Joe's Reviews > Counterfeit

My introduction to the fiction of Kirsten Chen is Counterfeit. Published in 2022, this novel was mentioned by a literary agent--not Chen's--I'm submitting my work to as being an example of the type of "secrets and lies" suspense novel she loves, so I wanted to read it. Upmarket fiction, complicated women, suspense where you get to know the characters, all of these boxes check what I plan to submit.

I abandoned this one on page 50/274.

Summarization vs. dramatization. The author tells the reader everything. We're told about a law school grad living in San Francisco who's given up her career to raise her tyrannical two-year-old with her nanny while growing distant from her surgeon husband. We're told about the reunion with a mysterious college roommate who invites her to join her operation in trafficking counterfeit luxury goods. We're not shown anything. The telling is so overwhelming that Chen doesn't even use quotation marks for dialogue. The novel is just a run-on recap of action or dialogue.

Several days after the Neiman's fiasco, Winnie called me to apologize. She said she hadn't been thinking straight. Dealing with Guangzhou remotely was such a colossal headache that the stress had gotten to her. She was about to pay top dollar for a shipment practically sight unseen--she cut herself off then. You've made your views clear, she said, so that's the last thing I'll say about your work. But, Ava, I want you to know that I've loved spending time with you and Henri. I hope we can remain friends.

I don't want to read Cliff Notes, I want to read the original version.

Foreshadowing indicates the main character is being questioned by police, but is glib beyond the point anyone being questioned by a detective would be, especially if she'd committed a crime. I generally dislike foreshadowing due to how amateurish it often feels, and unnecessary.

70% of the first fifty pages involves the tantrums the main character's infant is throwing. No judgment here, but I lost interest in the main character due to how incompetent she appears to be in parenting, requiring a full-time Mexican nanny to help her not quell her son's outbursts.

First World problems: Main character unfulfilled giving up a legal career to be a mother and wife, as well as grow distant from her surgeon husband, who's working surgeon hours to give them the lifestyle she covets. Can authors either pretend not everyone graduates from Stanford, marries a doctor, and hires a nanny to help them manage the household, or, make me care?

Through fifty pages, Counterfeit isn't suspenseful, so to call it a thriller would be a stretch. It doesn't present a crime or a puzzle to be solved, precluding it from mystery. It isn't funny, so it's not comic. There aren't any aliens, robots, or time travelers, so it's definitely not science fiction. What is this? Boring.

This is not a debut, it just reads like one, so I'll have to give it my usual rating when I abandon a book. This is an unpopular opinion. Chen has drawn admiration from a top literary agent who probably wishes she represented her, as well as selection for Reese's Book Club, so, more power to her.