3 out of 4 stars
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Pocket Dial by Sandy Magner falls into the crime fiction/mystery genre. This novel follows the story of Jennifer Burns, affectionately known as Jen. She is the mother of two teenagers, has experienced two divorces and has recently entered a relationship with Dylan, an extremely attractive young man, 15 years her junior. She falls under his spell, amazed that someone so gorgeous and youthful could like an older woman like herself.
One day, Jen’s cell phone rings. She recognises Dylan’s number and answers. He does not talk back. Realising he must have pocket dialed her number, she is about to hang up. Then she hears voices. She listens…and what she hears will change everything.
This story begins at the local station, where Jen has just endured three hours of relentless questioning by police. They want to know more about that phone call and believe it holds the key to their investigation. Dylan has been arrested for the suspected manslaughter of Tommy, his friend’s young son. Police believe that Jen is the only person, aside from Dylan, who truly knows what occurred that day. They want her to tell them what she knows, but Jen does not want to answer. She has many questions running through her head and needs time to think things through. Did she really hear what she thought she did? Could Dylan be capable of such a thing? If she tells the police the truth, will she lose Dylan forever? Contemplating this last question causes Jen the most distress. She finally feels happy with her life and is not particularly willing to give this up. Torn between her head and her heart, Jen must decide what to do.
To help guide Jen towards making the right decision, she seeks advice from those people closest to her: John, her ex-husband and the father of her children; Kat, her loyal, humorous and lifelong friend, and Lauren, her daughter, who is both intelligent and on the brink of adulthood. Pocket Dial invites the reader to follow Jen’s journey as she struggles to choose which path to take. Will she take the path of morality or the one of unconditional love?
When I first read the blurb, I was excited about reviewing this book. The plot sounded amazing and I could not wait to begin reading. The first few pages immediately grabbed my attention. The detailed description of what Jen was feeling during the interrogation, both physically and emotionally, allowed me to experience the hostile environment Jen was being subjected to. This was my favourite part of the novel. Unfortunately, from here on, the level of detail seemed to deteriorate.
Another feature I enjoyed was the way the author combined the present story with frequent reminiscence of the past. This was an effective way to provide the reader with a background of both Jen’s relationship with Dylan and some of the factors which had influenced her life choices.
Written in the first-person from the viewpoint of Jen, this book proved to be an easy read. The spelling was faultless, the style was fluent, and the book could be devoured in one sitting. There were, however, a few grammatical and formatting errors. The beginning speech marks were omitted once, as were the comma and space between the words “thisI“, which should have actually read ‘this, I’. Regarding formatting, one indent persisted throughout a complete paragraph rather than returning to a full-length sentence on the next line. There was also a paragraph that started with a double indent. Overall, these errors were infrequent and did not interrupt the flow of the novel. An additional mistake I noted was that, at one point during a conversation, Jen was referred to as Kat. I also found a possible contradiction in the story. Initially, Jen spoke of losing her innocence through date-rape, stating the perpetrator was a handsome basketball player. She sounded amazed that he had wanted to go out with her. Later in the story, however, Jen tells of losing her virginity to her boyfriend after being together for a year. Admittedly, I am unsure if ‘innocence’ referred to her virginity or not, but that was the way I read it. Further clarification about this would have been of benefit since it was relevant to the storyline.
There were a few aspects of the book that I struggled with. I found I had difficulty forming a bond with many of the characters. Even towards the end of the book, there was not one character I felt particularly close to or able to empathise with. This was a new experience for me and I felt somewhat disassociated from the story due to this lack of connection.
Jen was one of these characters. I can honestly say I have never been so frustrated by a protagonist. For the first half of the book, I thought she was a self-centred, immoral and generally pathetic woman. During the second half of the story, while I found her more tolerable, I still did not really warm to her. I think this was partly due to lack of depth when describing the protagonist’s thought processes and emotions. Jen’s reasoning seemed very superficial, leaving the reader without much insight into the inner turmoil and raw emotions someone in her predicament would (hopefully) be facing. A more detailed description of the rationales steering Jen’s choices may have enabled the reader to have more understanding and patience with this woman.
Kat was another character I had difficulty taking to. While she offered Jen guidance, I found her sense of humour somewhat distasteful. An example of this was during Kat’s conversation with her dog, Brandy. She would ask Brandy a question, then answer herself in a different voice to portray Brandy’s reply. When discussing Dylan’s arrest for Tommy’s manslaughter, Kat responded in her dog-voice, “Did he at least eat him after?”. While said in humour, I found this quite disturbing considering they were discussing the death of a child. I am unsure if this character’s purpose was to lighten the mood of the novel, but I found it ended up trivialising the gravity of the situation.
Unfortunately, I did not always find what I was looking for in this novel. I loved the basis of the plot and felt it had the potential to go in many directions. I expected the novel to be full of suspense, or maybe even a thriller, however, I found the story quite predictable and lacking in edge-of-your-seat moments. There were a couple of small twists, but nothing that made this story stand out from others I have read.
Overall, this book was a quick read with a well thought out plot, however, I felt the story could be improved with additional editing and more elaborate descriptions at certain points. While I enjoyed the book as a source of entertainment, I did not feel I was invested in the characters. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars, based on content alone. If I had been able to take a further half a star off for formatting and grammatical errors I would have, however, the story itself was better than ‘fair’, so to deduct a whole star would have been unjust. Pocket Dial would suit people seeking a crime fiction novel that contains minimal graphic content, mild levels of suspense and a more character-driven focus rather than one on the criminal investigation itself. This book also contains occasional mild sexual content and profanities. Readers seeking a fast-paced, gripping read, complete with graphic detail and in-depth detective work, would probably be better off giving this book a miss.
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Pocket Dial
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