A convoluted hangover.

This books started strong, but ultimately tested my patience. The very thing that makes the story suspenseful - an unreliable narrator/witness - grows tedious by the end of the book. The set-up was well-crafted and it was fun to speculate who the actual "bad guy" was early on. As the book went on, however, I was frustrated that none of the characters were sympathetic. The end (when it came) was such a twist that it seemed to fall from no where - and was wrapped up just as fast. For a book that spent a lot of time spinning its wheels in the middle, the end seemed too abrupt to be satisfying.

Don't get me wrong - I think this will be a hit with book clubs because there's ample opportunity to speculate and compare notes. And it does start out in a way that compelled me to recommend it to people (before I got further in).

I suspect that like the protagonist, the author just overdid it a little.