Sophmoritis?

I just finished reading Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens and I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed.  Chevy Stevens is a relatively new author who released her first book Still Missing about a year ago.  I was drawn to Still Missing by the glowing reviews from Lisa Gardner, who happens to be one of my favorite thriller writers.  Still Missing was an average page-turner--I was fairly interested and continually felt like the book was about to really get good until the last page when I realized the opportunity for greatness was gone.  When Never Knowing was released, it again had a blurb from Lisa Gardner.  I eagerly checked it out thinking "Well, I'm sure she's really got her story together this time!".  Unfortunately, it's the same old, same old.  Stevens has a great premise and fails to really pull it off.  Never Knowing tells the story of Sara Gallagher and her hunt to find her birth parents.  She uncovers her birth mother's identity which leads to the slow realization that her birth father is a infamous serial killer that is still on the loose.  As you can imagine, her serial killer father gets wind of the existance of a daughter and manages to get in contact with her.  While being a fairly preposterous idea, most of my favorite thrillers have a semi-unbelievable storyline anyway (don't they all?) so I wasn't thrown off.  What DID throw me off was the quotes from The Art of War every other page, the lack of real forward momentum, a super bratty kid, and a last minute plot twist I saw from a mile away.  That being said, I somehow don't hate it!?!?!  It took me all of 4 nights to read it, I looked forward to picking it up (to see if this was the point where it was going to get really good), and I'm pretty sure I'd give Chevy Stevens another shot in the future. 

I'm pretty sure I've managed to confuse everyone about my overall feelings on the book.  I guess I'll sum it up this way--If you want a really good thriller, pick up Lisa Gardner.  If you want a book to kill some time (and you've already read all of Lisa Gardner) and you aren't pinning all your hopes and dreams on it, pick up Never Knowing.  It's kinda like watching a soap opera- not a particularly great storyline but can be an entertaining way to spend a couple hours. Glowing review right?