Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've enjoyed some of the author's other works but the inability to write a believable damaged and broken main character probably shouldn't be completely unexpected. Some people have a hard time describing a broken human being very well. However, when your story depends on that kind of character and depends on some sympathy with that character to keep the reader's interest then it better be a reasonable and believable attempt. There were two murders that didn't make sense and at this point the story looks like the rise of a dark lord that needs to be put down or perhaps an evil and willing dupe, neither of which are really interesting in view of current events. Spoiler(s) ahead : The first unbelievable and very unsatisfying murder was the wife's boyfriend. The second was the king. Regarding the boyfriend, a person who has lived in an abusive and violent environment thinks of personal survival first and foremost and while an arranged marriage is certainly possible, the idea that the damaged main character as a new husband would plot and plan to destroy the boyfriend is unbelievable. There are two believable actions, an immediate, dispassionate and effective divorce (or something privately similar) where the boyfriend and wife are forcefully chastised to be more discreet or an immediate killing of the boyfriend to back up the previous threat. Long, drawn-out Rube-Goldberg murders are not on the menu. The second was the killing of the king. It was unnecessary, unsympathetic (no matter how stupid he was being) and revealed a kind of underhanded and bloodthirsty sneakiness that destroys any desire to experience empathy for the main character. In the end the desire to see how the story turns out is nullified since there are no more sympathetic characters and the predictability of the main character cannot be trusted. The meaning of the story is lost. It's like a story where the main character is "touched by evil" and for the rest of the book you are left waiting for him to act out of character. Or a time travel story where the main character can go back and fix any mistake. The story no longer has an edge because there is no risk, because nothing of value is really being risked. Just my two cents but I have no desire to read the next book. Good luck with other readers.