Daily Archives: March 17, 2011

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

I read this book, and enjoyed it. I gave it a 4 star rating. I thought I’d come back and write my review in a few days, like I often do. It was almost a week later when I came back, and realized most of the details (of the story, of the characters, of what I did and didn’t like) had all slipped my mind.

As I read through the description again, it started coming back, but I’d have to say it was a fast fade, even for me.

Summary from the publisher’s website:

Ali Reynolds begins the summer thinking her most difficult challenge will be surviving a six-week- long course as the lone forty-something female at the Arizona Police Academy—not to mention taking over the 6:00 AM shift at her family’s restaurant while her parents enjoy a long overdue Caribbean cruise. However, when Brenda Riley, a colleague from Ali’s old news broadcasting days in California, shows up in town with an alcohol problem and an unlikely story about a missing fiancÉ, Ali reluctantly agrees to help.

The man posing as Brenda’s fiancÉ is revealed to be Richard Lowensdale, a cyber-sociopath who has left a trail of broken hearts in his virtual wake. When he is viciously murdered, the women he once victimized are considered suspects. The police soon focus their investigation on Brenda, who is already known to have broken into Richard’s home and computer before vanishing without a trace. Attempting to clear her friend’s name, Ali is quickly drawn into a web of online intrigue that may lead to a real-world fatal error.

So, I came in mid-series on this one, so there are several things that I just accept as being part of the universe. A forty something year old woman deciding to go to the police academy to become a police officer is part of that. Her having very large amounts of money to throw at any problems that arise is another. Both are very convenient, and I chose to just accept them and move on.

I really liked Ali, once I accepted the above, and in the end, that’s what made the book work for me. She’s a strong, gutsy lady.

The thriller aspect made for an interesting cat and mouse game. I love it when there is intrigue within the bad guys, and this set were not a united team.

One of the things I was looking forward to in this book was the technological aspect, and I was a little disappointed. Once I suspended disbelief, it was fine, but I knew enough to know some of it doesn’t completely hold together.

Still, it was a fun read, and that’s what I was looking for.

I received this book from the publisher for review.