Thursday, June 11, 2009

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All opinions still remain my own.

Review: Killer Charms by Marianne Stillings

Title: Killer Charms
Series: Darling Detectives
Author: Marianne Stillings
Read copy: Mass Market Paperback
Published: August 26, 2008
Publisher: Avon
ISBN: 0060850744
ISBN-13: 9780060850746

If he could really see the future...

Logan Sinclair is nothing but a fraud. Or at least that's what Inspector Andie Darling, undercover on the streets of San Francisco, is determined to prove. Sure, the sexy Scotsman may say he's a clairvoyant, but Andie's never believed in second sight—or love at first sight. So why does his sweet talk turn her into a lovestruck fool?

He'd know that Andie Darling always gets her man...

Getting the goods on the elusive con man would get Andie out of boring Vice and into Homicide, yet all she can think about is getting into Logan's arms. But juggling her job and her heart leaves her with little time to protect herself from a crazed killer hot on her heels. Logan would love to help Andie—and get closer to her—but charm might not be enough to save them now...


My rating:

This is another example of blurb-writer never reading the book. Because according to those few lines on the back cover this was supposed to be a gripping, hot and sexy, suspenseful book.
It was none of the above.

I found myself skimming the pages more and more toward the end. Though the hero was a hottie (and Scottish to boot, what more can a gal want?) the chemistry between him and his heroine was non-existent (it was only due to a couple of randy ghosts that they even get between the sheets). And I was hard-pressed to search for the suspense with a magnifying glass and a strong flashlight. The bad guy was revealed in the first few chapters, he told us everything he was about to do, and what he didn't tell us, the author showed us...And the big twist about the hero somewhere in the middle? Not a twist, but merely an "boy, did I ever see that one coming".
Suspenseful? I don't think so.

I love the Scottish accent, but the author's constant "mutilation" of the English language, by means of showing us what the accent is supposed to look like just bugged the hell out of me. Yeah, we knew he was a Scot, just write in damn English and we'll figure out the rest.

And the dreams of a woman 100-years-dead? What was that all about? If that was the ploy to increase the supposed suspense and make the book more mysterious and paranormal-like it failed on such a scale it's indescribable.
What the "gripping, hot and sexy, suspenseful" plot started, these dreams finished...Turning this book into a complete bore that almost remained unfinished. The thumbing through helped a great deal, suddenly there were no pages left. Yay!

This was a disappointing waste of time.



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