Review: The East End by Jason Allen

The East End

by Jason Allen

Publisher: Park Row

Pages: 304

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  THE EAST END is an atmospheric debut novel of family secrets and scandal, of love and heartbreak, of working class struggle versus the privileges of the super wealthy, all set in a place whose incredible beauty means both pleasure and pain – a place where people will die for love, kill for truth, and dream of escaping forever.

THE EAST END opens with Corey Halpern, a Hamptons local from a broken home who breaks into mansions at night for kicks. He likes the rush and admittedly, the escapism. One night just before Memorial Day weekend, he breaks into the wrong home at the wrong time: the Sheffield estate where he and his mother work. Under the cover of darkness, their boss Leo Sheffield -- billionaire CEO, patriarch, and owner of the vast lakeside manor -- arrives unexpectedly with his lover, Henry. After a shocking poolside accident leaves Henry dead, everything depends on Leo burying the truth. But unfortunately for him, Corey saw what happened and there are other eyes in the shadows.

Hordes of family and guests are coming to the estate the next morning, including Leo's surly wife, all expecting a lavish vacation weekend of poolside drinks, evening parties, and fireworks filling the sky. No one can know there’s a dead man in the woods, and there is no one Leo can turn to. With his very life on the line, everything will come down to a split-second decision. For all of the main players—Leo, Gina, and Corey alike—time is ticking down, and the world they’ve known is set to explode.

Kritters Thoughts:  This is a book as my husband can randomly say - "Oh, rich people problems".  Taking place in the rich people place of The Hamptons and in a grand home.  Corey lives with his mother and brother and his mother works in the grand homes of The Hamptons and he is having a hard time leaving this place that is home but also bothers him so much.  He is out one evening in a place he shouldn't be and happens to see things he shouldn't and must make some life changing split decisions.

The thing I loved about this book was how atmospheric it was.  I could see the darkness of the night and the grandness of the neighborhood and homes.  The way this author described everything just put me there in the house or the backyard - in the time and place.  I felt really there.  But this also set the book back for me because it felt like the author spent a lot of time with the set up and then action happened and then there was just so much description, it disrupted the pacing for me.

I read this book during a hard time in my life which probably wasn't the best fit because I was in need of a book that kept good pacing and could keep me completely invested in the book and this one with all the wordiness had me get easily distracted and less engrossed in the story.  If I had read this at a time where I could really sit and lose track of time, I think I could have liked this one a bit more.


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2019 Challenge: 21 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from HarperCollins.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.