SA reads discussion

Sorry sorry sorry!

Went camping again. completely off radar. Mooreesburg. 40 degrees in the shade at 17h00… no internet

John! We drove past a farm called Vogelgesang close to Mooreesburg! Thought of you.

here we are. part two will be discussed during the last two weeks of february

Vicki wrote: "Wow, I can do with a holiday. I think Florida sounds good for June. Buck? Dave? I don't really want to visit my sister again in the middle of summer in Houston Texas. The heat and humidity is unbelievable"

I am well into part two.

Winter is the time to visit Florida, Vicki. We have a subtropical climate. If you don't like the heat and humidity in Texas, you probably wouldn't like Florida in the summer. People come here in the winter to get away from the ice and snow and cold up north. ("Why do they call it tourist season if we can't shoot them?")

Getting into Part 2.

Not sure what Ariel is trying to accomplish by going back home. I don't think she knows either. She doesn't really seem to have a plan. Seems dangerous.

Ariel accepts Thembi at face value. Is she a policewoman? I'm suspicious of her.

I was also confused at Ariel's decision about coming back to SA. Maybe that was how she planned on retaliating against the shooting.

In part two the book makes a 180 degree turn and goes into a completely different mood and direction. I was pleasantly surprised at part one, and thrilled by part two.

I finished How to Start Living or Die Trying tonight. If you haven't finished it, there are spoilers here.

The change from romance to thriller when we get into Part Two is really something. That change reminded me a little bit of the change in Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, which has been on the New York times Best Seller List for months. I must admit that the romance part of the book wasn't my cup of tea, but in Part Two, it becomes a page turner. Ariel is a loose canon. She had no idea what she was getting into. She had no plan, But when the rubber hit the road she went in with guns ablaze.

There were some tests of credulity. I was suspicious of Thembi right off the bat. She just didn't strike me as a legitimate policewoman. I was wrong there, but she did some unorthodox things. Giving Ariel a pistol isn't something I would expect a cop to do. And at the house, after the shootings, Aerial was allowed to just walk away. That certainly doesn't seem characteristic of cops. Even if they did empathize with Ariel for shooting the scum, they didn't know what they were going to find. I would have expected that they would have blocked all exits before they came in so no one could have just driven away.

Thembi kept Ariel's name out of the press, but Johnathan certainly could have identified her, and presumably there were well-connected people that she had wounded or murdered. They would have great incentive not to let her stay under the radar. It was a police operation gone crazy wrong.

How many people did Ariel murder? She missed with her first two shots. She had one shot left of twelve when she threw the gun at Johnathan. One woman was wounded rather than killed. She killed John Collins. That leaves seven shots. Did she kill seven other people? Even if they were scum, that puts her right up there with the most notorious mass murderers. In real life, the cops don't let shooters like that just walk away. Ariel may have felt justified, but it was murder, plain and simple. (Seems to me that I was making the same kind of arguments when we were discussing John's book last month.) Ariel's murderous rampage would certainly have been use by defense attorneys to show how the cops had botched things, and to try to get the case thrown out.

Now with Johnathan's whereabouts unknown and potentially other powerful interests after her, something tells me that Ariel is liable to be on the defensive in the next book. But we know she can rise to the threat.

Thanks, Vicki. I got my updated version.

I got an email explaining what to do but cant figure it out yet

Vicki wrote: "Oh yes, can anyone with an old horrible cover please let me know if the cover was also updated on kindle."

Still the old cover, Vicki.

I noticed (and highlighted) a few typos in my copy. I haven't been notified by Amazon though. I bought the book through my wife's account, so they don't know it's me. I was kind of looking for the updated version, to see if you caught the same errors I did.

Ariel in South Africa is at least consistent with the Ariel back in the US - both are unstable, and in need of medication to be able to cope with life. Was she on meds? - I don't think so, but I may have missed it.

This is the only way I can accept what happens to Ariel during this period. I have to believe that Ariel is clinically, mentally unstable to be able to reconcile her criminally reckless behaviour with her deep concern and love for her children. She risks her life repeatedly in her obsession to find out what Jonathan is up to. To go into the house at the end, gun blazing, was a suicide mission. She was aware that she was dealing with an international crime syndicate that would not hesitate to protect their secret and business, and yet she walks in shooting. This wasn't just a punch-up in a club - it was life-threateningly dangerous. I know Ariel was prepared to toss Nathan away at the drop of a hat, but was her love and concern for her children being without a mother weaker than her desire to stop Jonathan? Surely not? - hence my position on her mental health.

Accepting this, I enjoyed Ariel's 'adventure' in Jozi. The pace was fast, and the plot kept my attention 'til the end. I did struggle a bit to accept that Thembi would let her walk away from the crime scene, but being a South African, and knowing how messed up the criminal justice system is here, I swallowed hard and moved on.

I was satisfied that Ariel had dealt with her demons, although leaving Jonathan alive at the end seemed like a weak point in the plot. Ariel killed the father, indicating that he was the real baddie in the whole saga, not Jonathan. And yet we are led to believe throughout the build-up that Jonathan was her real bogeyman, the devil, capable of tying Ariel to a bed and aborting their own child with a coat-hanger. I expected, and wanted, him to die violently, and felt cheated when he escaped unscathed. I know you had another book to write, but the original bad guy needed to pay for his sins in this book, and not in another one.

I liked the happy ending with Nate, although I know it will not be for long. I shall be following Ariel into her next adventure. I am looking forward to seeing how Ariel, and her author, develop and grow in the sequel.
Well done, Vicki, on creating a character that lives on in my mind even though it has been two weeks since I finished the book.

Oh, and one last thing: if I find that you have not employed a worthwhile editor for the sequel, I shall be merciless when we review it. No second chances, Vicki Wilson!

I think Ariel was pretty much convinced that she would probably not survive her suicide mission against Jonathan and his father. But yes, after covering up ex-husbands attempt on her life, to protect her children, this is surprising. Because if nobody ever found out about his crimes, and with her dead, her children would just be back in his grasp without them knowing any better.

I loved the way the SAPD gave way to Ariel's departure after the shooting. It showed me that there is still some humanity, some understanding, some basic truth about fairness in some sectors of our government departments. It makes complete sense to me. But then, i am an emotional being.

I don't think Ariel is mentally unstable. John you are walking ON THIN ICE again...
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John wrote: "Ariel in South Africa is at least consistent with the Ariel back in the US - both are unstable, and in need of medication to be able to cope with life. Was she on meds? - I don't think so, but I ma..."

I pretty much go along with what John said. Aerial is not the most rational thinker. She acts on her emotions. Makes her act crazy, sometimes.

As one who analyzes and plans, (skills I've used to make my living for most of my life) it was sometimes a little tricky for me to understand why she did some of the things she did. But I give her credit for being gutsy and determined.

Vicki wrote: "Lisa, thank you for being the first one to ever pick up my book."

Hear, hear.

I still dint think Ariel is crazy. She is emotional and irrational, and she's been through a lot. That left some scars. But I dont think that can be treated with meds.

I cant wait.

The top section of the cover image for HTCB looks familiar - I've seen that kind of vegetation in the Storms River Valley.
I predict Ariel will enter into a period of well-earned, comfortable marital bliss with Nate. This will be the boredom bit.
How to conquer it? Enter Jonathan. Perhaps he forces her to go back to SA for some reason. Maybe he charges her for the murder of his father...or he kidnaps Ariel's mother?
Or maybe it is not Jonathan - Ariel shoots Nate for cheating on her with a bimbo, and she is forced to flee back home and get help from Jonathan.
Who knows with Ariel - her mind follows the road less travelled.

I predict that Ariel comes back to SA. With Nathan. And that they are happy. At least initially. And then something bad happens again. I think there is going to be a court case involved. But I predict a happy ending.