Her dying grandmother
accuses her of being the cause of her young mother, Celina’s, brutal murder and a
stunned Texas state prosecutor Alexandra Gaither is provoked into reopening the case when
she finds sloppy to non-existent investigation which convinces her that the murder was
hastily hushed up. She returns to her mom’s remote Texas hometown of Purcell
determined to find the true culprit and inadvertently stirs up a hornet’s nest.
Alex has three chief
suspects – the town millionaire Angus Minton, his son Junior Minton and the current
sheriff, Reede Lambert. All three were an integral part of Celina’s life and her
investigation brings a love triangle into light. She also finds lots of animosity towards
her beautiful mother which is now transferred to herself, veiled threats, anonymous tips
and what not. Also, the concerned citizens of the economically-dying town of Purcell are
outraged at the possibility that Alex’s investigation might destroy the only chance
of financial prosperity that’s taking place.
At the same time, Alex
struggles to make sense of her rampant emotions as the two men who once courted her lovely
mother, now seem determined to re-invoke the tragic love triangle with herself at the
center. Is it because of her close resemblance to her mom or is there genuine emotion
somewhere…or is it all just a ploy to distract her from the case? Pressurized from
all sides and emotionally buffeted, Alex doggedly continues to investigate – but will
she like the skeletons she unearths in the process?
Best-selling author
Sandra Brown has long been famous for creating sizzling romantic suspense stories and so
is the case with this book too. A murder which took place a long time ago is the epicenter
of this story and there is a strong but twisted love triangle surrounding it. This is the
basic plot of this story and as such, is interesting. Characterizations are also strong
and so much realistic that it renders the characters not very likeable. The main
bothersome and dubious aspect of this story is that a strong, independent woman like Alex
finds anything attractive in a foul-mouthed bully and boor like Reede with his
caveman-like attitude. Also the love triangle feels a bit warped, as it once encompassed
the mother and now has the daughter at the center, with the men remaining the same. The
book has vulgarity, raw lust, nasty sexual innuendos, chauvinism and general coarseness in
the extreme – while this frontier-style attitude has authenticity, it still doesn’t
appeal and overrides the appeal of the small but intense mystery in the story. With
regret, it has to be said, that this book is not one of Sandra Brown’s sterling
efforts.
Reviewed By Rashmi Srinivas
for The Road to Romance
December 11, 2003 |
