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Book Review: Sue Hincenbergs' The Retirement Plan will keep you guessing but hardly engaged
Author Sue Hincenbergs' latest is a book you think will be a riot to read on a holiday, but will probably leave it behind in the hotel room before checkout!
Marriage is hard. But getting through this book, if you're expecting heart-thumping Money Heist energy, will be harder.
You'll expect your font-adjusted eyes to be flying through the pages — instead you'll find yourself backtracking a few flips to clarify you haven't missed out on something. You'll desperately want to root for the trio of best friends happily plotting toward their own widowhood, but halfway through you'll be egging yourself on to just make it to the climax.
We won't spoil the ending — you at least deserve that, but Sue Hincenbergs' The Retirement Plan, is at best, a comedy of errors, and no this isn't a Shakespearean compliment. Truth be told, it's no minor feat to balance three protagonists. Sue then, taking it on for her debut novel in addition to three other players (their husbands) also elbowing themselves in for page time is a classic case of too many protagonists spoiling the plot.
Now a crowded novel isn't exactly a cardinal sin, but taking the kitschy quotient of these characters to steroid-level mania definitely is. It's not too soon before what was 'interesting' starts seeming odd and eventually just too exhausting to keep up with.
That being said, it's not all mangled up though. There's something incredibly comforting in knowing that if marriage doesn't work out, you'll always have your best friends on your side. And Sue gets that right. But you'll only be able to enjoy the 30-year-old camaraderie if you willingly turn your brain off to the commotional writing.
Now if your heart is still precisely set on dunking yourself into a three-way cross connection murder, just stream Horrible Bosses (2011). It'll give you the giggles and the thrills Sue just fails to deliver on, despite the very slick and enticing cover.
Title: The Retirement Plan
Author: Sue Hincenbergs
Publisher: Hachette
Price: ₹ ₹699
