From the start this book captivated me. Adam and Amelia are clearly a couple who shouldn’t be together anymore and are essentially spinning their wheels, hoping against the odds that one romantic weekend will be enough to fix their crumbling marriage. There is still some love between them but it doesn’t seem enough and therefore from the first page the hostility between them is palpable. Neither one of them is necessarily right or wrong, but the reader quickly feels the anger, frustration, and longing they both still have for each other. I did find Adam’s plot to be a bit more interesting than Amelia’s but I loved how Ms. Feeney switched perspectives constantly between the couple, revealing that while they both still love each they both have secrets they would prefer the other one didn’t know about.

The setting of Rock Paper Scissors is perfect for this type of tension, not just the martial one but also the feeling that Adam and Amelia are being watched, something that is quickly confirmed in the first half of the book. But the question becomes why? I attempted to figure that out before the last 25% of the book when the reason is revealed and all of my possibilities were dashed by the true reason. Ms. Feeney gives very subtle clues throughout the story but once she reveals why Adam and Amelia are being targeted, I was taken completely off-guard.

There are a lot of secrets revealed in the last chunk of the book and while one or two seemed to be crammed into the story, particularly Adam’s mother’s accident that is somewhat talked about in the book but not very thoroughly, the biggest secret was done the best and while I gave the book five stars. I’ve now read a fair amount of thrillers/ mysteries but this one still managed to surprise me at the end. Perhaps someone more seasoned with mysteries and thrillers might have been able to figure it out sooner but I was surprised.

Between the atmosphere, tension, and shocking twist at the end, I found Rock Paper Scissors to be a worthy read.