Dream Girl- A Review and Author Showcase by Allison

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Dream Girl
Laura Lippman

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Crime Fiction

Harper Collins Publishers

June 22, 2021

320 pages

Goodreads | Amazon

I get super excited about books. Reading them, reviewing them, recommending them, you get the picture. I also get super excited about authors. Especially when I read a book by them, love it, and then realize they have two dozen more waiting for my sweet old eyes to devour.

I listened to Laura Lippman’s “After I’m Gone” when it came out in 2014. It was the first audio book I ever “read” and I instantly loved it.  It was the trifecta that we as book lovers are always seeking: interesting story that holds your attention, smooth, easy writing (in this case AMAZING narration) and believable characters you wish were real.

Since that story, I have read everything Laura Lippman has written. And she NEVER disappoints.

NEVER.

Like, EVER.

This story was no exception.

I will admit, I am not a huge fan of main characters who are male. Never have been.  And the fact that it was compared to Stephen King’s “Misery” actually gave me pause.  I like Stephen King, I just didn’t like that book.

So, I went into this book realistically thinking there was a chance I wouldn’t like it very much.

But friends, I am happy to report I was wrong.

Lippman writes in such a way that your brain needs a moment to catch up with what your eyes just read.  This affords the readers a lot of “wait…..omg, wait….what?” moments.

I love those moments.

Those moments where you have to lay the book down and just take a few breaths, maybe get up and walk around a bit and then settle back down.

This book centers around successful author Gerry Andersen who, after moving back to Baltimore from New York to help his ailing mother, finds himself bedridden after an accident at his townhome. (I’m sure you know where I am going with the “Misery” reference).

So, because my reviews do NOT include spoilers, all I can say is that Ambien is administered……. strange things begin happening……..all of the best Lippman twists show themselves…….and Lippman once again wows us. Effortlessly.

This story weaves between the present and the past -leading up to the present- which is my favorite kind of dual timeline. We get glimpses of Gerry becoming Gerry and the tribe that surrounded him through his life. In the present, he is surrounded by his assistant and a nurse, who are also very layered, complex women. When the twist hit, I didn’t even see it coming.

Not my favorite book of hers, but still a very solid, good read.  Would I have liked it more if the main character was female? Probably. Overall, I didn’t care for his over-sexed behavior or his philandering ways. I simply couldn’t relate to that behavior. But, Lippman was honest when she wrote this flawed character. He was certainly NOT a choir boy.

I also LOVE the fact that Tess Monaghan, the main character in Lippman’s ongoing Baltimore based series, has a cameo in this book. LOVED seeing her! (And if you haven’t read that series yet, gooooooooo. Start with 2009’s “Baltimore Blues”)

I would definitely recommend this to family and friends, and all who love a good twisty ride through Baltimore.

About the Author:

Novelist Laura Lippman isn’t interested in writing that sensationalizes crime. She says she aims to center her work in “a respect for victims.”

Since her debut in 1997, New York Times bestseller Laura Lippman has been recognized as one of the most gifted and versatile crime novelists working today. Her series novels, stand-alones and short stories have all won major awards, including the Edgar and the Anthony, and her work is published in more than 20 countries. A former Baltimore Sun journalist, she has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, O, The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Glamour and Longreads. “Simply one of our best novelists, period,” the Washington Post said upon the publication of the ground-breaking What the Dead Know. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her family.

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