This was….too much. What started as a gritty story of the investigation into serial child murders turned into too many different perspectives, from too many people on the periphery. Each viewpoint became more verbose and full of histrionic naval gazing. Any actual plot was completely lost in the excessive backstories and the arc of bringing the individuals together was implausible enough to make eyes roll.

There are very few books that I really struggle with but this has been one of them. I really tried with this but it just didn’t flow well, the writing felt stiff and emotionless whilst the story just didn’t seem to get going. Unfortunately I didn’t finish it so I can’t give a full review.

Thank you to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

this was a fascinating read, the author was able to make this book with a respect to the people in the cases. I really enjoyed reading this.

I tried to get into this one multiple times but I couldn't get through much of it. It just didn't have the pace I was looking for.

The Unsteady Object of Hope by Robert Raker was a disturbing, descriptive, and immersible psychological thriller about crime in a small town. Each character is expertly fleshed out with flaws and issues that make them more human. The vivid landscape of dark and dreary weather only makes the personal turmoil’s that much more intriguing. The protagonist is so deeply affected by the crimes and a community with their own ghosts that the book takes the reader to uncomfortable places, sometimes in a good way and sometimes not. However, I would recommend this book for fans of crime thrillers that are on the darker side.

Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. It gets off to a really promising start, with some intriguing characters and a gripping look at a potential serial killer, but there was no sense of urgency. The different perspectives were initially engaging, but eventually became cloying due to the pace of the chapters and the prose, which was often quite repetitive and lacklustre. However, I did think that the theme of morality was well explored in this title and left me asking questions of 'what would I have done in their shoes'? I think this would be ideal for readers who enjoy a dark and sombre tone and a bit of a think, but isn't necessarily an easier story to follow.

This book was dark and will stay with me. I enjoy reading true crime and recommend this book to others who enjoy true crime. Thank you netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Due to complications from trying to previously provide my feedback, I apologise for the late submission of my thoughts.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publishers of this book for giving me the chance to read this arc for an honest review in return.

I will say that the blurb definitely intrigued me being a lover of crime and mystery novels however I could not get into this book. The writing style confused me and I personally felt like the story was hard to follow with the many different perspectives. It handled some heavy topics which I was fine with reading, but I believe the book needed a bit more editing, from my experience, to fully have me as a reader, engaging fully within the story and want to read more.

The Unsteady Object of Hope is a distinctively bleak and compelling murder mystery with deep psychological character themes. Robert Raker does a wonderful job creating a dark imposing atmosphere where even the weather is dreary with incessant rain and dark clouds. The mental state of each character exhibits a damaged and forsaken outlook that pervades all their marital relationships with many personal psychological issues being revealed.

The story is based in a Northern Pennsylvanian community beset with economic ruin and blighted with abandoned and deteriorating infrastructure. A local diver is called in to recover a dead twelve-year-old girl, found in her pool but she was dumped there after being raped multiple times and her body mutilated. What follows are the horrific deaths of another seven children, each dumped in a water-related environment – a lake, a flooded quarry, an abandoned water tower. Water and decay are dominant features of the story and ‘water’ is often referenced as to its power to create and destroy.

"The rain started to fall more heavily. It felt like it would never end and that the river would burst, the streets would flood, and all the people would suffocate and drown, immersed in a landscape of death and barrenness. The clouds above the horizon blackened. I would bring the darkness with me to him and everywhere."

The narration is told in the first person through four main characters and their four respective partners, each with a connection to the series of murders. The eight protagonists include; a diver (recovering the children’s bodies) and his wife a documentarian, an amputee cellist (who knows who the killer is) and his wife a ballerina, an agent (working undercover on the case) and his wife a teacher, and finally, a painter and model, who were the parents of the first child murdered.

Each of the four main characters has become introverted with their misery, their lies, rejecting all interaction from loved ones as they face psychological turmoil. The characterisation and interaction were wonderfully developed to create characters that are irrevocably and introspectively damaged.

Robert is a talented writer with an ability to paint vivid images and descriptions of psychological turmoil that impressed the hell out of me. The difficulty I had was the lack of storytelling emphasis. It seemed that every element in the story was over detailed and the core storyline was side-tracked for long periods dealing with the detail that interrupted the flow. It felt like a story that could be cut down in size quite considerably.

I would recommend reading this book and I would like to thank Robert Raker and NetGalley for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

The Unsteady Object of Hope is a distinctively bleak and compelling murder mystery with deep psychological character themes. Robert Raker does a wonderful job creating a dark imposing atmosphere where even the weather is dreary with incessant rain and dark clouds. The mental state of each character exhibits a damaged and forsaken outlook that pervades all their marital relationships with many personal psychological issues being revealed.

The story is based in a Northern Pennsylvanian community beset with economic ruin and blighted with abandoned and deteriorating infrastructure. A local diver is called in to recover a dead twelve-year-old girl, found in her pool but she was dumped there after being raped multiple times and her body mutilated. What follows are the horrific deaths of another seven children, each dumped in a water-related environment – a lake, a flooded quarry, an abandoned water tower. Water and decay are dominant features of the story and ‘water’ is often referenced as to its power to create and destroy.

"The rain started to fall more heavily. It felt like it would never end and that the river would burst, the streets would flood, and all the people would suffocate and drown, immersed in a landscape of death and barrenness. The clouds above the horizon blackened. I would bring the darkness with me to him and everywhere."

The narration is told in the first person through four main characters and their four respective partners, each with a connection to the series of murders. The eight protagonists include; a diver (recovering the children’s bodies) and his wife a documentarian, an amputee cellist (who knows who the killer is) and his wife a ballerina, an agent (working undercover on the case) and his wife a teacher, and finally, a painter and model, who were the parents of the first child murdered.

Each of the four main characters has become introverted with their misery, their lies, rejecting all interaction from loved ones as they face psychological turmoil. The characterisation and interaction were wonderfully developed to create characters that are irrevocably and introspectively damaged.

Robert is a talented writer with an ability to paint vivid images and descriptions of psychological turmoil that impressed the hell out of me. The difficulty I had was the lack of storytelling emphasis. It seemed that every element in the story was over detailed and the core storyline was side-tracked for long periods dealing with the detail that interrupted the flow. It felt like a story that could be cut down in size quite considerably.

I would recommend reading this book and I would like to thank Robert Raker and NetGalley for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Its very rare that I fail to complete a book I start. However I just couldnt finish this book.

The premise of the book was good and so was the plot but the writing style was overly wordy and I felt it spoilt the flownof the story.

This book is dark and sad and troubling and absolutely beautiful. While many books portraying the murder of children simply use the children as props, THE UNSTEADY OBJECT OF HOPE deals realistically with the aftermath of the death of children, especially at another's hands. If it weren't so well written, it might have made so grief-ridden that I would not have been able to finish it. But it was worth every exquisite passage. I won't ever forget it.

This book was just not for me. I don't think it is to blame on the author, I think the genre just isn't for me. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

It is rare for me to give up on a book but I can't follow along... Confusing and boring. Do NOT recommend.

Thanks Net galley for the ARC

Loved the premise, hated the third person, confusing delivery.

For me there are good vignettes but they are never really connected. It may just not be my style.

I had a tough time with this book: not sure if it lacked some structural elements because it was a galley or if it simply didn't have them. Keeping track of the characters and who was doing was was hard, and I am not sure if this was a narrative or if is was series of smaller vignettes strung together.
There is some lyrical writing, but maybe too much. Some deep insights but since I wasn't totally sure what was going on sometimes the passages seemed to come out of nowhere.

Maybe more plot and less thought next time.

The Unsteady Object of Hope is just as it is described on the front cover: a unique crime novel. Robert Raker's novel revolves around a serial child murderer. The novel is told in eight parts, each from a different person's perspective that is somehow tied to the murders. Robert Raker has succeeded in telling the stories of eight different people, love, loss, relationships, and how grief and the unexpected can change people. A deeply moving novel. A literary crime novel that I highly recommend everyone reads.

I'm sorry, I really tried but I could find no rhyme or reason to this story.....it was extremely confusing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest

This book was such a disappointment for me. The third party writing made it not flow properly. The language used was so ambiguous. Did not enjoy at all.

I really love the concept of this book, but the execution was not for me. Maybe I'm used to a different kind of narrator from my crime novels, but this one felt extremely detached. It was very offputting. It could very well be told in the third-person since it felt like that anyway. The plot itself wasn't bad, but it also felt very underdeveloped. There was something missing, but I can't put my finger on what. With some editing (maybe even a co-writer), this book could be amazing.