CBR18 Bingo: Left – Vera needs to rebuild her life after being left in the aftermath of a global catastrophe which killed her mom and destroyed her relationship with her fiancee.
After the devastation of the Low Probability Event, a worldwide day of absurdly bad luck, everything that statistics professor Vera believed has been turned on its head. When she gets roped into investigating a Las Vegas casino with unnaturally good luck, she thinks she might finally get answers – if she can survive the case.
I was surprised by the sheer amount of gore in the book, but once I realized that fate here had clearly been watching Final Destination, things made more sense. Alongside that is a constant undercurrent of existential horror to add more flavor to the story. The premise is intriguing, the worldbuilding unique, and I enjoyed the off-kilter buddy cop dynamic that Vera and Agent Layne fell into.
However, as we approach the climax of the story, things began to race by and lose their emotional heft. I could guess pretty easily what would come next to serve the next beat of the narrative. In a way I felt that we were ticking off plot points – all of which made perfect sense for the story, but didn’t feel as real or impactful as the first half of the book.
I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Mara Wilson. I thought she did a good job of voicing Vera’s deadpan delivery.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
