In When the Lights Go Out, Mary Kubica’s fifth book in as many years, Jessie Sloane is living a walking nightmare ... As with each of Kubica’s books, the final twist completely takes everything you thought and turns it on its head. She is a master at redirecting, and I am always amazed by her ability to take me by surprise. That said, the twist in When the Lights Go Out borders on unbelievable and finds itself a bit beneath the standard that she has set with her first four books. I could have done without the last few pages, though I loved the journey getting there more than enough to make up for it. Fans of Kubica will find it to be a quick, engrossing read.
Jessie Sloane, the chief narrator of this lackluster psychological thriller from bestseller Kubica, spends her teen years caring for her mother, Eden, until Eden dies from cancer at their home in Chicago. Numb with grief, insomniac Jessie tries to get on with her life by applying to a community college, but a college official informs her that her Social Security number belongs to a girl who died 17 years earlier ... Jessie’s inability to tell reality from illusion quickly becomes tiresome, as does Eden and Aaron’s (Eden's Husband), story. Eden’s account plods to a disappointing finale. Kubica fans will hope for a return to form next time.
When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica is a riveting and emotionally charged thriller where a woman is forced to question her own identity ... Mary Kubica writes movingly about the plight of women who feel pressured to have children in a society that too often overemphasizes the value of their fertility while blaming them for any lack thereof ... Some readers may be less than thrilled at the twist, but I thought it was written well and made sense in the larger context ... I am now a fan of Ms. Kubica’s—I’m late to this party, I know—and I look forward to diving into her much-lauded back catalog soon.
