Book Review: Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin

Saint X

by

Alexis Schaitkin

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Aus 
Imprint: Picador
Publication date: 25th February 2020
Genre: Crime / Mystery
Pages: 320
RRP: $29.99AUD
Format read: paperback 
Source: Courtesy of the publisher

Claire is only seven years old when her college-age sister, Alison, disappears on the last night of their family vacation at a resort on the Caribbean island of Saint X. Several days later, Alison’s body is found in a remote spot on a nearby cay, and two local men – employees at the resort - are arrested. But the evidence is slim, the timeline against it, and the men are soon released. The story turns into national tabloid news, a lurid mystery that will go unsolved. For Claire and her parents, there is only the return home to broken lives.

Years later, Claire is living and working in New York City when a brief but fateful encounter brings her together with Clive Richardson, one of the men originally suspected of murdering her sister. It is a moment that sets Claire on an obsessive pursuit of the truth - not only to find out what happened the night of Alison’s death but also to answer the elusive question: Who exactly was her sister? 

Claire is seven when her family go on holiday to the island of Saint X. On the last night of their holiday her 18 year-old sister, Alison, goes missing. Her body is found 3 days later.

The story starts with the family holiday and Alison’s attitude and flirting and her subsequent demise . The mystery is; was she murdered? No one is charged and it is all swept under the carpet by the island’s police.

Years later a grown Claire becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Alison to the point of neglecting all else around her.

There are multiple points of view in this story of privilege, recklessness and obsession.

For me the story became bogged down, it was very slow and I sometimes became confused if what I was reading really happened or it was simply conjecture.

The mystery was compelling and it was that and Schaitkin’s hypnotic writing, that pushed me through the book.

The characters were well developed and I liked the small peek at the other holiday makers that were on the island and how the tragedy had affected their lives.

Through Saint X, Alexis Schaitkin shows us how a moment in time, an incident, can have an effect on so many lives.

⭐⭐⭐

  

 

Photo credit: Goodreads

Alexis Schaitkin’s short stories and essays have appeared in many literary journals and newspapers. Her fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. She received her MFA in fiction from the University of Virginia, where she was a Henry Hoyns Fellow. She lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts with her husband and son. 
Saint X is her debut novel. 





   

Mailbox Monday - May 4th

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog. Head over and check out other books received during the last week. 


Happy Monday!

Happy National Star Wars Day - May the Fourth Be With You! I will have to confess though that I've never seen Star Wars. 
 
How is everyone holding up? Australia has started to ease its isolation restrictions. Each state has different rules but in New South Wales we are now allowed two adult visitors and their children. I was happy to get a visit from my son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren and we also went and visited my  daughter. We are just keeping it to family at the moment. My younger daughter still hasn't seen any of her friends.

We've been baking and walking. There isn't really much else to do.

I cooked ANZAC biscuits for ANZAC Day.

ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served".

Caramel slice 

Books received over the last two weeks.

 From the publisher:

 The Edible Garden by Paul West

Paul shares practical gardening advice, with guides on building a no-dig garden, composting and keeping chooks, and an A-Z guide of the veggies that are easiest to grow. There are also more than 50 of Paul's favourite family recipes - simple, produce-driven dishes that are bursting with freshness and flavour.  
We have already started our own garden so I'm hoping this will have some good advice. I don't think we will be doing the chooks though 😃

 
  An Alice Girl by Tanya Heaslip

An Alice Girl is Tanya Heaslip's extraordinary story of growing up in the late 1960's and early 1970's on a vast and isolated outback cattle property just north of Alice Springs.

Mammoth by Chris Flynn

Narrated by a 13,000-year-old extinct American mastodon, Mammoth is the (mostly) true story of how the skull of a Tyrannosaurus bataar, a pterodactyl, a prehistoric penguin, the severed hand of an Egyptian mummy and the narrator himself came to be on sale at a 2007 natural history auction in Manhattan.

I love the cover of this book and it sounds fascinating.

Find Them Dead by Peter James

When Roy Grace is called in to investigate a murder that has links to an accused person on trial, and the suspicion that an attempt has been made to intimidate jurors, he finds the reach and power of the accused’s tentacles go higher than he had ever imagined.  





  From the author:

The Coconut Rebellion by Mark Stary

The lagoon at Sea Devil Island is an idealistic place for a colony of fish to live and raise a family … peaceful and quiet. A little too quiet for young Jack Herron, who yearns to explore the world beyond his lagoon. But it is forbidden for junior fish to venture outside the lagoon. So when Jack stumbles across a secret passage to the outside world, he sneaks out and leads his three closest friends on an adventure of discovery. Unfortunately, they discover more than they bargain for. Caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, Jack is framed for a crime he did not commit and the whole colony suffers a terrible curse as a result. A curse that turns the fish of Sea Devil Lagoon into landlubbers!

Author Mark Stary has generously sent me two copies of The Coconut Rebellion (suitable for Middle Grade readers). One to keep and on the giveaway. So keep an eye out for this giveaway coming shortly.

I would love to hear what you received in the mail lately!