I am always a fan of stories told through multiple perspectives and on shifting timelines, and with Rock Paper Scissors Alice Feeney reminds readers why she is often considered a master at this storytelling device!
Adam and Amelia Wright both know there are significant problems in their marriage and spending a weekend in Scotland might be exactly what they need to turn the corner and rebuild their relationship, or it might result in the final straw for one, or both, of them. This weekend away, however, is not at a picturesque cottage or romantic rendezvous, but is instead an old, converted chapel set in a valley in the middle of a blizzard.
The reader watches the story unfold, alternating primarily through Amelia and Adam’s duelling perspectives, but also looks at the past and the history of their relationship. As the tension builds (because obviously what else is going to happen in a lonely, old, converted church in the middle of a snowstorm) we see the darker aspects of Amelia and Adam’s characteristics come to life: the lies, the mistrust, and the secrets.
One aspect of Rock Paper Scissors, which in my reading experience is quite unique, is that Feeney has made the character of Adam face blind. Adam has lived with this inability to recognise the faces of co-workers, friends, or even loved ones his entire life, but rather than just using this as a quirky character trait, Feeney demonstrates just how this has affected Adam and his wife. In one brief mention, which really stuck with me, the couple had long ago realised that if they were meeting separately for a dinner date, she could never be the one to arrive first as Adam would be unable to recognise his own wife and know which table to sit at. These are the types of details that get readers thoroughly invested in Feeney’s stories, and why her incredible twists always pack such a punch.
The only downside to being a huge fan of Feeney’s work is that it is incredibly difficult to talk about or recommend without giving something away! Her plot twists are so tightly woven into the story itself that spoiler-free conversations are close to impossible. It almost comes down to putting a book like Rock Paper Scissors into someone’s hand and saying, “Don’t ask me any questions, just read this now,” and saying nothing more. (They’ll thank you for it later!)
Rock Paper Scissors is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Think you know the person you married? Think again…
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. And an anniversary they will never forget.
Rock Paper Scissors is the latest exciting domestic thriller from the queen of the killer twist, New York Times bestselling author Alice Feeney.
