Book 5 (2011): The Double Bind

The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian was good. I mean, really good. I want to say at about page 180 of the 356 page tome, I was starting to figure it out, but I wasn't sure how right I was. I don't want to spoil it, but I'll say that I am USUALLY pretty good at solving a thriller but this psychological thriller was one I pulled all the threads and was sort of right but there was enough mystery left that my jaw dropped at the end.

All that being said, I loved this psychological mystery. The main character, Laurel, was attacked when she was a student, living in Underhill, Vermont. Fast forward to 7 years later and she's a budding photographer, reclusive, dating an older man, living with her college roommate, and working at a homeless shelter. A homeless man dies and Laurel learns he, Bobbie Crocker, was a a photographer with a secret. As she attempts to solve the secret, she learns that Bobbie might have been a son to Daisy Buchanan, and her lover Gatsby. She travels to West and East Egg to... what?!?

West Egg? Daisy Buchanan? Jay Gatsby? Yes, these classic characters from the excellent novel (one of the best ever) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald come to life and become the center of the mystery at the heart of the novel The Double Bind. As Laurel gets deeper and deeper into Crocker's life and his photography, she becomes obsessed to finding the secret.

And the twist ending is amazing, creative, grabbing, startling and at the same time tragic.

I think all book lovers want their favorite novel characters to come to live so I especially love this novel because Gatsby characters mix and mingle on these pages with the modern day contemporary characters Bohjalian presents.

A deeply riveting psychological mystery that should be read in one sitting, because no one is going to want to set this aside until the last page is read! (384 pgs)

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