not just one, but a long string of inexplicably stupid decisions. A level of stupid which cannot be explained away by fear, intoxication, naiveté or any one of a hundred legitimate excuses. They just do stupid things for no reason….either that or they are both mentally impaired.

Why is Gillian buying pain-killers on the black market when she could simply get Vicodin, Codeine…and any other pain-killing cocktail from a pain management doctor legally with a prescription and as many refills as she needs? I get that she’s kinda hooked on them, but still she has a chronic condition (shoulder injury) which causes pain…not to mention the migraines on top of that (which are also a very legitimate reason by any medical standards for a prescription.) Makes no sense to me. Ok, perhaps there are no migraines…and the headaches are really just withdrawal from her pill habit. That would make more sense actually. Also, why is she buying a gun illegally??? Why not just get a permit to carry and purchase a legal firearm??? There is a guy actively stalking her and her sister?? There’s evidence (text threats, phone calls, hand-written notes)…and the dude has a prior record of stalking his ex-wife. Call the bloody police and get a restraining order. Hell, Gillian is the widow of a police officer killed in the line of duty for goodness sake! They would probably help her shop around for the right gun. Even if she shoots the guy…who’s going to question it with his record? They’d probably throw her a party.

And Frankie makes even less sense. Her bohemian flightiness can only account for so much. Why would she write down details of a manslaughter and body dump in her diaries??? And then not hide or destroy them when she knows that this crazy ex-boyfriend knows about them…and the manslaughter? They’re just lying around her place waiting to be stolen. (Ever heard of a safe deposit box?) Why does everyone and their dog know that Frankie keeps a diary…knows where they are…and have easy access to her house?? Everyone except the people who should logically know. The police obvious don’t know because they didn’t ask to see them during the original investigation. And Gillian, her sister, doesn’t appear to know even though she is the one who originally gave her the first one as a gift. Their relationship is such that they are very tight, Frankie is highly dependent on Gillian, calls her for everything, blah blah blah…yet she doesn’t know she keeps a diary? But some boyfriend who’s only been around a few months knows? Bobby, the drunken basket-case friend, knows. *Shakes head* How is Frankie not already the victim of crime with her dangerously open lifestyle?

The Creep Factor: Very high. As far as the characters go, I don’t know who was the creepiest…Aaron, Travis or Bobby! Honorable mention goes to Mrs. Blymhill, a horder who collected dead rats and kept jars of her own urine. (Of course, to be fair it would have been even creepier if the urine *hadn’t* been hers. ewww!) In addition to the characters themselves, there’s an oppressive atmosphere to the entire story. The foliage, soil, and the weather. Just the way the author describes things are disturbing in a subtle way. Gillian’s weird fixation on a certain type of rose and her visits to different sites in the woods marked by the roses…totally gave me the creeps. Gillian works as a groundskeeper at a graveyard/cemetery, so throw that in the mix…*shudder*.

Random Thoughts:
1. I almost wish there was a supernatural element to this story, because otherwise I have to keep reminding myself that this is just a book.
2. Why on earth does everyone have their sights set on either Gillian or Frankie? Are they the only two women in town?

The Verdict: The goings-on in the book are morbidly fascinating…and with the exception of a few too many typos, very well written. It will certainly please the lovers of macabre mystery thrillers.

Although it is difficult to tell from the first few chapters, this book is the story of Gillian and Frankie, sisters who are very close. Frankie is the flighty one, beautiful and always choosing the wrong man. Gillian is more steadfast, the widow of a cop.

There are skeletons in these sisters' closets, and danger in their present, but from whom? Is it Bobby, the neurotic former friend of Frankie with the need to be needed? Or Aaron, the coworker of Gillian with a huge and inappropriate crush on her? Or from Travis, Frankie's controlling ex-boyfriend? Or even someone else?

Full of complex characters, and story-lines this is a compelling mystery with an unexpected conclusion.

What a convoluted, tangled situation! Aalto does a great job presenting the mystery and doling out clues. Without spoiling anything, its safe to say that everybody has a skeleton in their closet and everybody lies about something, making sympathetic characters hard to come by; but those that are you really want to be innocent. Good read!

Clumsy, convoluted story line. Unnecessarily repetitive in places. Some characters implausible, some dialogue improbable, some responses unlikely. The most consistent problem is that if something can be clearly and easily explained or described in ten words, this writer will use thirty. This is the sort of book that requires effort to read, not the sort where reading is pleasurable.

When the author, A. J. Aalto, offered me Closet Full Of Bones in return for a review, I couldn’t say no, I mean, how could I? Just look at the title! It was the title, rigged with the anticipation of mind boggling suspense, add to that the summary, that piqued my curiosity. I was really keen on reading it and when I finished, I was glad I agreed to review the book!

The Hearth sisters, Gillian and Frankie, have just bought a beautiful house by the bay, soon to be opened as a Bed and Breakfast for artists and writers and as they eagerly look forward to indulging in the process, an ex boyfriend spoils it all by constantly harassing Frankie, the younger of the two. As the situation turns from bad to worse, they are forced to hire a private investigator. But its not that the Hearth sisters are themselves completely innocent, they have some buried skeletons of their own in their closet (or not!). But they fear their safely guarded secret might spill out when they realize they have to be completely honest with the PI.

Yes, probably I’m not doing enough justice to the summary, but trust me, it is on purpose. If you are an old reader of my reviews, you’d probably know how I hate giving out details and spoiling the fun for you. So read the book and you will understand what I tried to do here.

Closet Full Of Bones is really intriguing and absorbing. I especially have to applaud the narrative skills of the author. It was beautifully descriptive, playful with words. The story took its time to set the scene in the beginning but having read the summary, I stuck on eagerly to find out what the sisters were hiding. There is a slow (and by no means boring) but steady pace that builds the suspense and I especially loved the style in which the facts were stated first and the reasoning followed later.

The characters were believable – strengths, flaws et al. I guess I would recommend this book for the plot and the writing style, as mentioned earlier, I am a fan!

Last word. A thrilling, edgy story with a nail biting climax, must not be missed!

After reading Aalto’s Marnie series, I wasn’t sure how this story would be. Holy Moly! Two sisters with so much to hide. Yet, planning for a future that inevitably would not happen. Lots of twists and turns. Keeps you invested until the very end trying to guess who did or does or even knows what is happening!

A great read. The truth of the bonds between sisters and the dedication of friends is woven perfectly into a classic "who done it" without the real culprit being unmasked until the end. And no, it wasn't who I thought it was.

I truly cared about the Harth sisters from the beginning and wanted to untangle their many secrets. The story was as addictive as Gillian's unfortunate habit. And the finale was jaw-dropping. I don't want to drop any hints about the book, except that you should read it and share it. Just make sure to have 5 hrs of time to finish it at one sitting, because you can't put it down. I will be following Ms. Aalto's work from now on.