Bonnie (Eve, Quinn and Bonnie #3)by Iris JohansenPublished October 18th 2011 by St. Martin's Press
The truth has eluded her for years. . . . Now is she ready to face it?
When Eve Duncan gave birth to her daughter, she experienced a love she never knew existed. Nothing would stand in the way of giving Bonnie a wonderful life---until the unthinkable happened and the seven-year-old vanished into thin air. Eve found herself in the throes of a nightmare from which there was no escape. But a new Eve emerged: a woman who would use her remarkable talent as a forensic sculptor to help others find closure in the face of tragedy. Now with the help of her beloved Joe Quinn and CIA agent Catherine Ling, Eve has come closer than ever to the truth. But the deeper she digs, the more she realizes that Bonnie’s father is a key player in solving this monstrous puzzle. And that Bonnie’s disappearance was not as random as everyone had always believed . . .
The Eve, Quinn and Bonnie Series
Eve (Eve, Quinn and Bonnie #1) by Iris Johansen {Purchase}
Quinn (Eve, Quinn and Bonnie #2) by Iris Johansen {Purchase}
My rating: 1.5 of 5 stars
This is the series that I have read the longest, at least a decade. I read all 11 of her Eve Duncan series and when the author announced that she’d be making a final trilogy to fully resolve everything, well, I was ecstatic. The Eve Duncan series chronicles a mother losing her child and never having the closure she needed, never knowing what happened to her, her daughter Bonnie simply disappeared off the face of the Earth. This kick started her career in forensic sculpting and she began helping other families who had lost children bring them home finally. So, this is essentially the conclusion to a 14 book series that I’ve read from the very beginning and loved. I had a lot riding on Iris Johansen being able to pull this off in making it feel the series came full circle and I wasn’t left with any nagging questions. I’m thinking I set the bar too high.
The writing seemed a bit too literal, especially since it’s such a long term series it seemed as if she was writing so that someone could jump into the series at any point and completely understand what was going on. I think people need to just read from the beginning so the author isn’t making statements like this:
”You’ve been trained in police sketching as part of your training, Eve.”
No shit? Trained as part of her training? Redundant much?
Bottom line, the constant repeating of everything that was gone over millions of times already was irritating. And I swear, the last 50 pages from the previous book were pasted at the beginning of this one. I appreciate the refresher but seriously?
The Ending
This is going to be one ginormous spoiler but I HAVE to say it. So if you haven't read this book yet and still have intentions of doing so? Stop reading now.
...I warned you
Okay so in the Eve Duncan series she’s doing her part to solve brutal crimes against children and all the while she fears that her daughter Bonnie suffered in the same manner. I expected it, I think we all expected it. What I did not expect was for her to turn her death into some fluffy bunny ‘oh everything’s okay because her death was an accident.’ And to top it off? She was IMMEDIATELY accepting of it after her YEARS of searching she’s just ‘okay’ in the blink of an eye. She didn’t even cry finally knowing what happened to her daughter. But that’s the real kicker. Bonnie’s ‘killer’ was her father’s uncle who was supposedly schizophrenic and had ‘demons’ who did things and he couldn’t stop them. So apparently the day that Bonnie was taken, the uncle saw that she was being followed by bad men so he decides he’s going to SAVE her so he shoves her in the TRUNK of his car and takes off. Oh yeah, by the way? It’s in the middle of summer. So she dies of heatstroke, the end. It was all one big accident…
Are you fucking kidding me?! I have nothing more to say… am just blown away at how her death was accepted as ‘okay’ because of course he didn’t mean to do it, that he had demons, that he was trying to save her. Well why the trunk? Why couldn’t she be thrown into the backseat? Ridiculous.
I have nothing more to say, but even if I did I don’t feel like wasting my time on this series anymore. It’s over, the big finale has been read after so many years of waiting, and I’m one seriously disappointed reader.
6 comments:
Wow that is quite the review. I have not read the series. Sounds like the end was such a bummer that i don't think I would want to delve into it. I am liking your Halloween theme on your blog!
Oh man, I have read almost all of these books and I'm pretty sure this one is sitting on my bookshelf but there is NO FREAKING WAY I can deal with that bizarre end to the Bonnie saga. What a ridiculous cop-out!
Ha ha!! Thanks SOOO much for revealing the end. I picked up the "Quinn" book in the airport (overseas), and the 2nd sentence was so poorly written that I almost put it down, but I'd shelled out good money and didn't have anything else to read. I had NO idea it was the middle book of a trilogy, or else would never have bought it. That's a cheap way to get readers to buy the next book. Anyway, the action part was pretty good, but the dialogs were unbearable -- I just skipped through them. I was annoyed because the book left out an enormous hole -- they supposedly find Bonnie's killer, and he's finally apprehended and sentenced to death, and then we have this sudden jump to everyone thinking the killer was Gallo -- I mean, if you hadn't read the other books, you wouldn't know. And THEN to leave the book at such a cliff hanger with no resolution to anything...
And there was not WAY I was going to buy another book from this author, or even borrow from the library - but was curious as to what really happened to Eve. Now I know -- thanks!
i couldn"t wait to read the final chapter and find out what happened to Bonnie. after years of anticipation. That was a Sick ending. pretty twisted and not what i expected. and you were right the character Eve after years of internal and external grieving she just kind of said oh well thats that. I hate when authors cant find a decent ending to their books and rush to the ending as if to say "Okay lets get this over and done with as soon as possible, enough already" so they throw in anything that comes in their head.
i couldn"t wait to read the final chapter and find out what happened to Bonnie. after years of anticipation. That was a Sick ending. pretty twisted and not what i expected. and you were right the character Eve after years of internal and external grieving she just kind of said oh well thats that. I hate when authors cant find a decent ending to their books and rush to the ending as if to say "Okay lets get this over and done with as soon as possible, enough already" so they throw in anything that comes in their head.
I listened to the Audio of the first book of the trilogy, "Eve", and it was my introduction to the story of Eve Duncan. I was interested to know the rest, so I checked out "Quinn" - but I couldn't force myself to read it. I was looking for a spoiler to tell me how Bonnie died, and I appreciate that you provided it. It sounds as if the author really let her readers down with this fizzle of an ending.
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