231 pages
Kidnapping Crime Fiction/Crime Action Fiction/Murder Fiction
I came across this author and her books via comments on websites I visit. I tend not to read much crime fiction, but the comments led me to expect a good story from this author. And that was the case.
The story is full of action, conflict, some hot romance, a spot of police procedure, and many insights into the lives of a certain group of well-off Americans, along with much information relating to real estate, and descriptions of meals that had my mouth watering. At the risk of being accused of sexism, I venture to suggest some female readers will find the clothes also of interest! So, a worthwhile read in many ways.
The characters, the single most important aspect of any novel for me, are well drawn, various, and easy to see as real people. Survivors, fighters, evil men, plucky women, and inventive people populate this story of single-minded, utterly selfish vengeance and the courage of those who oppose it.
One aspect I found unsettling as a UK reader was the obvious ready access to firearms, their abuse, and their function in ending disputes without dialogue. For me, it illustrated the readiness to use killing machines in the US. I’m not suggesting their use was unjustified, or even avoidable, in the context of this story, just wondering if easy availability of such weapons is a fundamental reason for the level of violence and murder in this land of great contrasts.
The writing style reminded me a little of early crime writers such as Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane, with a real mix of action, dialogue and description.
[Any review is a personal opinion. No reviewer can represent the view of anyone else. The best we can manage is an honest reaction to any given book.]
Stuart Aken 
We do not need to re-vamp the Constitution, what we need to do is THINK what is the RIGHT thing to do. Everyone that buys a gun for hunting or for target practice must register it and have a license. We can’t stop the crooks from having them. We meed some “mind changing” (this is the hardest part) to where we TALK and NEGOTIATE our differences that mean personally and diplomatically. I wonder if we have gone too far to turn back, but I and many others hope we can. I have never had the desire to carry a weapon.
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From here, outside the USA borders, it seems that guns are too easy to obtain and that few checks are made on the mental capacity of those who buy them. Also, it seems there’s a relaxed attitude to automatic weapons: no one needs such firepower for target practice or hunting, after all, Brenda. The reason many of us outside the country see the need for a change in the Constitution, is that it is so often used as a reason for gun ownership by those in favour of it: it’s seen as a right rather than a privilege, and everyone will defend their rights vehemently (it’s interesting that such people rarely seem to consider the obverse of that coin; the need to act responsibly). As for changing minds, that’s an aspect of modern life that needs to happen in many arenas and, as you say, is the hardest part. I’m currently reading a book about exactly that. I’ll review it here once I’ve finished it!
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Hi Stuart, Thank you so much for the review. I love the people I write about and they become like personal friends since they are patterned after some people I knew. Maye is a little like a Redhead we both know, without the gun. I was a realtor for 30 years and this story is from a real story in my career. I did deal with the FBI and the police department to get this closed and it was a kick in the pants. Thanks again.
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That makes the story all the more remarkable, Brenda.
I know what you mean about loving the people you write about. I always start with my characters, get to know them, before I start to write a story. That way, the characters drive the narrative.
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I agree with you Lynette, but before we can have anything like that happening, we need to get more peaceful women and men in congress. It will be a slow process and I am afraid I will not be alive to see it.
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Everythings tickety-boo now. Shared on Twitter and FB. No problems.
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Glad to hear it, Tom. And thanks for sharing.
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I don’t read many mysteries either. I used to but gradually lost interest; they all started to feel like the same book (which they are, of course, to some extent). The weapons accessibility in US is astonishing. I remember being rather shocked by it when I lived there.
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I echo your remarks, Lynette.
As for the US, rarely a week passes without some news item about multiple killings, often at schools. I wonder at the people who think it’s acceptable to risk so many lives simply for the dubious ‘right’ to own a firearm, clearly a now outdated attitude that should have been done away with when the ‘wild west’ was won!
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The notion of freedom (i.e., not being told what to do, what to think or how to behave) and the right to “bear arms” is enshrined in their constitution. It was written at a time when they were looking over their shoulders at the UK and devising ways of thwarting a conquest (hence the rule about having to be born in the US to be president – they were worried that one of George’s offspring might show up to take over). Parts of it are seriously outdated and in need of revision, but that’s unlikely to happen. I am also shocked at the degree to which they will allow a minority section of the population such control that their children die in schools at the hands of weapons-wielding lunatics.
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I agree about the unlikelihood of revision of the constitution, Lynette. In a land where I gather nearly half the population believes the Bible word for word, it’s going to be hard to change minds and bring them into the real and modern world.
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