3.5 stars rounded up
I feel like there were too many characters, but I did like the story a lot! ( )

So many people recommended Real Easy by Marie Rutkoski to me last year when seeking recommendations from friends as part of a year-long reading challenge that I purposely kept it for last, thinking it would be the best recommendation of the year. Perhaps it was the format in which I “read” the novel, choosing to listen to it via audiobook, but I was not impressed by the story. After reading or listening to eleven other books selected by friends, this neither surprises me nor upsets me, as I have found that this exercise in broadening my reading choices did nothing but confirm what I like and why I stick to what I like.

For one thing, Ms. Rutkoski tells her story from the point of view of pretty much every character. That may sound like hyperbole, but trust me when I assure you it is not. Each chapter has a different narrator, and only two or three narrators tell more than one chapter. In the interview after the audiobook, the author speaks to this as intentional and that each new point of view is essential to the overarching story in some way. I am not sure she was entirely successful there because there are at least two or three narrators I can think of who added nothing to the story.

She finally settles down with the narrator shifting towards the story’s climax, but by that time, I was continuing the story to solve the mystery. I cared nothing for any of the characters, including the two victims, which is another issue I have with her use of multiple narrators. Real Easy is not a novel that needs strong character development but requires an empathic relationship with critical characters. Because of the constantly shifting POV, I didn’t get the chance to develop a relationship with anyone. Thus, I had no interest when one of the girls was in danger or when the main detective rushed to the scene before it was too late. I remained a remote observer with no vested interest in anything.

Another issue I had with Real Easy was the dialogue. Perhaps this comes across better in print, but there are entire chapters where the discussion consists of brief sentences followed by “she said.” When there are five or more people in a scene speaking at once, that is a lot of “she said.” One chapter, in particular, used that phrase for every sentence; I stopped counting after this happened twenty times in a row. Dialogue in audiobooks is always tricky because what works on paper may not work orally. In this case, however, it was so distracting that I feared every time there was another scene involving a group of people. In a book that occurs in part in a strip club, and the girls all get ready in the locker room together, this happens more often than not.

As for the mystery itself, I feel it is a lackluster one. I can tell Ms. Rutkoski chose certain narrators to throw readers off the scent of the real murderer. Much like her dialogue, this writing choice felt clunky and obvious. These weren’t small little suggestions slyly hinted at but rather huge, lumbering red herrings that announced themselves by screaming at you for attention. They were so apparent that they did nothing but unfavorably extend the story, making it longer than needed.

I could forgive all of this if the murderer were someone completely unexpected. Instead, the murderer is someone anyone who has ever watched an episode of Date Line would easily guess. Ms. Rutkoski does not help herself with her attempted feints since no reader will fall for them.

It all comes down to the fact that Real Easy lacks elegance, which is the cause of most of the issues I had with it. I say elegance because a successful murder mystery is elegant; the author glides the reader from clue to false clue so effortlessly and with such little fanfare that they don’t even know they are seeing the clues, let alone false ones. Everything about Real Easy, from the dialogue to the multiple narrators to the unsurprising murderer, is as inelegant and crude as when you see someone in stage make-up up close after seeing them perform. ( )

This is a quick read. It is a thriller set in the world of strip clubs. Samantha/Ruby loves her boyfriend's daughter, Rosie, and wishes that Rosie was her own. When a new stripper gets in trouble at the club, Samantha offers to drives her home. On their way, the car gets rammed from behind, and Lady Jade is killed, while Samantha is taken prisoner.
The cops get involved, but they have too many leads and possible suspects. Holly, one of the detectives, is dealing with a loss of her own, and she is flawed. But, she gains the help of another stripper, Georgia, to assist in the case. Georgia keeps her eyes open and provides info to Holly.
Frightening look at the world of psychologically damaged people and what leads them to it. Interesting to hear that the author worked as a stripper when she was young. ( )

Es ist kein Job, den sich die jungen Frauen ausgesucht haben, aber als Stripperin im Lovely Lady lässt sich nun einmal Geld verdienen. Samantha ermöglicht es, sich tagsüber um Rosie, die Tochter ihres Lebensgefährten zu kümmern, Georgia kann ihre Mutter pflegen. Sie sind keine Freundinnen und doch geben sie aufeinander acht. Als ein neues Mädchen zugedröhnt nach Hause gebracht werden muss, kümmert sich Samantha und bezahlt es mit ihrem Leben. Es gibt einen Mörder, der die Tänzerinnen im Auge hat, die Angst geht um und doch müssen sie weitermachen während Detective Holly Meylin verzweifelt nach Spuren sucht.

Die Professorin für Literaturwissenschaft Marie Rutkoski ist mit Kinder- und Jugendbüchern sowie Science-Fiction bekannt geworden. Der Thriller „Real Easy“ ist ihr erster Roman für Erwachsene, der unzählige Spuren legt und bis zum Ende die spannende Frage nach dem Mörder offen lässt. Ein Überzeugender Roman, der vor allem die Tänzerinnen des Stripclubs nicht auf ihren Job reduziert, sondern die anderen Seiten hervorhebt.

Die Welt des Clubs ist überschaubar, die Regeln sind klar. Den Frauen wird nichts geschenkt und doch machen sie jeden Abend ihren Job, egal wie groß die Demütigungen sind. Einmal dort sind die Chancen auf einen Ausstieg in einen bürgerlichen Job gering. Für die Männer sind sie nur nackte Haut und Projektionen, die Menschen hinter den Bühnenfiguren sehen sie nicht.

In diesem Milieu zu ermitteln ist nicht einfach, zu viele schweigen lieber als dass sie offen das berichten würden, was sie gesehen haben oder wissen. Als Leser hat man dadurch immer wieder einen Vorsprung, wohin dieser führt, ist jedoch unklar. Geschickt legt die Autorin verschiedene Fährten, denen man folgt, nur um dann bald schon wieder eine neue Spur aufzunehmen.

Ein überzeugender Thriller, der vor allem durch interessante und vielschichtige Figuren wie einen überraschenden Spannungsbogen begeistert. ( )

Real Easy is a fast-paced thriller that was very hard to put down. At times, though, the story was a bit confusing because several characters went by multiple names so I would have to flip back to see who was who. Also just as I was getting interested in a character’s story, it would switch to a different point of view and never really circle back to that particular character. I would love to see a sequel focusing on the two detectives and further exploring their stories. Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book! ( )