Book Review·Lesbian Review

Francis Lucas’ Sleeper Car It’s a murder mystery about a pair of rival lovers who travel aboard a themed train through the backwoods of Alaska.

Best-selling author Kendall Lamb may be booking a wonderful Alaska vacation for herself and her supposed fiancé, but she finds herself alone, doing all the things she hates but that her near-fiancé would love. She stubbornly gets on the luxury train because, gosh, she paid for it, and she’s not going to show anyone how much her near-fiancé’s affair has hurt her. She soon meets a very cute young woman who is flirting with her, making Kendall think that a sexy roll in the hay might make her feel better.

But then Harper opened her mouth and cracked some age jokes that made Kendall feel like she was being laughed at, and in a bad way. To make matters worse, in addition to unexpectedly having to share a room with the obnoxious Harper, there’s an unexpected murder mystery game that sets the stage for a long train ride. Kendall is an ex-cop, but that doesn’t sound like much fun, and things get worse when someone goes missing, and Harper seems to have framed her for a real-life murder.

writing

From the prologue, the story is clearly powerful. Someone really wants someone dead, preferably with their own hands. Shortly thereafter, the main character Kendall is eaten alive by a real biting bug in Alaska. The setting is realistic and the author uses it well to help set up the bitter Kendall and the much younger, snarky Harper. The events are as much character building as they are filled with clues to the actual murders that took place on the train, and it’s all perfectly timed. Author Kendall is a fan of unreliable narrators and is quick to wonder if this book is an example.

However, just as the reader is immersed in the story, the author suddenly does a ninety-degree turn that changes everything and challenges the reader to see if they can change alliances and start following the plot again. Kendall’s terrifying depths of self-loathing don’t help her case, and the author tests the reader’s loyalty to the protagonist. The murder mystery is well paced, with good clues and a few red herrings designed to muddy the story. The author made it hard for me to completely sympathize with any of the characters, but it definitely worked for me.

The author also warns against discussions of rape, sexual abuse, and suicide. If any of this is difficult to handle, readers should really think twice.

Pros and my favorite part

Right off the bat, I really liked this cover. It’s bold, colorful, and a little sinister, and works perfectly with the overall story.

Kendall is not an entirely sympathetic character, and neither is Harper, which is also bold and leads to sinister motives that motivated me as a reader. I totally get why Kendall developed a white-hot hatred for Harper, and was later surprised by the change in attitude. The author makes it accessible, relatable, and totally works within the context of a murder mystery.

This story really tested my ability to keep up as a mystery reader, and to slow down as a romance reader when it comes to picking sides. Most of the time I had no idea what was going to happen next and didn’t fully believe even the most basic information, which was fun. The occasional quip, typical of internal dialogue, made me laugh a few times.

careful

A frank and hard-hitting discussion of sexual abuse, rape and suicide.

in conclusion

Best-selling author Kendall was dumped by her girlfriend, but she went on a paid vacation to Alaska. She hates it all until she meets the cute, young, flirtatious Harper. It didn’t take long for Harper to piss off Kendall, so there was no happy sexy time. Instead, they find themselves trapped in the same sleeper car, and Kendall begins to hate Harper with a white-hot passion after Harper seemingly frames Kendall for murder on the train.

It’s a well-crafted murder mystery that’s a little infuriating at times, and made me second-guess a lot of what I believed after reading clues and character descriptions that made my eyes water. None of the characters were completely sympathetic, and I was on board with Kendall’s hatred of Harper, until a sudden twist in the story turned everything off. It’s a well-balanced mystery with some dangerous thrills and just the right amount of clues and red herrings, and a great example of the romance between enemies and lovers.

Excerpted from Francis Lucas’ Sleeper Car