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Book Review of Back to the Garden: A Novel

Back to the Garden: A Novel
cyndij avatar reviewed on + 1032 more book reviews


I did not care for the dual timeline much, especially at first. I got used to it, but for the first third I really didn't care about the minutiae of life on the commune, I wanted to know more about Laing's investigation. And then it sort of clicked why King did it that way, and I knew the identity of the victim and the murderer. I don't know if King intended readers to pick up on the clues that early, but there really wasn't much suspense after that. Oddly enough I didn't feel it slowed it down more. I liked Laing - I've seen comments that she's much like King's earlier protagonist Kate Martinelli, but I don't remember that series very well so I can't say. I did think she was too cliche - maverick wounded cop with an almost superhuman skill, sidekick internet hacker person, older wise mentor, etc. But all in all, it did keep me reading. I'm giving it a solid B. Looks like the start of another series and I'd read the next.