I am a big fan of Kimberly McCreight’s novels and always enjoy how well she weaves mystery and thriller elements into stories that are smart and so cleverly crafted. While this describes Friends Like These, just as it describes all of her books, for some reason this story did not pack quite the same punch for me when compared to her previous work.
Told through different points of view, and shifting between different time periods, Friends Like These is the story of five friends from college, now ten years later, traveling to the Catskills because they are worried that one member of their group may be in trouble. It does not take long, however, to begin to wonder if these friends are bonded together because they actually care about and love each other, or if it is really a more sinister, secretive reason that they still see themselves as bound together.
Tragedy strikes, which brings in a local detective (who happened to be my favourite character) and she will need to untangle the secrets and the bonds between these friends in order to figure out what exactly happened. Detective Julia Scutt is an excellent surrogate for the reader, often asking the very question that I was thinking at the time. She is a good detective who has been put in a difficult position.
While there are only five friends at the heart of the story, I still found the cast of characters a bit too large to keep up with, and I think that is what weakened my investment in the story. In addition to the five friends, there are spouses and other mutual friends of the group who are frequently mentioned, though they may not actually appear. There are townspeople from the local area that fit into the story, as well as some of the detective’s co-workers. More than once I found myself asking, “now, which one is he?” as I was reading.
McCreight, of course, still gives the reader an incredible thriller in the end. Like puzzle pieces, her shocking twists are jaw-dropping, but fit right into the story, leaving the reader wondering how they never saw that coming!
Friends Like These is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
Will you be picking up Friends Like These? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Everyone has those friends. Doesn’t matter how long it’s been, or how badly they’ve occasionally behaved, or how late it is when that call finally comes—you show up. No questions asked.
Honestly, that’s how the five of us ended up here in the Catskills. We did have the best of intentions. Especially after what happened to Alice all those years ago, we can’t bear to think of losing anyone else. In fact, we’ll do anything to make sure that doesn’t happen. We’ll go so much farther than we ever thought we would.
In the end, maybe that’s what caught up with us. That, and the fact that we’re such a complicated group—so much history and so many big personalities. Secrets, too, that can slip out at the most inopportune moments. Of course, we love each other despite all of those things. We love each other no matter what.
There’s something so beautiful about that kind of unconditional love. It can turn ugly, though. Or maybe that’s just us. After all, we’ve already been through so much together. And we have so very much to hide.
