Review: There Should Have Been Eight

While some of y'all count down the days for a new Nalini Singh paranormal release, I'm over here wishing she wrote more suspense novels. Two years after her last suspense release, she drops There Should Have Been Eight, and what has become apparent to me with this third stand-alone suspense title is that Singh writes what I call slow burn suspense - and that it's by design.

They were a group of eight friends who grew up together, continued to live in each others' pockets through college, when the suicide of the group's bright light sent them scattering into the wind.  Now, nine years later, they've agreed to come back together for a reunion.  Luna, who makes her living as a photographer, agrees to go, despite a devastating health diagnosis she hasn't told her friends about (she's going blind thanks to a genetic condition) and she's still angry that Darcie had her sister, Bea, cremated. No funeral. No chance for any of the friends to say goodbye.  

Darcie is now married to Ash, who once upon a time was desperately in love with her sister Bea.  There's Luna's best friend, Vansi, a nurse, and her husband, Phoenix, a doctor. Kaea is the playboy of the bunch, now a successful lawyer and then there's Aaron, who's dream it is to open his own restaurant, and his fiancée, Grace - a newcomer that Luna will be meeting for the first time. They agree to come together in a remote manor owned now solely by Darcie, the rest of her family now gone. The manor comes complete with breathtaking views, isolation, secret passages, a burned out wing thanks to a mentally ill ancestor, oh and impending bad weather.  I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

Turns out, quite a bit. However it takes some time to happen. It starts with creepy pranks, someone leaving Bea's childhood doll for Darcie to find, then moves into suspicious accident territory, until finally someone ends up dead.  This book, while similar to Singh's two previous suspense novels in some ways, has one important difference - this one is actually more claustrophobic.  Instead of a small town or upscale cul-de-sac, Singh leans all in on Gothic with this book isolating the action to this group of eight people, the memory of Bea (who casts a long shadow), and a creepy house. The story is told exclusively from Luna's point of view.  Luna, always documenting with her camera. Luna, slowly going blind and incandescently angry with Darcie that she was robbed of saying goodbye to Bea. Her special, precious Bea. 

When I say this is a slow burn, I mean it. It takes a while for the action to come in and Singh focuses on building the Gothic atmosphere and tension.  And naturally, Darcie's ancestors, the previous owners of the manor, come into play as Luna tries to unravel what's exactly happening.  The world-building is evocative and extremely well done.  

That said, I wasn't in love with this as much as Singh's previous suspense novels. The twists didn't work quite as well for me and to be honest, I disliked most of these people. There's also events and choices made at the end of the story that just left me with a slight deflated feeling.  Like the one person that I didn't totally hate, I'm not sure I like all that much anymore?  If that makes any sense.

However, what is done well is the overall theme of this story - that of obsession.  This isn't a story about friendship or even love. Nope, it's obsession all day long and twice and Sunday. And naturally Bea is at the center of it all. 

I'm left slightly conflicted. This didn't work as well for me as Singh's other suspense novels, but there's still bits to admire here.  The Gothic atmosphere, the world-building, and how obsession runs through the story - but I never entirely got wrapped up in it. In some ways it felt too cool, remote, almost distant. Like looking through the lens of Luna's camera - which I suspect might have been the point.

Final Grade = B-