Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller, Suspense
Read: 8th April 2022
Published: 19th August 2021
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.
Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.
Ten years of marriage.
Ten years of secrets.
An anniversary they’ll never forget.
Adam and Amelia are spending the weekend in the Scottish Highlands. The remote location is perfect for what they have planned.
But when their romantic trip takes a dark turn, they both start to wonder – can they trust the one they’re with?
Because every couple tells little white lies. Only for Adam and Amelia, the truth is far more dangerous.
MY REVIEW:
Think you know the person you married? Think again...
"Rock Paper Scissors is a story about a couple who have been married for ten years. Every anniversary they exchange gifts - paper, copper, tin - and each year the wife writes her husband a letter that she never lets him read. A secret record of their marriage, warts and all. By their tenth anniversary, their relationship is in trouble. Sometimes a weekend away can be just what a couple needs to get them back on track, but things aren't what or who they seem."
Wow! That's all I can say. Despite my many interruptions that prevented me from reading this book quicker and it's slow start, here I am half an hour or so after finishing it and I am still trying to digest everything. What a ride!
The story starts off slow, and not a fan of slow burns in general, I was finding it difficult to connect with Adam and Amelia because all they seemed to do is bicker and didn't even appear to want to be married to each other. So why were they? If the journey from London to the Scottish Highlands was long and arduous for Adam, then it was even moreso for the reader in some aspects. If they weren't arguing, they weren't even talking. By the time they reach their destination of Blackwater Chapel, converted to a home many years before, they are so far out in the middle of nowhere and pretty much just want to fall into bed and sleep off the journey. Here's hoping tomorrow will be a better day.
Amelia works at the Battersea Dogs Home (she won my heart for that alone) whilst hubby Adam is a screenwriter who just can't seem to hit the bigtime and make a name for himself. Adam has a condition (which I won't even attempt to try spelling without Google) which basically means he suffers from "face blindness", where he cannot see faces or recognise them or their expressions. It's something I've never heard of before so the concept was new to me and added an interesting dimension to the story...in more ways than one. It certainly makes living with someone with the condition a little difficult at times. And as Adam is a workaholic, Amelia takes a backseat to what is essentially his driving passion...and ultimately have his screenplay make the big screen someday.
So when Amelia wins a raffle at work for a weekend away in the remote Scottish Highlands, she thinks it's the perfect opportunity to spend some time together and maybe address some of their issues. In other words, this weekend away could make or break their marriage. But the long drive to Scotland proves to a little more than either of them can handle. And why somewhere so remote and out of the way? And in the middle of winter? To top things off, there is no phone signal, the electricity is a bit hit or miss but at least there's a back-up generator. And failing that, candles. But the chapel is anything but warming - both in temperature and atmosphere. And almost from the moment they set foot inside the creepy 9th century structure, each of them have a deep sense of foreboding. This weekend is not going to end well...for either of them.
Then strange things begin to happen. The power goes out. A face at the window. Bats in the bell tower. Locked rooms and secrets abound. And then there are the whispers in the crypt...whispering their names in the darkness. Meanwhile, outside the storm is howling with snow knee deep so if they were hoping for a quick escape it wasn't going to happen. Their Morris Minor Traveller was buried beneath the snow drifts. They were stuck here.
Throughout the course of the two days, Adam and Amelia begin to question how well they really know each other. Both of them are hiding secrets, but what? To get through this they will need to rely on one another, but can they trust each other enough to do that? And who in this great big vast expanse of the middle of Scottish nowhere...is Robin?
Just wow! When I began ROCK PAPER SCISSORS I had a completely different rating in mind, but then it picked up pace and twist after hoodwinked twist was revealed, changing my mind completely! In fact, it was so good I only deducted half a star for the slow start. While I pieced a bit of it together, it was still as confusing as Adam's face blindness and didn't make a whole lot of sense. There is one clue that is so obvious when you look back and admittedly, I did question it at the time but then thought nothing of again...until all was revealed. And just when one twist was revealed, along came another and another and another! How many twists could be packed into this chilling tale? A whole lot and thensome.
The story is told from three perspectives primarily - Amelia, Adam and Robin - with a letter written on every anniversary interspersed throughout. As the story is set in the present day, the letters sprinkled throughout tell the rest of the story leading up to the present. It really is a clever touch and quite ingenious. Particularly when you discover the significance of them. Honestly, the letters are raw, sentimental and heartfelt you truly sympathised with everything that was dealt the couple. But they are not for his eyes and she will never let him read them. Until now.
The setting is just perfect. Usually Cornwall is my favourite setting for atmospheric thrillers, but the remote Scottish Highlands are also perfect...particularly for this thriller. Adam and Amelia are completely cut off with Bob, their loving and loyal Labrador dog. There is a raging snow storm around them and they have no electricity, no phone signal and no way of calling for help. Added to that, Blackwater Chapel is said to be haunted by witches who whisper your name three times before killing you.
But that isn't the most chilling part...in the midst of the remoteness, they are not alone. Someone is there watching their every move; orchestrating every nuance; and they have no intention of letting them go without first playing ROCK PAPER SCISSORS.
Nothing is at all what it seems in this addictive thriller that will have you turning the pages as soon as the pace picks up until every final twist is revealed. And believe me, the pace really ramps up in those final few chapters as twist after twist comes barrelling at you from nowhere! I really didn't think I would would enjoy this thriller that is creepy and atmospheric as well damn chilling (especially the end), but Alice Feeney has redeemed herself with the slow start and certainly made up for it with that headspinning race to the end! I am still reeling.
ROCK PAPER SCISSORS is a thriller where nothing is as it seems. The story itself is not at all what it seems. It may be slow to start with but when the pace picks up it REALLY picks up and it won't let you go until the chilling end.
This is my second Alice Feeney thriller and I am so thrilled I didn't give up on it because ROCK PAPER SCISSORS was soooo good it knocked me completely for a six! It is atmospheric, creepy and chilling and perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and C.L. Taylor.
Note: While there are some tense moments regarding Bob the Labrador, he isn't harmed. Although Amelia does work at Battersea Dogs Home where not all dogs are as fortunate though this isn't focused on. The only other mention is a dog in one of the characters' pasts which left me wondering as to its fate and although it did meet a horrific end, it is again only mentioned briefly. Had there been too much focus on this, I would not have been able to read it.
I would like to thank #AliceFeeney, #Netgalley, #HQDigital for an ARC of #RockPaperScissors in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Alice Feeney is an author and former BBC journalist. Her debut novel, Sometimes I Lie, was a New York Times and international bestseller. It has been translated into over twenty languages, and is being made into a TV series by Ellen DeGeneres and Warner Bros. starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Alice has lived in London and Sydney and has now settled in the Surrey countryside, where she lives with her husband and dog. His & Hers is being published around the world in 2020.
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