REVIEW OF JOSS LANDRY’S MIRROR DEEP Twists, shocks, a fab page-turner To me, as a reader,...

Twists, shocks, a fab page-turner

To me, as a reader, there’s nothing more important than a dose of reality in a book. Even though books cover a period of hyperreality, I like to feel it’s possible. And that’s something that Joss Landry managed to do in her novel, Mirror Deep. Not only did she keep me engrossed from start to finish; so much so that when life got in the way and I had to stop reading, I sulked! But also, I liked her style, the characters and the backdrop.

I’ve read a few stories with horse stables as the backdrop, but never one with murder and intrigue. The soft yet strong, elegant but powerful creatures and the equestrian events that Landry details are just the perfect interlude from murder and mayhem.

The story centres around Kat; at first, she seems a bit of a spoilt rich kid as well as a horse whisperer. Then we have Pierce, Kat’s second-cousin; slightly arrogant, very handsome but at heart, a good guy. Kat’s life tumbles to a halt when she learns she’s adopted and while Landry handled the despair and confusion of someone learning such a fact about themselves with great care, I liked how it was all turbo-charged. Murder, mischief and chaos ensue, enough so that you don’t really have a clue as to the real culprit and with all these doppelgangers roaming around, you have to wonder if there was some kind of genetic experiment going on at the time lol. But the result is far from far-fetched and again, exciting to read.

The characters aren’t empty air-heads and while there are quite a few, Landry makes them all real. Like-able and dislike-able. And Kat is so down to earth that you can’t help but feel for her and I don’t always empathize with characters; but I could with Kat and Pierce too. Especially the latter’s dilemma in regards to his own family and protecting those in his circle.

I like how real she made it feel; how possible it all was (even if it is improbable. Although in today’s society, who knows?!) All in all, a jolly good read. Would recommend easily. 5 stars. http://dlvr.it/3xZvpg