Detailed plot synopsis reviews of The Silent Wife |
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But then she realizes that maybe her hired killer didn't do it and maybe Dean's hired killers did. Ultimately Jodi does not know whose hired killers killed Todd.
Jodi goes crazy and is sent to a hospital where she cuts off her hair. Evidently the death of Todd did upset her. But she gets over it. She also finds out Todd didn't have AIDS.
The end.
Literary Criticism:
I really, really liked the first half of this book. It's been so long since I liked a book that I had nearly forgotten that there were likeable books out there. At least, the first half of it. What fascinated me was the complexity of Jodi's character. She was always calm, even emotionally cold, ignoring the mounting evidence of Todd's infidelity, acting like nothing had changed... and then she suddenly tries to kill him. Then he moves out, then she invites him back...and has sex with him. Then she tries to kill him for his money.
Click here to see the rest of this reviewHer behavior is totally unpredictable, which is what I liked about her. One moment she is an emotionless robot, the next a jealous killer. Her unpredictable behavior makes the first half a suspenseful, entertaining read. I didn't like her because she tried to kill Todd; I liked her because we could never know for sure what was going on in her mind.
The competition between Jodi and Natasha was also very entertaining. I liked how Natasha called Jodi and rubbed her relationship with Todd in Jodi's face; Jodi's non-reaction was totally unexpected. It was a very dramatic scene!
But the second half of the book was without focus. Jodi seemed to be plotting to kill Todd for his money, which didn't make sense, as it had never been established that Jodi was interested in his money. Jodi had long, drawn-out psychobabble sessions about her brother Ryan which seemed disconnected from everything. The story ends in a very unsatisfying way where we don't even know who really killed Todd.
What could have made the second half as dramatic as the first would have been to have an open competition between Natasha, Jodi, and yes even Ilona for Todd's affection. Nothing creates drama like a love triangle or even a love polygon. That was the most exciting aspect of the story but once that was played down, the murder investigation/psychobabble part of the story was much less interesting. There was no final confrontation between Jodi and Natasha, instead Jodi went a little crazy and then recovered. Todd worried he had AIDS but then he didn't, so what was the point of that? The second half of the story didn't seem well plotted.
