Four Found Dead

By now I have read several of Natalie D. Richards books and they never fail to keep me on my toes and surprise me. It begins with Jo working her final shift at the movie theatre with her ever so fun boss (eye roll) Clayton, and her coworkers: Hudson, Hannah, Naomi, Quincy, Summer, and Lexi. The lights went out…when they come back on will anyone be left alive? Although this was a thriller and read like one, I found I was more drawn to character relationships than the thrill of who dies and who doesn’t. My favorite character was Jo without a doubt. Jo had the backstory the rest of them needed to be interesting. Everyone else just annoyed me more or less except for maybe Qunicy (ok and Hudson when his character was more fleshed out). I will admit some of the deaths felt stupid and unneeded. I understand the book is called Four Found Dead, but I stand by that some of them died needlessly. Really the whole story wasn’t what I hoped it would be. Secrets can make or break a story and this secret just made me shudder and not in the oh this is an awesome thriller type way. Although I did not like all the characters, I certainly felt sorry for them. They were background characters in Jo’s “show” which made no sense other than I guess the author hoped to explain some things about Jo better, but I didn’t find it relevant enough to care. Yes, I was sad when it was made clear what Jo had gone through and how she had to fight through the trauma to save herself and her friends now, but without understanding the bond between the characters I was lost. I know Naomi and Jo had a connection and to an extent so did Hudson and Jo, but everyone else it just made it seem like they were used to show the reader Jo was supposed to be a good person? Jo wasn’t a hero to me. I honestly felt like she shouldn’t have been the main character. I’m not sure who I would cast as the main character though, maybe Hudson or Quincy given the way I wrote my notes. I wanted to know more and focus on them more than Jo. As always, the ending was insane, but it also broke my heart. The villain got what they deserved and there was no real hero because the person I ended up liking most by the end got one of the worst deals. I’m trying my hardest to be vague as possible, but ahhhhhh! I would recommend this book to all adult and YA readers. It is written well despite my issues with characters, fates, and so on. It had a nice pace as always and kept me reading until the end. I’m not sure I would mark this one as a favorite though.