Just the Nicest Couple

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The book shared the same exact ending as two other thrillers that I recently read and, therefore, I was easily able to guess who killed the dead husband. The character development is top notch, per usual, and all four characters and even supporting characters were fully flushed out. There is not one character in this story about which I do not understand their motives or actions. By the time we reach the conclusion, everything becomes crystal clear. As someone who hates messy conclusions to thrillers, I really appreciate this about Kubica’s writing.

Lily Scott, Nina's friend and coworker, thinks she may have been the last to see Jake before he went missing. After Lily confesses everything to her husband, Christian, the two decide that nobody can find out what happened leading up to Jake's disappearance, especially not Nina. But Nina is out there looking for her husband, and she won't stop until the truth is discovered. Similar to the above five baseball players, Mary Kubica also hit a "grand slam" in her first time "at bat" with her debut novel "The Good Girl". A husband’s disappearance links two couples in this twisty thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Local Woman Missing, Mary Kubica I have read all eight of Mary Kubica’s thrillers, and they are either a big hit or a complete miss. Unfortunately, Just The Nicest Couple falls into the latter category. The shooter was Nina’s mom, because she knew Jake was cheating on Nina. She was faking the macular degeneration and had followed him to the woods from work. She figured Lily would take the fall for his death, and rightfully so because of the cheating. The Ending:

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Walking into their living room, he sees in an instant that his gut was right. Lily finally divulges the whole truth: that she believes she was the last person to see Jake before he disappeared. Together, they agree that this should be kept between the two of them. No one, especially Nina, should learn what she knows. Book Genre: Adult, Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Crime, Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Thriller Everything spirals out of control after bumping into Jake on Lily’s walk. This whole thing has spiraled out-of-control turning them into people they no longer recognize. Out of desperation Lily and Christian get pulled into a vortex of bad choices pulling them deeper into a hole they can’t dig themselves out of. The waitress brings our coffee. She puts the mugs on the table with a sugar bowl and little pot of cream. I add cream and sugar and taste the coffee to make sure it is to my liking, blowing on the coffee first so I don't burn myself. The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Kubica, Mary. Just the Nicest Couple. Park Row, January 10, 2023. Kindle.

I had vowed to stop reading Kubica, but the premise sounded so good that I had to give this one a go. This book has all of the makings of a juicy thriller, but the flat characters and messy execution made for a boring read. The second big hang-up was how little happened within the plot for a large chunk of the book. I kept waiting for what I hear is Mary Kubica’s trademark mind-blowing twist and, while there certainly was one (and it was positively earth-shattering), it came at the last minute, leaving very little time to explore the ramifications of what happened. Equally, I wasn’t thrilled with the ending despite how it satisfactorily resolved all of the remaining hanging threads of the story. I guess I was simply hoping for a little, well, more. The last chapter of Nina's, she says that she can't call the cops on her mother and have her spend what's left of her life in jail. Then the next chapter is Christian, and he's commenting that Nina's mother just got out of jail on compassionate leave. Did I miss a chapter? Why did Nina change her mind? Whereas I felt Nina was a sympathetic character. Not only is she dealing with the disappearance of her husband but her mother is very ill. It’s been a struggle trying to balance carrying for her mother while also dealing with her extremely needy husband.

Comments

Starting a Mary Kubica book is like opening a bag of M&Ms....you can't eat just one M&M and you can't read just one or two chapters of a Kubica book....I started her latest JUST THE NICEST COUPLE yesterday around 1:45......then all of a sudden I looked up at the window, it was dark outside and I was 70% through with the book..... Lily Scott, Nina’s friend and coworker, thinks she may have been the last to see Jake before he went missing. After Lily confesses everything to her husband, Christian, the two decide that nobody can find out what happened leading up to Jake’s disappearance, especially not Nina. But Nina is out there looking for her husband, and she won’t stop until the truth is discovered.” Told in dual mostly alternating POVs, each narrator (Christian and Nina) caused me mild irritation. Despite both having very real motivations behind their deeds, some of their reactions and thoughts were uncomfortably melodramatic. Nina in her naivety and Christian with his pinballing emotional state. But, while I found them difficult to swallow, I have never been in either’s shoes with regards to what they were experiencing and so their thoughts and reactions could very well have been authentic and true-to-life. It just didn’t read like it was for me. This was a decent thriller with many false leads and red herrings - although I did guess correctly toward the end. I give it three stars because it wasn't anything really unique and all the characters were unlikeable idiots. She's been extremely tired lately. The pregnancy is getting the best of her. She's on her feet teaching all day. These two things in combination exhaust her. Being pregnant and teaching high school kids." HEY GUYS JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW... SHE'S TIRED BECAUSE SHE'S PREGNANT AND TEACHES HIGH SCHOOL KIDS. WHICH MAKES HER TIRED. BECAUSE IT'S TIRING.