cjeanne99's reviews
971 reviews

The book made me sad - Louise Erdrich’s voice is hauntingly smooth. 
I may try reading instead of listening. 

Cute premise - and Chet makes some funny remarks in his narration - but I’m not sure if I’m engaged enough to read more in the series. 

Wrapping up some loose ends form Alison Reynold’s first appearance in Edge of Evil - Ali has to return to LA for her divorce and follow up on her wrongful dismissal lawsuit. Her husband Paul, eager for a settlement so he can marry his pregnant girlfriend, is a no show for their appearance before a private judge.

Paul is dead - April is mentally unstable - and friends with people involved in Paul’s latest television series - “Sumo Sudoku” - which is a front for moving drugs throughout Southern California. Philandering Paul was working with the DEA to help gather enough evidence to take down the cartel - which is what got him killed and stuffed in the trunk of his car.

Detective Dave ends up in LA - after visiting his children in Lake Havasu. He and Ali uncover a drug connection that Dave’s Marine Reservist buddy in the DEA happens to be working on. 
A couple of side stories allow Ali’s parents and son Chris to also get involved in the action.  

Carl Hiaasen's first novel - a solid story without any of the outrageous humor that has become his trademark. If you want a story of drug trade in Miami in the 80's - it's a great read. If you want to find out why people love Carl Hiassen's books - don't start with this one. Try Tourist Season or Strip Tease. And once you get the flavor - Double Whammy introduces Skink - who reminds me somewhat of Winslow Horne Lockwood III

Introduction to Ali Reynolds - getting her established in Sedona, AZ after being fired from her job as a news broadcaster, and learning that her husband has not one - but two girlfriends - although only one of them is pregnant. 
With the help and encouragement of her 21 yr old son from her first marriage, Ali starts a blog to share her story of being "Cut Loose" . She includes a comments section that leads to some interactions with people across the country - including a woman who's abusive husband blames Ali for his wife leaving him. 
Oh - but - what about the Edge of Evil - and the opening chapter that includes a car being pushed over a cliff with an already dead body falling out as the car tumbles down the hillside? That car contained Ali's best friend - recently diagnosed with ALS. Her death is declared a suicide  - a diagnosis that Ali and Ali's assistant at the YWCA do not agree with - especially when the suicide note was typed on a computer and not handwritten on a greeting card. 
Ali interacts with her bestie's children, cheating husband and parents. She also fills in as a waitress at her parents' restaurant when her father is injured in a snow boarding accident. She gets access to Reenie's email and learns about Reenie's concern about her children's trust accounts. 
Suddenly - when the book has been moving along, throwing a few red herrings about Reenie's death, establishing issues with Ali's upcoming divorce, her parents deciding not to sell their restaurant, Ali establishing a friendship with the police detective - Ali is  run off the road by a woman driving a BMW - a woman who

turns out to be Reenie's sister. She syphoned money out of the trust funds established for Ali's children - and had been embezelling money from her father's company. She and her husband killed Reenie -

all neatly wrapped up in a matter of minutes/pages at the end. A little too abruptly for me. 

Well done. Two story lines involving three women who have all experienced a life altering tragedy that left them seeking revenge. 
Reminded me of Harlan Cobens style - but not the suspense was as tightly written. And

Scott’s suicide was disappointing. I realize he needed to be removed from the storyline in order to have Ruth/Wendy/Naomi go off on her quest to find Mr Blue Eyes  - but if he really loved Ruth - he should have stuck with her

In the end -

I don’t know if we know why Bill - or Dan - stalked Ruth - and let Andrea live (because she killed Quinn?)

Lots of mixed feelings about this book. I rarely like narratives that alternate between two timelines - which was especially annoying with Roseanne’s story as the “flashbacks” were from not that long ago - and just kept coming. Rose’s synesthesia detracts from the story of eugenics practice in the United States. White men declaring that the knew what was best  - championing Social Darwinism. 
I was surprised to learn that the increased interest in eugenics in the early 20th century in the United States is related to a “better baby” contest at the 1911 Iowa State Fair. “If we can grade livestock and produce on selective breeding traits - why not humans?” 
But back to Rose and her story. I did not connect with Rose as a character - felt like she was always holding back. Although I did love the joke when Mrs. Grissom comments on her dreadful shoes and Rose thinks - “you should see how they sound”.
And what of Helen Calvert? Why did she go to Europe to be a nanny in the first place? We don’t know. When German eugenics experiments in Austria take hold, she gets involved in smuggling children to Switzerland where she is teaching in a convent school. The all-knowing nun in charge of the school sends Helen back to Vienna to find the family she nannied for so she can settle her heart. She finds the father - and lectures him about eugenics - similar to Rose lecturing the doctor and nurses at the Sonoma County home when she left. Both of those passages felt contrived to me.  
The character I really liked was Celine - in Part Two. Disappointed in marriage, in motherhood, in her vineyards - she has become a bitter woman - but she dishes out her vitriol instead of just numbing it with wine. She was nasty - but spoke her mind. 
Overall - the storyline is fine - but too superficial for me. 

Tense drama intersecting a CIA terrorist operative and the Coast Guard. Set in Alaska - a plot is hatched to explode canisters of gas near Anchorage, killing hundreds of thousands of people and doing unknown damage to the environment. 

Janice delivers a taut story featuring Diana Ladd and Brandon Walker, who must overcome their personal history to work together to defeat a psychopath who is determined to kill and torture Diana.