Nothing but peril. Perfect for beach.

The Song Remains the Same by Allison Winn Scotch

Summer's on its way, and the beach books are arriving on the bookshelves. Here's one of this year's crop.

Apparently I’ve got a weakness for amnesiac-women-in-peril stories. Who knew?!

I must’ve read a rave review of The Song Remains the Same, so I placed a hold on it. So it arrived, and I dived into it cold, without reading the jacket blurb.

And it’s pretty darn addictive to read.

Here’s the set-up: Nell wakes up in a hospital after surviving an airplane crash, and she can’t remember who she is. She doesn’t recognize her husband, her mother, her sister, her best friend.

And then she discovers, bit by bit, that they’re all lying to her in various ways.

Her life was not so peachy as they’re making it out to be.

So she begins to trust, and confide in, a reporter who is following her story. And yeah, you can see this one coming… There’s just lots of betrayal in this book.

Nell and a B-list actor are the only survivors of the crash, and they become quite close friends (which seemed a bit contrived to me. The actor seemed too self-absorbed to stick around.)

There’s also a nice subplot about Nell’s father, a famous artist who deserted the family when Nell was a kid. Since she can’t remember much—and her mother’s lying through her teeth—Nell is confused about what to think about her father.

So, yeah. Her life is one big old mess. (Thus: very fun to read about. Just thank your lucky stars you ain't living it.)

If you liked last year’s blockbuster Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson, this book is likely gonna trip your trigger. The two are very close read-alikes, without being copy-cat-ish.

So yeah. This isn’t fine literature, but it sure fits the bill if you’re looking for the proverbial beach book.

I’m all about accepting each book for what it is, and this is a particularly fine example of a zippy little story that’ll pull you right into its vortex, without asking much of you but a few hours of compulsive page-turning.

Librarian tip of the day: When I got this book, it reeked of cigarette smoke, which, of course, repulsed me. So I did the thing: stuck a fabric softener sheet in the book, set it aside, and voila! No more stench!