REVIEW: "A Stranger on the Beach" by Michele Campbell
I suck at meeting people for two primary reasons:
1) I'm shy
and
2) I don’t want to get murdered
I absolutely do not understand how some people have both the confidence and the energy to approach Total. Fucking. Strangers. and initiate a conversation.
Furthermore, how do they know that the people they choose to approach aren’t serial killers, hunting for their next victims?
I mean, I love Dateline, but I don’t want to end up on Dateline.
Were it not for school and, now, work, I would just sit alone in my house, single-handing a box of red wine and spending my every waking hour reading — which, come to think of it, doesn't sound like that horrible a life.
For me, a stranger on a beach would remain just that... a stranger on a beach.
I wouldn't approach him.
I wouldn’t talk to him.
And I certainly wouldn't take him home and fuck him.
That is one of the many ways in which I and the protagonist of A Stranger on the Beach differ.
In fairness, our protagonist, Caroline, might have been more willing to engage with a stranger than usual when she met this eponymous stranger, Aidan, at a bar.
Though she should be living her dream, finally taking up residence in a state of the art beach house, her life is pretty much in shambles.
Her husband, with whom she has always had a respectful — if not always sensual — relationship showed up to the housewarming party Caroline threw to celebrate their newly finished beach house with a woman she can only assume is his mistress.
And her daughter, who has long struggled with her mental health, has pretty much decided she no longer needs Caroline in her life, leaving this woman — who has always largely defined herself by her dual roles as wife and mother — without much of a purpose in life.
So when she meets Aidan, a sexy, young bad boy, she decides to let go of her inhibitions and spend a steamy night with him.
She expects that the rising sun will mark the end of their relationship.
She, after all, just needed to blow off some steam and he, she is sure, is likely accustomed to one night stands.
But Caroline’s expectations are proven wrong. In the light of day, their relationship doesn’t end, but, instead, grows inexorably more complicated.
The version you get of what happens from here would depend on who you ask.
Caroline insists that Aiden becomes infatuated with her, insinuating himself into her life despite her fervent efforts to end things with him.
Aiden, on the other hand, says that he and Caroline start a mutually agreed upon relationship. He loves her, he would admit, but she loves him right back and is grateful for the help and support he provides in this tough time.
But there is a storm on the horizon, both figuratively and literally, and when it arrives, it will bring with it serious, life-changing consequences.
So, this novel was pretty immediately engaging — which, in fairness, could have been enhanced by the fact that I was reading it with a glass of red on a beach.
But it wasn’t long into my read before I started to find it...confusing — which could also have been caused, at least in part, by my wine consumption.
Campbell told her story in an incredibly distinctive way, alternating chapters and presenting not just two different points of view, but two completely divergent versions of what happened.
I had not expected this going in, so it took me a bit of time to figure out what, exactly, was going on. Once I wrapped my alcohol-fuzzed head around it, though, I came to really enjoy it.
Telling the story in this way all but ensured that readers would become emotionally invested, regardless of which version of the truth they believed had more veracity.
One reader might see Caroline as a woman who, in a moment of understandable weakness, made the kind of decision that leaves you cringing the next morning and got pulled into Aiden’s web of obsession. At the same time, another reader could see Aiden as a damaged, quick-to-fall-in-love man who is being treated terribly by Caroline, the powerful, rich woman who clearly has some ill-intentions.
Unfortunately, my affinity for this book took a fucking nose dive when we hit the second part.
The second part, aptly titled “After the Storm” — much like the landscape of a coastal town after a big storm hits — was a fucking mess.
*Spoiler Alert*
This section should have been the most exciting part.
Now we had a crime
*Really, I’m not kidding, this is a spoiler*
Caroline’s husband is dead and it’s really not clear whodunit.
This situation is literary gold — rife with exciting possibilities.
But Campbell didn’t take time to capitalize off of them.
The whole section felt … rushed. It was as if the author — who, up to this point had expended great care building a reliable and engaging world — just wanted to finish the novel.
Along with moving the plot along at too fast a pace, Campbell completely abandoned the process of character development — something that, up to that point, had been a relative strength.
In this part, we were introduced to a cadre of new characters. And many of them — Aiden’s legal counsel and the pair of detectives assigned to investigate the situation — had the potential to be tremendously interesting. But they weren’t given the opportunity to shine.
They were paper dolls.
Flat.
Dull.
Boring.
Another point of frustration — and, God, I feel like I write this all the time — was the ending.
*Even More Spoilers...Big Ones*
As the book draws to a close we discover that — as I had kinda been predicting for most of the second half of the book — Caroline’s husband is, in fact, not dead at all. This Gone Girl-sy plan was really just all part of an elaborate ruse that would allow Caroline and her husband to escape with ill-gotten funds (something for which they are willing to sacrifice Aiden).
So, my issue with the ending wasn't its believability.
I totally bought that Caroline would seduce Aiden, hoping that — really, knowing that — he would play into her hand.
He was an idiot.
Most men are when under the influence of sex.
*End Spoilers*
My issue was that it, too, felt rushed.
It wasn’t that it was bad… it just wasn’t fully formed.
There were so many juicy plot avenues that went unexplored.
So many potential sources of conflict that weren’t fully utilized.
There was so much more Campbell could have done with the world she really effectively built.
When I set this book down, I found myself wishing that I could rewrite the conclusion, making it a better match to the admittedly strong start of this novel.
As it stands, though, this novel joins the too sizable list of books that come in with a bang and go out with a whimper.
It will do fine as a light beach-read, but won’t stick with you. It earns 3 out of 5 cocktails.
I’m super sick of books letting me down at the end. So, I’m turning to you, dear reader. What book do you think has the best ending? Tell me about it in the comments, below, because I want to add that puppy to my TBR.
On to my next read. Want to see what it is? Follow me, here.
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