Rating: 2/5

Reading '10 HOURS TO GO' by Keely Parrack, I went in with high hopes. The premise, hinted at by the cover – 'Lily wants to get HOME. Her friends want to get EVEN.' – sounded like a recipe for a truly gripping thriller. I was ready for twists, turns, and that nail-biting suspense that keeps you turning pages late into the night. Unfortunately, my experience was pretty different from what I expected. While the book was undeniably a 'fast read,' I found myself rushing through it not because I was desperate to know what happened next, but more out of a desire to just get it over with. The initial setup promised a lot: Lily's urgent need to get home, juxtaposed with her friends' mysterious motives for 'getting even.' This kind of tension should theoretically build into an explosive climax, but for me, it just fizzled out. I kept waiting for the story to escalate, for that heart-racing moment the original article mentions, where the stakes truly felt high and the characters' decisions had real consequences. Instead, any moment of potential excitement seemed to resolve itself too quickly, without leaving a lasting impact. It felt like the author introduced intriguing scenarios only to pull back before they could fully develop into something truly thrilling. I thought it would be a perfect book for a #lemon8bookclub discussion, but it didn't quite live up to that potential. A good thriller, in my opinion, needs more than just a quick pace. It needs characters you can root for, or at least understand, even when they're making questionable choices. It needs a plot that weaves together clues and red herrings seamlessly, leading to a satisfying and surprising reveal. With '10 HOURS TO GO,' I found some of the plot points and character interactions to be quite 'corny,' as the original review states. It pulled me out of the narrative, making it hard to suspend disbelief and fully immerse myself in Lily's predicament or her friends' vendetta. Sometimes, you pick up a book, and you just know it's not going to be a 5-star read, but you keep going, hoping it will redeem itself. That was my journey with Keely Parrack's novel. I was constantly searching for that 'more' that the article talks about, some hidden depth or a sudden, unexpected twist that would make all the previous lukewarm moments worthwhile. Unfortunately, it never arrived. If you're looking for a light, very quick read that doesn't demand too much emotional investment or deep thought, then '10 HOURS TO GO' might fit the bill. However, if you're like me and crave a genuinely suspenseful, well-developed thriller with compelling characters and unpredictable plotlines, this one might leave you feeling a bit underwhelmed. It's tough to give a critical review, especially when you want to love every book, but honesty is key in book reviews, right? So, while it might be a fast journey, don't expect a thrilling destination.