Contemporary Fiction Early Review: The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz

The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz 

Egalley thanks to Harlequin Mira

Synopsis from Goodreads
From the internationally celebrated author of the Original Sinners series comes a brand-new tale of betrayal, revenge and a family scandal that bore a 150-year-old mystery

When Cooper McQueen wakes up from a night with a beautiful stranger, it's to discover he's been robbed. The only item stolen—a million-dollar bottle of bourbon. The thief, a mysterious woman named Paris, claims the bottle is rightfully hers. After all, the label itself says it's property of the Maddox family who owned and operated Red Thread Bourbon distillery since the last days of the Civil War until the company went out of business for reasons no one knows… No one except Paris.

In the small hours of a Louisville morning, Paris unspools the lurid tale of Tamara Maddox, heiress to the distillery that became an empire. But the family tree is rooted in tainted soil and has borne rotten fruit. Theirs is a legacy of wealth and power, but also of lies, secrets and sins of omission. The Maddoxes have bourbon in their blood—and blood in their bourbon. Why Paris wants the bottle of Red Thread remains a secret until the truth of her identity is at last revealed, and the century-old vengeance Tamara vowed against her family can finally be completed. 
 
Release date: June 28th 2016.

Audible US/UK | Amazon US/UK | Amazon kindle US/UK | The Book Depository

6.5/10

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 As much as I usually enjoy Tiffany Reisz's books, and as much as I objectively appreciated the beauty of writing style, the dark, twisted setting and the imagery, this book wasn't for me.

It was too torturous, too slow, to contemplative. The topic itself - dark secrets of rich Southern families just didn't appeal to me that much. I was expecting more in lieu of Maltese Falcon, than Sidney Sheldon.



If you love all that Southern drawl slow storytelling, old family feuds, the heat and the bourbon, the ominous Gothic feeling and huge dramatic emotions, you'll love this, I swear.

The Bourbon Thief wore me out. It was so full of grief, rage and bitterness, old curses and prejudices, I couldn't get a feel of the main characters, and didn't want to know what would happen to them, so I skipped and skipped trying to rush the story forward. I would have gobbled it up if there was at least some humour, but it was all about tears and being earnest. *sigh*

Paris, the storyteller, is the only one I wanted to get to know, otherwise the unpleasant issues raised in The Bourbon Thief - with Levi and Tamara's age difference, with their ancestry, did me in.

Treat with caution, read at your own discretion.

* * *

Насколько я обычно наслаждаюсь книгами Тиффани Райс, Вор Бурбона был не для меня. Объективно, я оценила красивый авторский почерк и тёмную обстановку южной готики, но сама книга меня просто замучила.

Медленный, созерцательный, мучительный ритм повествования. Тема сама по себе, о тёмных секретах богатых семей юга, была лишена юмора и интригующих характеров, из-за чего интерес мой потерялся очень быстро. Я как-то ожидала Мальтийского Ястреба, а не Сидни Шелдона. А тут, сплошная драма, слёзы, горечь и гнев.

Прибавьте неудобные темы большого различия в возрасте между Леви и Тамарой, их фамильные линии... и единственный персонаж, который меня привлекал, это - Парис, сама рассказчица.

В общем, читайте на своё  усмотрение и обращайтесь с этой книгой осторожно.