Book Review: Rock Paper Scissors

Title: Rock Paper Scissors
Author: Alice Feeney
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Psychological Thriller

Plot Summary: Hoping to breathe life back into their fractured marriage, Amelia and Adam Wright embark on a weekend getaway to a remote, converted chapel in the icy wilderness of Scotland. However, their trip is far from a random stroke of luck, and both spouses are harboring dark secrets. Making matters more complex, Adam suffers from face blindness, unable to recognize his friends, family, or even his own wife. As the couple settles into the claustrophobic isolation of the chapel, a series of unread anniversary letters begins to unravel the truth about their past, while a mysterious local named Robin watches from the shadows…

Review: Prosopagnosia was actually the very condition that first drew me to neuroscience, right after I read Oliver Sacks’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. I was thus immediately intrigued by a thriller whose main character lives with face blindness. Having now read three of Alice Feeney’s novels, I’m starting to wonder if all of her books revolve around broken marriages. 😛

While the final twist was unexpected, the author did leave a trail of breadcrumbs along the way. In hindsight, there was one specific clue about Robin’s true identity that I should have paid closer attention to, but I ultimately assumed I had simply misread the passage instead of leaning into it to solve the mystery. Overall, my reading experience and the resolution of the twists didn’t feel quite as satisfying as My Husband’s Wife. Perhaps it’s time for me to take a little break from Feeney’s works before diving into her next mystery. 

Rating: 3.25/5