Official Review: The Underbelly by Evelyn Cole
Posted: 05 Dec 2016, 03:47
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Underbelly" by Evelyn Cole.]
4 out of 4 stars
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The Underbelly: Dr. Jacquelyn and Mrs. Hyde by Evelyn Cole is a novel I would categorize under the C/T/M/H genre. It features two women, Dr. Jacquelyn Hyde and Trishita McCabe, whose lives collide and intertwine into a memorable story about love, ambitions and well-guarded secrets.
Jacquelyn is every inch a successful woman. She works as assistant superintendent of a suburban school district; is married to a businessman and has two grown-up children; and lives in a two-story Neo-Colonial house surrounded by acres of wood.
Meanwhile, Trishita lives in the slums of Worcester; works as a waitress at Russo’s Bar and Grill; never knows her Scottish father; and dreams of getting college education. She is a smart autodidact who finishes eighth grade when she is only twelve years old.
The excitement begins when Jacquelyn hires Trishita as a live-in maid, a job that fully benefits Trishita as she gets free lessons on computer from Jacquelyn’s husband Arthur and son Ethan, and suburban language and graces from Jacquelyn. Just when Trishita starts to feel comfortable in the Hyde household, Jacquelyn begins to feel uneasy about Trishita and the maid’s apparent closeness to her whole family especially her daughter Sylvia’s growing affection for the househelp. Trishita, in turn, feels something is off about Jacquelyn, and her suspicions are vindicated when she gets wind of Jacquelyn’s clandestine activities.
The story was written in the third person perspective and told alternately between the present and the past which gave detailed backstories of the two main protagonists. The backstories included descriptions of the main characters’ families which might explain their present behaviors, like Jacquelyn’s revulsion over collection of any kind and Trishita’s almost desperate desire to get away from her mother’s clutches.
The book was fast-paced, exciting and suspenseful. The author gave vivid contrasting descriptions between suburban houses: with spiral staircases and beautiful kitchens, and dingy apartments: with smelly rooms and rust-stained sinks. The dialogues were appropriate for each character like Jacquelyn’s use of formal words in ordinary conversations and Flossie’s uncouth language. Likewise, the author conveyed some ugly truth like: lechers were found not only on dirty streets and in cheap bars, they also held high positions in respectable institutions and lived in beautiful houses.
With casual and conversational tone, the story was easy to read and understand and the suspenseful scenes made the book difficult to put down. There was a very subtle touch of romance nearly by the end of the book and though it was very short, it gave the book a lighter mood. The author created memorable characters. Though my favorite was the kind and innocent Sylvia, the one I could relate to the most was Trishita. She was smart, tough and affectionate which was evident in her solicitude not only for her mother but for Sylvia and Ethan as well.
Besides the few typo errors and confusing pronouns, I did not see anything else that I did not like about the book. I, therefore, give this the rate of 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend it to readers who enjoy crime and suspense books with a little touch of romance.
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The Underbelly
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4 out of 4 stars
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The Underbelly: Dr. Jacquelyn and Mrs. Hyde by Evelyn Cole is a novel I would categorize under the C/T/M/H genre. It features two women, Dr. Jacquelyn Hyde and Trishita McCabe, whose lives collide and intertwine into a memorable story about love, ambitions and well-guarded secrets.
Jacquelyn is every inch a successful woman. She works as assistant superintendent of a suburban school district; is married to a businessman and has two grown-up children; and lives in a two-story Neo-Colonial house surrounded by acres of wood.
Meanwhile, Trishita lives in the slums of Worcester; works as a waitress at Russo’s Bar and Grill; never knows her Scottish father; and dreams of getting college education. She is a smart autodidact who finishes eighth grade when she is only twelve years old.
The excitement begins when Jacquelyn hires Trishita as a live-in maid, a job that fully benefits Trishita as she gets free lessons on computer from Jacquelyn’s husband Arthur and son Ethan, and suburban language and graces from Jacquelyn. Just when Trishita starts to feel comfortable in the Hyde household, Jacquelyn begins to feel uneasy about Trishita and the maid’s apparent closeness to her whole family especially her daughter Sylvia’s growing affection for the househelp. Trishita, in turn, feels something is off about Jacquelyn, and her suspicions are vindicated when she gets wind of Jacquelyn’s clandestine activities.
The story was written in the third person perspective and told alternately between the present and the past which gave detailed backstories of the two main protagonists. The backstories included descriptions of the main characters’ families which might explain their present behaviors, like Jacquelyn’s revulsion over collection of any kind and Trishita’s almost desperate desire to get away from her mother’s clutches.
The book was fast-paced, exciting and suspenseful. The author gave vivid contrasting descriptions between suburban houses: with spiral staircases and beautiful kitchens, and dingy apartments: with smelly rooms and rust-stained sinks. The dialogues were appropriate for each character like Jacquelyn’s use of formal words in ordinary conversations and Flossie’s uncouth language. Likewise, the author conveyed some ugly truth like: lechers were found not only on dirty streets and in cheap bars, they also held high positions in respectable institutions and lived in beautiful houses.
With casual and conversational tone, the story was easy to read and understand and the suspenseful scenes made the book difficult to put down. There was a very subtle touch of romance nearly by the end of the book and though it was very short, it gave the book a lighter mood. The author created memorable characters. Though my favorite was the kind and innocent Sylvia, the one I could relate to the most was Trishita. She was smart, tough and affectionate which was evident in her solicitude not only for her mother but for Sylvia and Ethan as well.
Besides the few typo errors and confusing pronouns, I did not see anything else that I did not like about the book. I, therefore, give this the rate of 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend it to readers who enjoy crime and suspense books with a little touch of romance.
******
The Underbelly
View: on Bookshelves
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