Treacle Mountain (Annie's Story) by F.W. Pinkerton

Okay, so I must admit that this book seemed like two different stories. One a coming-of-age story of a girl who is trying to change the dark world she lives in to one of safety and stability. And the other a thriller about a girl suddenly thrust into a plot of smuggling and drugs. A plot that just seems to thicken with every turned page. By themselves, I can see how both stories would definitely make for good books, but together, to me it was just too much. I kind of wish that the author would have stuck more to the thriller aspect for this particular book. It seemed that it had a bit more substance to it. And also, I kind of did not like the person the main character was turning into when she was making the world she lives in “better.” I guess I should probably explain the quotes around better.

Annie, our main character, lives in a rundown place with a failing marriage behind one wall and a constant demand for pleasure behind the other. She absolutely hates the situation she is in. Hates it to the point where of course she wants to change it. But she goes about it, in my eyes, the wrong way. She basically delves into the terrible world she wants to get away from and uses it to her advantage. The advantage being she can get back at those who have pissed her off, such as a local drug dealer, the man who lives in the apartment beneath her, and at one point, even her supposed best friend/lover. I mean, every single thing she did was almost mind-blowing to me. Not because of what she did, but because of her justifications behind it. It just didn’t seem…right, I guess is the word?

And also, the author hints at various times throughout the story about an incident from Annie’s past. Supposedly it had haunted her for years. But it didn’t seem that way. I kind of wish the author had started the story with a flashback of the incident. And also, along with that, written in the character Fred’s point of view. Because he is very important to the thriller aspect of the story and is found to be indirectly connected with the incident from her past. Along with the whole plot of smuggling and drugs that Annie is suddenly thrust into, everything would have connected in some way. Because that is something I really did not get from this book the way it was written, a connection. Like I said before, this seemed like two stories instead of one. And neither really felt part of the other.

While in the end I did enjoy the story, I wanted more development.