Very interesting book! That what is comes to my mind when I read the book.

The small place like Point Robert, a peninsula in Washington State. Surrounded by water and a giant wall that spans its border with Canada. After a decade ago, still, Point Robert is in the shadow of the fifteen people who were murder there. Every February, this little town is cut off, from the rest of the world, in an attempt to stop a brutal serial killer from striking again. And so far... it has worked.

The decades-old case remained unsolved. That's the beginning of the suspicions that residents of Point Roberts have if there something big behind the mayor's enforced lockdown? Liza seventeen years old moves to town with her foster parents and February begins. At first, she doesn't know anything about the murders, but that will change when she will find a mysterious book - The Fifteen - a book that shares shocking details on the killings.

Wanting to discover who is the Point Roberts Slayer, Liza teams up with four other people who all have personal connections to the victims. These five people work hard together to discover who is behind the identity of Point Robert Slayer. They tying to stay out of the murderer's destructive path so they don't become victims themselves.

A very unusual story for a little place like Point Roberts. The plot is something that definitely traps your attention and time. So you must make sure that you will not have some obligation that you must to do while you reading this book. Trust me you will not have time for that.

Five people are a complicated portrait of problematic characters who want to protect their hearts from the truth, but still want to go on and put end to the mystery of Point Roberts Slayer.

I want to say big thanks to NetGalley for this amazing opportunity to read a such good book.

Ah, the honest review. I hate having to write reviews like this, as I'm always achingly aware of the fact that there is a human being who worked their ass off behind every book. Sadly, Point Roberts just ended up being more problematic than anything else.

Two things I really did like about it were the cover and the way the story came about. I think it was actually the cover that drew me to the book in the first place, and the whodunnit romp promised by the summary sealed the deal. The book was also, as I understand it, conceived thanks to the author's fascination with an actual place called Point Roberts, and stories that start out that way have the potential to be really good.

But that's where it ends for me, really. I sped through the first 15% of the book in a state of definite curiosity at this new and exciting world and its sordid past, but after putting the book down for a day and returning to it anew, the issues were impossible to ignore. Let's start with the length of the book, as it relates to some of the smaller detail I want to cover. This book could have half of its 414 paperback pages, and it would probably have been better for it too. There are paragraphs upon paragraphs were the author waxes lyrical about some tiny inanity in a character's inner monologue, or about the landscape or the ocean, that could just have been left out entirely, as it mostly doesn't contribute to the story, and despite all this, I still didn't connect with any of the characters. I know that each author has their own style, and long and involved (and sometimes striking, I will admit) metaphors and descriptions have their place, but it was so out of sync with the rest of the book - and added so little value - that I ended up skimming like mad just to get through the slog.

Another thing that would have shortened the book is by leaving our unnecessary clarifications and explanations in the narrative when the dialogue already addressed the information clearly. The best example of this (actually from the book) was when three women - two adults and one teenager - were thinking about drinking some wine. The teenager notes that she's never had wine but that she'd love to try some, and the one adult responds by asking the teenager to get three glasses from the cupboard. That short bit of dialogue makes it absolutely clear that the woman has agreed to let the teenager have some wine too, doesn't it? They are the only three people there, after all. But no, in this instance, the narrative after the dialogue explains it by reiterating that the woman had used this statement to acknowledge that the teenager can indeed have some wine. This. Was. Not. Necessary. I promise you that stuff like this happens ALL OVER this book. I realise that this sounds like a small thing to quibble over, but if it happens often enough, it just becomes this glaring red flag that begs the question: how much shorter (and better) would this book have been if the author did not believe they have to spell everything out for the reader? I get that this is probably something that the author isn't even aware of doing, but in that case, whoever did the editing should have picked up on it and either pointed it out or just deleted the offending phrases and sentences.

Then we get to Part IV of the book. Here, the author steps outside of the formula that had been used in the book up to that point to Make A Statement. Basically, this is 75% into the book, and the POV changes from third-person narration to first-person, focusing on four of the main characters that are trying to solve the mystery. The chapter is also started off with a few paragraphs about how to solve something, it's sometimes necessary to see the issue from more than one perspective, so the author is really setting this up to be a chapter of diverse voices that show the characters' heretofore unheard inner workings and through that, bomb-like revelations about who the Point Roberts Slayer actually is. A pretty genius device, I think - if it had worked at all. To my reading, there is not a single thing in any of those four perspectives that 1) contributes to the promised hivemind revelation of who the killer is, or 2) tells the reader even one single new thing about the characters that the exposition in the third-person sections of the book didn't already do. Essentially, this whole section is more of the same, with only first-person pronouns swapped out for the third-person ones. If you as an author make such a deliberate style choice, it has to pay off for the reader, otherwise, they just feel like they were duped into being part of a failed experiment.

And then finally, the ending. I won't say much about this to avoid spoilers, but using an extremely convenient device like a sailboat appearing out of nowhere - not to further the story, but to instead facilitate a physical manifestation of the kinds of metaphors used throughout the book - is not okay. It's cheesy and confusing and makes for a really muddled ending to what should have been a more succinct book.

Rant over. I can see the bones of a good book and a blooming author coming into his own right in Point Roberts, but in its current form, it just does not cut it.

The book hooked me from the start, and I thought that the multiple POVs were very well-crafted and helped develop the characters and the overall story. I love books with this set-up of people trying to figure out a killer a la 'YOU SHOULD KEEP THIS TO YOURSELF,' and this book was no exception.

I received an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review. I hate being over critical, as everyone’s taste is different...but for me, this was the book that tried too hard. Seemingly pointless diversions into backstory, in order to make some characters appear complex, were annoying distractions from an already meandering plot. The language and attempts at creating atmosphere were stilted and overwrought at times....I could almost hear the iconic “da da da dummmmm”. There were some good ideas within... they just got overwhelmed by “too much” (too many twists, too much melodrama)...to the point of becoming outlandish. 2.5 stars, rounded up (for effort)

The overall plot was very intriguing, but I found myself disconnected by the many over-the-top twists that pulled me out of reality. This was a very easy read, though it was a bit clumsy and often over-explained. Perhaps this would appeal more to a young adult audience.

As someone who identifies within the LGBTQIA+ community, I found that these themes, as well as the minority representation, lacked depth. It was, however, great to see so much representation in one book.

The cover art and the overall style of the novel are well-conceived.

Thank you to NetGallery for the ARC edition in exchange for an honest review.

This was well written mystery with a very atmospheric setting. I was totally hooked into the investigation for the first half of the book. The characters were unique and I loved how each had a story related to the mystery. The characters were my favourite part of this book. They were entertaining especially Liza and Theodore.
I started losing interest at the end because it became very repetitive. The ending dragged on for a good amount where it was just a rehash of the first half from the killer's point and it became a bit too long for me.
Overall I liked the book and it started with 4.5/4 stars but the ending was just okay. So I would go with 3.5 stars.

A motley crew of survivors and murder victims' relatives are determined to solve a cold case in a locked-down town. Who killed 15 people in the 80s and what could have tied them all together? When teenage Liza finds a discarded book of evidence and clues, she and four strangers band together to pull the thread.

First, let's talk about the elephant in the room: Rigby's writing style isn't for everyone. Some scenes are way over-described (I do know what happens when someone shrugs -- the motion doesn't need to be described in detail) and I suspect Rigby's thesaurus gets a lot of use. For some readers, this may be enough of a turn-off that they won't enjoy the story. The writing style is my biggest criticism.

I flew through this book in just a couple of days; I just had to know what happened next! I especially enjoyed the diverse cast of characters -- they aren’t just diverse in the obvious ways, they have unique personalities with rich emotional lives and fully fleshed-out backstories. Each character has their own voice, and although the chapters flow smoothly, we get to experience the story from new eyes in every chapter. There was no confusion about perspective. The story, pacing, character development, and balance are top-notch.

A few other reviewers liken Point Roberts to Scooby-Doo and they’re not wrong! A ragtag gang of five bands together to run around town solving a mystery. They do eat a lot of snacks, pair off to collect convenient clues, and unmask the baddie who would’ve gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling townies. Beyond that, it’s a unique character-driven whodunit with plenty of red herrings.

Because there are so many victims, an astute reader could spot enough connections to solve the puzzle with a third of the book to go, but going along for the ride with Liza, Theodore, Colette, Grant, and Maude is the real purpose of the story. The small-town Pac Northwest scenery is gorgeous and feels like a character of its own. Mystery lovers will find Point Roberts a satisfying if wordy read.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Point Roberts is available today.

Alexander Rigby drops us on the shores of Point Roberts and leaves us with the feeling that somehow we might never escape. Initially following Liz, a young woman who has found herself here after a string of foster homes, the story jumps POVs, allows us small glipses into the lives of Theodore, Colette, Grant, and Maude. There were so many twists that this is one of the few books where I didn't figure it out before the big reveal. The five work together, and apart, to attempt to discover the identity of the infamous Point Robert's Slayer, a murderer who killed fifteen citizens in the February of 1885-1987. After 1987, the Mayor locked the city down each February, but threats and calls make the group think the Slayer is back for more.

5/5 Stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Girl Friday, Alden, The Allegory Ridge Press for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book might be interesting, a town shutting down for one month a year due to murders 30 years ago? At first it seemed slow to get started with the story, but about a fourth of the way, it really switched > to intrigue, complicated histories of residents, and determined and unusual investigators. I would recommend it to anyone who likes involved and not so easy to solve mysteries.

I worried this would read too much like a ya book but I was not disappointed. I liked the writing a lot, it had a very dark tinge. The story itself gripped me from page 1 and I could not stop reading! I will be checking out the author's other novels aswell.

This was the closest thing to a Scooby-doo style mystery book you can get. The plot is constantly moving in a quick paste that will leave you intrigued. I did enjoy the multiple perspectives but at some point, characters would retell stories to inform a clueless character of a new clue. The dialogue got slightly repeated because of it. I did really enjoy the age gap between the character, I thought that dynamic was fun to see. Overall this was a fun read with just a few problems with the dialogue.

I obtained this copy of Point Roberts as an ARC from NetGalley.

Three Stars

Point Roberts is a small town "in" Washington state. It's only non-water boarder is actually Canada. Visitors arrive by boat, or by driving through the boarder from Canada... Unless it is February. The Mayor of PR started a month long lockdown in the late eighties, after a series of 15 murders took place over three consecutive Februarys... The shutdown became a regular routine for the Point Roberts residents, until some newcomers roll into town and start drudging up the past.

I really loved the idea of this book, but the way it was written confused me. I loved the mix of characters, and how inclusive this book was. That being said, this book is not what I expected after reading the back cover. The mention of a 17 year old girl and a "group of misfits" had me believing this was going to be a "Nancy Drew" type mystery but with darker themes.

Point Roberts is heavy on the "teen style" drama, which just isn't my cup of tea. (I'd compare it to Riverdale or Pretty Little Liars as far as theatrics go.) Both the characters and the story were chaotic. I found myself having to go back and reread sections. One minute the characters were calm, and the next they were yelling or panicking for whatever reason and I assumed I missed something.

I am not sure what audience this book was written for. It was sort of all over the place. I think the storyline was good, but just not my style. I think if this book were brought down a little closer to a PG-13 level and shortened, this would do really well as a YA novel.

Written in rambling prose, this novel ultimately falls flat for the reader. Where the plot was stellar the dramatic dialogues of the main characters left me feeling like I was dragging through the book page after page almost forcing the book to keep up with me. Just when I became excited at the idea of actual plot action I was met with more of the same. In the name of diversity this book has it in droves, when organically achieved this is a must in novels, however when not as relevant to plot it seems like a ploy from the author to achieve a heightened response to the novel.

While the cover art is well done, and some of the characters were likeable this novel disappointed me.

3.5 STARS

Determined to discover the identity of the Point Roberts Slayer, 17 year old Liza teams up with four other misfits who all hold secrets and have personal connections to the victims who were murdered nearly thirty years ago. These five strangers will have to work together to uncover the truth, if only they can stay out of the murderer's destructive path so they don't become victims themselves.

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I initially picked up POINT ROBERTS because it was based locally and sounded like an interesting, gritty mystery. This book started off strong for me, however by the half way mark it began to lag. I felt that it could have been about ~100 pages shorter and it would have been a much more enjoyable read for me. That said, the plot was original and well done with a hint of "cozy small town mystery" vibe.

I think part of the reason this didn't hit it out of the park for me was because I thought it was going to be something completely different than it turned out to be (which is totally on me.) POINT ROBERTS is, at it's heart, a character driven story about a small town and the close-knit friendships that come from a place of tragedy.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC!

<b> The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. </b>

5/5

This book took me by surprise. It was incredible. I didn't know how much I could feel for the characters living in Point Roberts, and how badly I wanted to find out the mysteries and murderer with them. I have a special place in my heart now for Liza, Theo, Bill, Colette, Maude, the list goes on and on. I want to read more by Rigby and I want to read it NOW.

This has been a mystery book that actually made me want to get out a notebook and start to make notes, to figure out who had done it myself. I was invested, which is something that sometimes lacks for me with a mystery. I think Rigby did a very good job with this. I loved reading and if I had not recieved this ARC, I would probably have bought it myself.

There are some trigger warnings that come with this book, for those concerned, they are as followed:
Homophobia, transphobia, talk about suicide, murder, death, guns, gore

Point Roberts, in the Pacific Northwest, has a history - a history of murder that happened every February decades ago. Since then, the town has gone on lockdown each February: no one in, no one out. A total of fifteen people were killed, but after the lockdowns started, the murders stopped. Even when it seemed further lockdowns were not necessary, the town continued the tradition, for some bizarre (quirky!) reason. 

Liza has moved to the island with her foster family. She feels a bit of a misfit, of course, and now there's this weirdo lockdown month where no one can go anywhere and outsiders can't get in.

She teams up with four other misfits, and the group tries to determine who the Point Roberts serial killer was - or is.

!!!!Spoilers here!!!!

The atmosphere is gloomy, as one might expect in that region in the grip of winter. Note: you must be willing to push your suspension of disbelief a little harder in this story than some others, not just during the investigation phase, but during the denouement - the killer (who you can probably guess) killing for reasons attributed to a secret and to mental illness, the presentation of which was a bit of a curiosity.

I didn't really care for this, although I understand it can happen in real life. But the reasoning behind the murders and the secret they conceal just struck me wrong.

It's well enough written, although I think there was a but too much effort to try to make everyone quirky, and there were a couple of tropes that bugged me (one in particular: HIV these days is not an automatic death sentence, and someone who gets a positive test will get a second one to confirm). Also, what's the deal with this girl running around the island with four adults? that's just...odd. There are some clunky portions, and it could have used a bit of trimming. Authors, please don't have your climax explained in excruciating detail. If you have to explain that much at the end, you haven't done enough before that point to lay the groundwork of the story.

I'll give it three stars out of five.

Thanks to Alden and NetGalley for the review copy.

I am so conflicted on how I feel about this book. I personally was not a fan of Rigby’s writing style, so it took me longer than usual to really get into the story. However, the book itself is well written and well planned out. Plus, I’m giving Rigby major points for his wonderfully diverse group of main characters (plus some subtle shade about Trump being an incompetent fool). I’ve done a bit of studying into criminal profiling and what drives serial killers to kill, so I appreciated the way the serial killer (sorry, but no spoilers so I can’t say who that is!) is written. Their reasoning for what they did made sense with their circumstances, and it wasn’t obvious when we finally did get the big reveal. I loved the gloomy overcast feel of this small coastal town closed off from the world during February, and the juxtaposition we got from these pockets of warmth while with the main characters in the spaces they feel most comfortable. Overall, Point Roberts is a good book for those who like cold case murder mysteries with twists and turns, just be prepared to spend some time getting used to Rigby’s writing style and tone.

Full list of potential triggers:
Murder, Gore, Homophobia, Transphobia, Guns, Discussion of Suicide, Death, Bullying, Cursing, Discussion of Death from AIDS

*contains minor spoilers *
This story follows several perspectives of people affected by the point Robert slayer one way or another.

The first half of the book was a 4 star read for me. It had everything I usually love in a book. Intrigue, suspense, good characters and an easy to follow, very readable plot. I flew through the first half.
I feel like at around 60 percent the book changed its course so drastically that it felt like a whole other story all together and I lost interest. Apart from 1, most plot twist were forseeable. It went from feeling like a ya detective to a kidnapping story. The point where this plot switches was so dramatic and prompt, it caught me off guard and not in a good way.
However the author did manage to surprise me in the last 5 percent of reading and I did really want to finish the story so my intrigue was still there. It just did not feel like the story "I signed up for".
The authors writing style did make up for a lot of it.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

I wanted to like this book. I really really did. The blurb sounded interesting, the characters had fascinating backgrounds and personalities that could really have played off each other. But some of the internal logics just didn't work out. So this town puts up with being shut off for all of february due to an incidence 20 years ago? Then we have a seance scene where the characters threw things at each other. Things get weirder from there with no actual satisfying answers provided for the weirdness.

I felt like the book tried too hard to be interesting. Twists after twists turned up that made the book hard to follow. Characters did some very stupid things. And the kicker is the denouement in the cemetery with some truly scooby doo villain dialogue, bizarre repetitions and a too neat ending. A character spent the whole book thinking he had HIV only to find out that it was a false positive and he just never got retested or followed up and, this was presented as some kind of happy ending.

Point Roberts by @alexander_rigby #eightyseventhbookof2020 #arc #inlovewiththecover (I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of this book from #netgalley and #allegoryridge. Pub date 2/1/21)
REVIEW: Point Roberts is a town that shuts down every February because a serial killer murdered fifteen people thirty years ago and it was decided that shutting the borders for a month each year would prevent any more slayings. And it worked! This February, however, while the town is shut off from the rest of the world, five people are determined to solve the mystery. Realistic? No, but I loved this book anyway. It drew me in immediately and I was hooked. I couldn’t wait to get back to it each day to learn more. The perspectives of the five sleuths were different enough and felt fleshed out. Each had valid reasons for getting involved and I liked their interplay. I think the reveal of the mystery is longish and I would have liked some of those details to be shown in other ways, but overall, this was a solid story that I really enjoyed. And that striking cover drew me in immediately. Gorgeous. #pointrobertsbook
Thank you to @netgalley and @allegoryridge for the review copy.