Goody One Shoe / Julie Frayn

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Psychological Thriller/Women's Fiction

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Availability

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: NO Smashwords: NO Paper: NO

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Author:

The author of four novels and two short story collections, Julie Frayn lives in Calgary, Alberta where she’s a senior manager at a historical theme park. Her novel It isn’t Cheating if He’s Dead was the top vote getter in the Chick-Lit/Women’s Fiction category of the 2014 BigAl’s Books and Pals Readers’ Choice Awards.

For more, visit Frayn’s website.

Description:

“Eleven-year-old Billie Fullalove witnesses the murder of her parents at the hands of a gun-wielding thug. In the melee, Billie loses a leg. But her Batmanesque beginnings don’t turn her into a superhero. Yet. Billie survives her lonely childhood and settles into a solitary life, pursuing her dream of being an editor in a top publishing house. Unable to avenge her parents' unsolved murder, she is accosted by news stories of bad guys going free thanks to an inept court system. She wields her red pen and edits the newspaper to fight evil forces, right wrongs, and bring justice to victims. When her edits come true, and criminals start dying, Billie must discover the vigilante’s identity before they act out more of her revenge fantasies.”

Appraisal:

The author's dedication in Goody One Shoe says, “This is for the odd ones. The nerds, the geeks, and the weirdos. You know, for everyone.” The protagonists in Julie Frayn's novels are all unique, from themselves and from a typical woman (or man) on the street, and yet they're also everywoman, with qualities, feelings, and reactions that anyone should find easy to relate to. Wilhelmina “Billie” Fullalove, is the most unique yet. (That name alone is almost enough.) And yet, for all the things that make her different, she's looking for the same as most of us. To make our life as good as we're able, improve ourselves, find the right friends to surround us, and do what we can to make the world a better place.

However, also like most of us, there is a gap between who Billie wants to be and who she is. On the surface, she's a bit of a straight-arrow. What some might call a “goody two-shoes.” But she's made a deal with God. He allows her to think whatever she wants, sometimes profane and not very nice things. As long as she doesn't voice those thoughts, she's forgiven.

To occupy herself on her daily subway rides, Billie starts editing newspaper stories, fixing what the real editors didn't catch and changing the story to have the ending she'd prefer. Things take a turn for the strange when the stories start to happen for real. The story of how Billie figures out what is going on and deals with it is at turns intense and humorous. She'll keep you turning pages until the end.

FYI:

Some adult language and situations.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars