I had high hopes for this one. The premise of having a serial kidnapper, the Gemini thief, who takes boys every June and keeps them for 13 months is an intriguing one. The blurb about the book tells you that Thea Delacroix suspects that her father is the kidnapper. That right there, told me it wasn't him. That would be way too obvious.
Unfortunately, this one was disappointing for me. The way the story is structured was a little confusing and I did not connect with any of the characters. Most of the characters are young people and they seem to be solving this case on their own. No one seems concerned by that. There were a number of things that seemed unrealistic.
There are letters throughout the book written by Aulus, Thea's cousin who goes missing. The good thing about these letters which are called the "Elizabeth Letters" is that they give insight into what is happening to the boys that are in captivity. Not until the end do we know why they are called the Elizabeth Letters and who they are written to. That connection also didn't make sense.
There is also a chapter at the end that makes this story seem like it might be based on a true story. I don't believe that it is, but it is a bit misleading. The book ends with an interview with one of the June Boys. The interview seemed to be mostly about how God is in his life and it was a bit preachy. I have no issue with spirituality and faith being part of someone's experience, but this could have been done way better. The publisher is a Christian publisher and it felt like, this had to be added in for the book to be published. The ending of the book could have had much more impact on the reader as a thriller.
Overall, I felt let down by this one.
Bookworm Rating: đđ
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