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Digital Reads Reviews

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Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea

Digital Reads Reviews is a blog-haven for book posts and tech tips. This is a review of Twenty Years Later, a thriller.
twenty years later

Blurb

Avery Mason, host of American Events, knows the subjects that grab a TV audience’s attention.

Her latest story–a murder mystery laced with kinky sex, tragedy, and betrayal–is guaranteed to be ratings gold.

New DNA technology has allowed the New York medical examiner’s office to make its first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years.

The twist: the victim, Victoria Ford, had been accused of the gruesome murder of her married lover.

In a chilling last phone call to her sister, Victoria begged her to prove her innocence.

Emma Kind has waited twenty years to put her sister to rest, but closure won’t be complete until she can clear Victoria’s name.

Alone she’s had no luck, but she’s convinced that Avery’s connections and fame will help.

Avery, hoping to negotiate a more lucrative network contract, goes into investigative overdrive.

Victoria had been having an affair with a successful novelist, found hanging from the balcony of his Catskills mansion.

The rope, the bedroom, and the entire crime scene was covered in Victoria’s DNA.

But the twisted puzzle of Victoria’s private life belies a much darker mystery.

And what Avery doesn’t realize is that there are other players in the game who are interested in Avery’s own secret past–one she has kept hidden from both the network executives and her television audience.

A secret she thought was dead and buried . . .

My Review

What was it all about

Avery, the influential host who grabbed the most TRP for the latest season of American Events, was lured into another mystery when DNA found in rubbles of 9/11 was identified to be of Victoria Ford, a murder accused. 

Now twenty years later, Emma Kind, Victoria Ford’s sister, and Avery had to work together to prove her innocence. 

Weaved into this was Avery’s past that would have had a catastrophic result if exposed. 

Now it was up to Avery to traverse the minefield of professional and personal life with careful steps. 

How it made me feel

Excited, sitting at the edge of my seat, using all my free time to read the book or listen to the audio version. I was more or less obsessed with this book. 

9/11 was sensitively weaved into the story. I could still feel the overwhelming sadness and shock as I had experienced that day. 

The Good

The writing was top-notch, the way the author managed to link the subplots seamlessly was brilliant. There were many loose threads kept open, and I loved how those made me ponder about the conclusion. 

The audio version was wonderful with the narrator making the scenes come alive for me. Vivienne Leheny was absolutely wonderful, she kept me awake in the night, wanting to know what would happen next.

The last few pages of bringing together all the story arcs had me feeling a sense of awe. A highly intelligent brain could only keep track of all the scenes to bring them to the right conclusion. 

But the story was not done. The author then had to bring in a few shockers, including the very last chapter, that had me reeling. I was bamboozled. Whoa!!

The Bad

A very long book, I felt the tension was not uniform for me, a slight tweak in the pace would have helped me read faster. 

A couple of twists was guessed easily, but that was just me trying to go one-up on the author. I must have thought of all the wicked subplots barring the last one where the author won. It was perfect. 

The Conclusion

A must-read. A murder mystery with layers in plotlines, where personal and professional lives were intertwined, and the thrill and suspense were brilliant.

I loved it
4.5/5

Book Links

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Book Details

Publication Date: December 2021

I downloaded the digital version of the book from an online retail, and this is my journey down its pages, straight from the heart. STRICTLY HONEST and UNBIASED.

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