Review: The Blue Hour by Douglas Kennedy

Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 368
Received: Received a copy from Simon and Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: February 16, 2016
Buy From Chapters.ca / Buy From Bookdepository.com

Goodreads Synopsis:

Robin knew Paul wasn’t perfect. But he said they were so lucky to have found each other, and she believed it was true.

She is a meticulous accountant, almost forty. He is an artist and university professor, twenty years older. When Paul suggests a month in Morocco, where he once lived and worked, a place where the modern meets the medieval, Robin reluctantly agrees.

Once immersed into the swirling, white hot exotica of a walled city on the North African Atlantic coast, Robin finds herself acclimatizing to its wonderful strangeness. Paul is everything she wants him to be—passionate, talented, knowledgeable. She is convinced that it is here she will finally become pregnant.

But then Paul suddenly disappears, and Robin finds herself the prime suspect in the police inquiry. As her understanding of the truth starts to unravel, Robin lurches from the crumbling art deco of Casablanca to the daunting Sahara, caught in an increasingly terrifying spiral from which there is no easy escape.

With his acclaimed ability to write thought-provoking page-turners, Douglas Kennedy takes readers into a world where only Patricia Highsmith has ever dared. The Blue Hour is a roller-coaster journey into a heart of darkness that asks the question: What would you do if your life depended on it?

My Review:

When this book was offered to me, I wasn't too sure if I would like it. But I know I can trust those that say based on what you like I think you'll like this story. This is a book about a couple that is definitely far from perfect, and I believe that is what makes this book so interesting. I will say there doesn't seem to be a lot of growth for the characters, but yet in a way Robin does learn a lot more about herself through this journey in a different world.

I absolutely loved the descriptions of the Morocco and how different of a place it is compared to here. Robin must travel lengths to find out exactly what has happened and to find the truth. Along the way many secrets are revealed to Robin, some that will change her life forever and it is hard to tell how things will be handled in the end.

This is a very difficult book to discuss because I don't want to give away the story and what happens. I can say that Douglas Kennedy takes readers on an incredible journey through Morocco and gives readers a view of a different culture and how difficult it can be being an American in this place. I felt a thrill while reading this book, following Robin on her journey to learn more about her husband and also watching as she travels this place alone, the dangerous things that lurk around every corner for her being a woman alone.

I devoured this book in a short time, but I do wish there was a little bit more to the end. I wanted just a bit more information on Paul and everything that happened. But all in all I think readers are left with this view that you can still move on after a difficult time. This is a story about new beginnings and learning how to take care of yourself. I truly enjoyed this story and everything Robin learned about herself and why she gets herself into situations like she did.