Books on Tour (Review): The Argument

I am pretty sure that I have mentioned it before, but in my mind, there are different types of psychological thrillers. Mostly, however, they fit into two categories: the roller coaster and the drawn-out exploration. The Argument is squarely in the latter category.

I find books like this sometimes to be a difficult read. There is so much detail in the thought processes of the characters, little minutiae that needs to be read and processed. On the one hand, I appreciate the attention to details like this as it is apparent that the author has put a lot of thought into the characters’ motivations.

On the other hand, it can make for a plodding read and that can become tiresome.  That might not be the correct word, because the action is still ongoing, it’s just more in the characters’ thoughts instead of actual activity within the book.

Regardless, this is one of the better ones that I have read. At any given time, I felt for either Hannah or Olivia. There was the right balance of both of their points of view, and I found my belief in the individual points of view to change depending on the action. At first, I was not a fan of Olivia at all, but it became apparent there were a lot of underlying issues that were slowly revealed.

There were comments by characters that made me question their motivations, and all of the plot points (even seemingly unimportant ones) eventually added up to quite the finale. I think the author plotted and paced everything out perfectly.

I recommend this book, but make sure you read it when you can devote the time to appreciate every word; you don’t want to miss anything.

Victoria Jenkins lives with her husband and daughter in South Wales, where her series of crime novels featuring Detectives King and Lane is based. Her debut novel The Girls in the Water is an Amazon UK top 30 bestseller, and top 5 bestseller in the Amazon US chart.

Her first psychological thriller, The Divorce, was published in July 2019. The second, The Argument, publishes December 10^th 2019.