Black-Eyed Susans (Book Review) By Julia Heaberlin

Hello! Wow, this is my third book this summer!

Now this is they last book I will be reading this year and I am stoked to be leaving my reading with this book because it was really a stunning thriller. Elegant and paced like a good slow-cooker - you have got to be there for all the little details for the fantastic finish.

Again, my wonderful workmate Karen lent this book to me. All my reading pretty much comes from her, I'm young enough to be her daughter - she is so kind and fun to work with. Both of my shifts are with her which is great. On Thursday nights it's just us two so we can chat about the books we are reading etc she has the best taste. The books that she has lent me and that I have completed reading include GONE GIRL, REMEMBER ME THIS WAY, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN and BLACK-EYED SUSANS.

I read the blurb of this book and it instantly sounded very promising and boy did this stunning tale of suspense deliver.

"I am the star of screaming headlines and campfire ghost stories.I am one of the four Black-Eyed Susans.The lucky one. As a sixteen-year-old, Tessa Cartwright was found in a Texas field, barely alive amid a scattering of bones, with only fragments of memory as to how she got there. Ever since, the press has pursued her as the lone surviving “Black-Eyed Susan,” the nickname given to the murder victims because of the yellow carpet of wildflowers that flourished above their shared grave. Tessa’s testimony about those tragic hours put a man on death row.

Now, almost two decades later, Tessa is an artist and single mother. In the desolate cold of February, she is shocked to discover a freshly planted patch of black-eyed susans—a summertime bloom—just outside her bedroom window. Terrified at the implications—that she sent the wrong man to prison and the real killer remains at large—Tessa turns to the lawyers working to exonerate the man awaiting execution. But the flowers alone are not proof enough, and the forensic investigation of the still-unidentified bones is progressing too slowly. An innocent life hangs in the balance. The legal team appeals to Tessa to undergo hypnosis to retrieve lost memories—and to share the drawings she produced as part of an experimental therapy shortly after her rescue.

What they don’t know is that Tessa and the scared, fragile girl she was have built a fortress of secrets. As the clock ticks toward the execution, Tessa fears for her sanity, but even more for the safety of her teenaged daughter. Is a serial killer still roaming free, taunting Tessa with a trail of clues? She has no choice but to confront old ghosts and lingering nightmares to finally discover what really happened that night.

Shocking, intense, and utterly original, Black-Eyed Susans is a dazzling psychological thriller, seamlessly weaving past and present in a searing tale of a young woman whose harrowing memories remain in a field of flowers—as a killer makes a chilling return to his garden."

I stole that off goodreads, oops. But yeah that's the blurb of the novel and it really does leave a lot out which is a good thing! There were a lot of surprises and big reveals as all good suspense novels should.

SPOILER ALERT!

SCROLL DOWN TO THE FILM REEL IF YOU WANT THE SPOILER FREE STUFF!

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel however it was quite different to what I was expecting. This novel also uses the chapter by chapter narrative change like in all the popular thriller/suspense novels these days thanks to the success of Gone Girl - so one chapter would be told from the present day, Tessa. And the other chapter would be from 'Tessie' back in 1995 - her therapy sessions and leading up to the trial.

I really liked this chapter change because we got to see two sides of Tessa, when she was a teenage girl and now in the present, a single mother with her own teenager girl. I loved this dynamic and it also slowly put hte puzzle pieces together.

It was quite paced as in it was a bit more slow-cooked for a good majority of the novel but the end result lasted for a long time. I am still trying to process and accept the the big reveal. I always suspected Lydia was heavily involved with what happened to Tessa. Everytime Tessa mentioned Lydia and also all of Lydia's lines were very strange and she seemed to keep coming up even though she was someone from Tessa's past and the fact that they had basically nothing in common was even more interesting since they were best friends for 10 years all through school.

I guessed early on that 'The Doctor' was the killer, it wasn't obvious but there were enough hints planted to make a safe assumption.

I just never guessed that Lydia simply wanted the spotlight and attention to herself and that she spend 14 years of her life planning her perflect plot. It was scary how clever and well thought out everything turned out. Lydia literally got away with murder and got everything she wanted at the end, fame and recognition.

I found that so disturbing and infact this novel was really dark and had very surreal dream-sequences that I believe would translate really well as a film. It reminded me a lot of The Lovely Bones - quite dark and subburban. This novel is set in Texas and really emphasises that, I learnt a few things about Texas / southern-America.

If this novel were ever to turn into a film (which I really hope it does) - I really hope they cast Jessica Chastain as Tessa. As soon as I learnt in the novel that she was a track star during her school days and that she had bright red hair I immedietly thought of Jessica Chastain. They way Tessa is described in the novel just matches her so perfectly, she is even the right age range to be playing Tessa - and she is a fantastic actress who would be perfect for this dark gritty crime thriller.

I mean come on just look how beautiful she is and she looks like the 'mom' type.

I don't know if Jessica Chastain can do a Texas drawl or not but she can do a good British accent so maybe she is good with accents? Because the accents are quite important in this story.

And for Tessa's daughter I didn't really have any actress in particular that popped into my head, it is made clear however that Charlie (Tessa's 13 year old daughter) looks quite like her mother and so I remembered in Interstellar the girl who plays young Murph (young Jessica Chastain) would be perfect because in real life I think she is now only 15.

They really do look like they are related. She would be a perfect match for Charlie.

As for Lydia no one really came into mind either, shehad dark hair and more striking features. Apprently very attractive but because of herbizzare personality and mouter-mouth that kept the boys at bay.

And there we have it! If you are a Gillian Flynn fan this one is for you - this is a truly dark fairy tail-like story set in Texas. It's really wonderfully written, paced and really tastefully handled. It's quite recent as the pop-culture references and the technology used is very up to date with what is happenning now.

A truly elegent and bright gem of a thriller, really hope this novel gets the recognition it deserves.

Thanks for reading! Oh and it turns out I have one more book to read before I go to Japan! Karen has lent me another mystery crime thriller from a very famous author and one of her personal favourites. I'll be sure to write up a quick review on that one once I've finished it too!

#mahareads