COLiN THE CATALYST THE CATALYST itibaren Tây Sơn District, Binh Dinh Province, Vietnam
The main character becomes fixated on her best friend back when she was 6 years old who had mysteriously disappeared from school one day. It turns out that she was a victim of a murder-suicide by her mother. An investigative reporter now, she tries to figure out what happened in the psyche of the mother and, in the process, has to deal with various present and past demons. This was a great novel - although the subject matter is hard to take at times. The parallels between the main character and the woman who committed murder-suicide are way too obvious. It would have been better if the parallels were a little more subtle because it's almost as if the author is insulting the reader's intelligence by making exact parallels and then re-stating those parallels numerous times. Yes, we get it, and we know you want us to wonder if the main character will commit murder-suicide just like Adele. That's my only complaint with the book. Other than that, it's great.