Second Life: A Novel

What a disappointment. Based on his first book, I pre-ordered this and paid $13 - what a waste. Utterly predictable, filled with awful people and unbelievable plotting. Julia is so unlikeable I didn't care what happened to her. Whining, self pitying, spoiled and weak. The bad guy is a Mr. Potato head of mismatched characteristics and her pathetic husband is just plain stupid- not a trait often found in surgeons. I finished the book because I'd paid for it - but it wasn't worth it.

While it was suspenseful there for a while, at the end of the day, the author took the easy way out. The protagonist didn't know who she was from the start, and never does really evolve. I kept waiting and waiting for her to gain strength and she doesn't. There are novels where cliffhangers like this one are powerful, make a statement or haunt us, but that is not the effect that's created here. Instead, I feel like the author didn't know what to do, so she took the easy way out in the hopes of being "artsy" but it didn't work. It falls short. It's corny, actually.

The protagonist is just so stupid and terrible and completely unsympathetic. I'm only halfway through and have zero suspense as to what will happen. Will follow up if I am surprised but wow so many bad decisions. I actually hope I don't waste any more time with this.

“Grief—is the most painful and universal of emotions. No one can live untouched by it, yet all experience it in profoundly different ways”. Welcome to SECOND LIFE where even the darkest secrets can’t stay buried forever and the past can rear its ugly head at the most inopportune time.

Julia, the protagonist of Second Life is a woman who is tough to like, but we become riveted by her questionable character: her lack of strength and common sense coupled with her lack of clarity of mind as she deals with past problems and addictions while searching for her younger sister’s murderer. Comparable to Gone Girl and Before I Go to Sleep, Watson’s book dissects the effects of Julia’s dysfunctional childhood and obvious lack of a moral compass on her seemingly happy marriage with drastic results.

Her husband, Hugh, is a relative zero in the sex and romance department and she finds herself drawn to Lukas, a guy she meets on-line while searching for clues to her sisters’ murder while at the same time mooning over her lost love, Marcus. Then there’s Anna, her sisters Paris room-mate whose support and guidance she seeks more and more, to the exclusion of her long time friends - - and let’s not forget Julia’s adopted son Connor – a typical 14 year old (which means he’s obstinate). Overall, I cannot name one admirable or relatable character in this tome (except perhaps Julia’s friend Adrienne). Everyone in this convoluted narrative has some sort of “axe to grind”. You can choose your poison, so to speak, from among this potpourri of bored adulterers looking for some extra-curricular sex, sociopaths, self-involved schemers, and implacable vengeance seeking betrayers.

This is a bottomless pit of coincidences peppered with a plethora of needy characters whose motives and excuses will leave the reader wondering “What are the odds of so many unsavory, screwed up people coming together” - - - but then again we have to remember that this is just the product of one writers vivid imagination and does not have to be grounded in an sort of reality.

The bottom line is this - - if you choose to abandon all logic and can become invested in characters possessing few redeeming qualities – you may enjoy S. J. Watson’s second offering in thrillers featuring a troupe of psychologically and emotionally impaired miscreants.

This is the kind of book that is both interesting and pretty frustrating to read. Why? Because right from the start did I feel that this story will take turns that would be almost painful to read. And, I was right. Not that the story was bad, not at all. It's an interesting story about a woman whose life is turned upside down when her sister is murdered and she tries to find how who killed her. And, discovering that her sister used to have cybersex leads her into a dark world.

Early on you get a feeling that Julia has a dark past, but the full truth won't be revealed until later on. She is not an unhappy woman, she has a good family life with her husband and son. Although it seems that her husband Hugh is perhaps not the love of her life does she love him. But, soon she learns of her sister's passion for online affairs through her sister's roommate Anna. And, shortly she is in way over her head.

I can't say that I fully enjoyed the story, I wished sometimes that I could step into the book and hit Julia in the head with the book and tell her to wise up, but I guess much of her decisions in born out of grief and guilt over her sister's murder. I think the best part of the book comes when she realizes how stupid she has been, it's then the book really becomes thrilling to read. The last part is truly gripping to read, right up until the ending, which in a way I hated, but also was impressed over. I hate open ended endings, but the last part was also very surprising. Some twist did I not see coming, other did I suspect. But, to end the book the way Watson did. Well, now that I have calmed down can I see the brilliance of it!

Thanks to Bazar Förlag for sending me a copy for an honest review!

I loved S J Watson's first book, great imagination, terrific premise. So when I saw his second book at the library a few days ago, I grabbed it. Couldn't wait to get into it. I won't go into the storyline - others have done that and I really hate when reviewers give away plot points that the writer obviously doesn't want divulged until one is well into the story.

Though I loved this tale, the writing, the characterization, the book nearly lost me half-way through. I had been enjoying it, but felt it was becoming repetitive, similar scene after similar scene - when was something more interesting and different going to happen? I really think S J could have removed maybe 50 pages from the book, and made it tighter, more intense, more compelling. I was at a point, thinking, "I'll just skim through the rest of it to find out what happens," when I also had the thought, "I enjoyed his first book so much, I might miss out on some great reading." So I persevered for another chapter or so. And I'm so glad I did! It began to return to the suspenseful, thrilling, exciting book that I'd expected from this writer.

I got to a point where I could not put it down. I had to find out how it ended. I sat in a coffee shop, ordering more coffee just to be able to sit undisturbed, while I ploughed through, experiencing one exciting moment after another. And then came to the conclusion. I would have liked a little more detail, less ambiguity. But I think we all know how it ends. I'd love to give him five stars, but I feel that if he were to re-edit the book and lose some of the repetition, it would be worthy then of the five. Because he's a terrific writer. I look forward to his next novel!