Official Review: The Four Red Roses by Francis Carr

[Saint Bruno]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Four Red Roses" by Francis Carr.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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John Martin didn't expect anyone phoning him at 2.30 a.m. to be calling with good news, but he never expected it to be about his wife's death in a ghastly road accident. Hence, John has to travel to Aubervet, France, to identify his wife's corpse and bring her remains back to England.

In Aubervet, John could sense that the town's citizens were all afraid of something or some people. His late wife's laptop was missing, and it seemed like the authorities were too eager to conclude the formalities for him to leave the town. After a trainee priest secretly handed John a flash drive and told him it was from his wife, John began to suspect that there was more to the reported accident than he knew. What information does the flash drive contain? And what is really going on in Aubervet? The answers to these questions will change John's life and those of the people of the small town forever!

The Four Red Roses by Francis Carr is a 207-page crime thriller with a strong theme of retribution. The author uses the third-person perspective to provide an intriguing narration that will surely thrill anyone who reads this novel. The book also highlights some of the ills in our society, like extortion, corruption, and occultism. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel and wish to share my experience through this review.

What I enjoyed the most about this book is the author's impeccable attention to detail. In many instances, I wondered how a character pulled something off and immediately got an explanation for it. It was as if the author knew what I was thinking. In some novels, the author bores readers with procedural descriptions, so I am happy to report that it is not so in this book. The descriptions in this novel are easy to follow and understand.

Furthermore, I enjoyed the book's characterization. Though I wished for more backstories of the main characters, I must commend the author for only letting me know as much as I needed to know. The author didn't dwell on unnecessary descriptions and characters. This move helped to keep the book concise and fast-paced. There wasn't a dull moment from start to finish and any cause for confusion in the author's narration. The author also maintained a balanced number of characters throughout the novel and only introduced a new one where it was necessary. I couldn't believe how much I feared for the protagonist's safety and had to take short breaks to cool off from his nerve-wracking escapades.

I also like how the book ended without leaving any unanswered questions. However, the route the author took to provide the novel's satisfying end is too straightforward for me. I expected some bottlenecks and challenges or twists that would lead to a more explosive climax. Nevertheless, this issue didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book, but I am sure that my reading experience would have been more exciting if there were unpredictable twists and turns.

To conclude, I am awarding The Four Red Roses 4 out of 4 stars. Considering how much I enjoyed reading the novel and its satisfying end, I couldn't deduct a star just for the excusable negative I raised above. The book seems professionally edited and only has a few errors. Therefore, I am happy to recommend it to lovers of fictionalized crime stories with resourceful characters. However, readers who are disturbed by descriptions of people dying should beware of such contents in the book. Otherwise, I wish you a fascinating experience reading this one.

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The Four Red Roses
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[Bookishkrish24]

Your review held my interest in reading this book. Thanks for a thorough review.

[jomana_3]

I really loved your writing style, and you succeeded in arousing my curiosity. The book looks interesting.

[NetMassimo]

This seems an intriguing thriller that addresses problems that are significant in our society. Thank you for your great review!

[Excel 2021]

This sounds like a beautiful and well-written crime thriller. And i like that all lose ends where properly tied.

[Rayah Raouf]

Thank you for your review. It sounds like an interesting book! Will be sure to check it out

[shreyagupta]

The plotline sounds amazing, and your review has me hooked. The book sounds like an interesting read and I will definitely check it out. Thanks for the review!

[Kelyn]

"Though I wished for more backstories of the main characters, I must commend the author for only letting me know as much as I needed to know."

This would have been a HUGE detriment to the book for me. One of my favorite things in books is getting to know the characters, backstories included. I'm all for avoiding unnecessary descriptions (one of my pet peeves), but I don't really include telling the reader about the characters as that. At any rate, thanks for the thorough review!

[Raluca_Mihaila]

I love a good fast-paced book that answers all your questions in the end. I will definitely add this to my list. Thank you for this engaging review and your great recommendation!

[Mtibza eM]

A book that has a great characterisation is just my cup of tea. Thank you for sharing the review.

[Augustqueen2021]

This book sounds amazing. I love the fact that it has direct description. Your always looking for an answer to a mystery, and that’s the best part of any amazing book. Just the title of the book just sounds intriguing.

[Tarilan]

Your review has elicited the love for crime thrillers in me. Something big must have happened to leave the people of Aubervet in fear. Am glad you enjoyed it and that the end was satisfying. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Yvonne Monique]

I love how you transmit your enthusiasm for this book. Great review!

[Josephe-Anne]

What an intriguing title! I wonder what the four roses represent? I especially like how creepy, yet artistic the cover image is!
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I agree with your point that the plot should have had a few twists and turns to keep you guessing, but I am still interested in reading the story.

Thank you for a detailed review.

[Rwill0988]

I've just started to enjoy reading mystery novels. This sounds like one I should be adding to my list. Thank you for including the warning about description of death scenes. From your review it wouldn't prevent me from reading the book but I like knowing. Do you think this book is a stand alone or will it lead to a series?