Catherine (alternativelytitledbooks) - behind yet again!!'s Reviews > A Very Bad Thing

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and J.T. Ellison for an ARC of this book!**

Columbia Jones: with a splashy name like that, she just SOUNDS like a superstar...and her legion of loyal devotees would certainly agree. As the author of 20 bestselling titles, who also has a film adaptation of one of her works on the horizon, her career trajectory is rocketing the author straight into the stratosphere. Her daughter Darian works as her publicist and de facto 'wingwoman' of sorts, helping to keep the crowds at bay and her events running smoothly, despite lingering concerns of an overzealous 'stalker' fan on their heels. But on the final stop of her book tour, nobody is more surprised than Darian when one particular face in the crowd makes her mother go white...and drop to the floor.

After the hospital runs some tests, her collapse is chalked up to exhaustion and lingering jet lag and she is released to spend the night back at the hotel. Unfortunately for Columbia, perhaps she SHOULD have spent at least one night in the hospital; the next morning, Darian arrives at her mother's room to wake her up...but instead finds her in a pool of blood. Darian is horrified, heartbroken, and at a complete loss, and she isn't the only one baffled and terrified to hear the news. Columbia had hired journalist Riley to follow the tour and pen a piece about Columbia's life...a life that now has been coincidentally cut short. But when Riley the journalist finds out she's being called to the reading of Columbia's will, it seems like Columbia had a bigger reason for choosing her to write this particular 'no holds barred' account of her life...and that Columbia may have been hiding something from her daughter Darian, too.

With Detective Sutcliffe on the case along with the two women who seem poised to inherit Columbia's fortune, can this unlikely trio dig far beneath the surface of the fortune and fame AND glitz and glamour to find out who the REAL Columbia was...before it's too late? And more importantly, WHAT in her past could have led her to set out on an entirely new course...and have left such a dangerous enemy who would stop at nothing to 'end her story'...for good?

J.T Ellison has quite a bit in common with our MC, Columbia Jones...so in some respects, I'm sure this character was a bit of fun to write. After all, Ellison has THIRTY novels under her belt, and although she may not have a Spielberg-helmed film in the works (yet!) her works have been optioned for television (and let's hope that one day, ONE of these myriad projects gets made!). In so many ways, Columbia is larger than life and her character was a LOT of fun to read, not to mention intriguing...but there's a slight problem with starting the book off with such a loud and impressive BANG.

When the most interesting and readable character ends up getting killed off in the first 10% of the book...chances are good I'm going to be looking at my watch, tapping my foot, and rolling my eyes a LOT from thereon out...and when it came to a Very Bad Thing, this rule proved to be about as reliable as Greenwich Mean Time.

It's not to say that there aren't any other interesting characters in this book...or rather, the POTENTIAL for interesting characters. But between just keeping track of them all, their place in the plot, and the constant discussions about what was going on (or not going on) with Columbia's will, I just felt a strong sense of disconnect. This is a thriller that is very intent on providing the promised twists, and it does...but the machinations involved to get there just weren't that interesting. This is hard to discuss while remaining spoiler-free, but after a WHOPPER of an introductory chapter (sadly, my favorite part of the whole book - I honestly thought after reading that intro ALONE this would be a 5 star read! Talk about whiplash...😔) there is a tonal shift, where the sort of 'bad girl/unreliable narrator' energy is lost and it instead delves into more of your standard murder-mystery with a HEAVY dose of family drama and the requisite 'mysterious past' of our beloved Columbia Jones.

...Which WOULD have been okay (EVEN with multiple narrators) to take a peek behind the curtain at all that got Columbia to her breaking point and her convoluted journey to get there (again, no spoilers!) if not for a couple of other issues. First up? This book utilizes a device that can either function as satisfying, intriguing, and multilayered, or messy, boring, and disjointed: the oft dreaded "Book within a Book." Of course, with Columbia Jones being an author, it comes as no surprise that we are treated to this manuscript of sorts...but it also felt more like a distraction at times rather than a juicy glimpse into a private journal. I honestly think Ellison gave away some of her twists (or alluded to them) a little TOO clearly with this device, and it sort of took the 'oomph' out of a few of the surprises left in store. I'm not sure if it could have been eliminated entirely, but chapters kept popping up sporadically throughout, and I think it could have made greater impact if it was sort of a 'one and done' reveal with lots of chapters presented at once...and then we could sort of 'close the book' and move on.

Sadly, this brings me to my biggest issue with this book, and it should have been an obvious deal breaker before I ever cracked the (digital) spine - this thriller clocks in at nearly 500 PAGES. 😨 I'll be honest, the number of thriller or even horror books....or frankly, ANY books aside from classics, HF, or fantasy that NEED to be 500 pages is pretty minute. Despite Ellison's best efforts to keep the pace a-jumpin', I can't even count the number of times I thought "When is this just going to be OVER?"...and not because I was desperate for a dazzling denouement. And frankly, I'm glad I wasn't, since the third act of this book and the epilogue was far more dull than dazzling. Luring all of your characters to one location for the big showdown? Yawn. 🥱 It's not often that I bump my rating down based on page count alone, but when 1/5 or more of the book could have been eliminated without consequence, it sort of tells me everything I need to know. I just am not one for filler in a book that is supposed to feel this twisty and exciting, and sadly, I think my excitement sort of died along with Columbia.

And while Columbia Jones may have done a Very Bad Thing, I think by choosing to stick this one out until the very end...I may have done something even worse.

😣

3.5 stars, rounded down from 4