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Book ReviewsFive O'Clock Shadow |
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Book: Five O'Clock Shadow
Written by: Susan Slater |
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Average Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5
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Just awful!
Rating:
1 / 5
Between a recent widow lusting after every man she meets, terrible dialogue and absurd characters, I could not get through this book.
Tightly plotted mystery
Rating:
4 / 5
Pauly McIntyre has been married only one week when she watches her new husband die in a balloon crash. The pilot was killed by a sniper. Was the bullet meant for Randy, the new husband? Or for Pauly herself, whose fear of heights kept her firmly on the ground? And did Pauly just imagine she saw a little boy running away from the balloon, wearing nothing but her dead husbands jacket?
The plot twists and turns on every page as Pauly keeps learning more about her dead husband. Why didn't he tell her about his vasectomy? What are those mysterious papers in his bank safe? What's real and what isn't? Who's on her side and who's against her? And why?
Amazingly, author Slater manages to come up with a consistent explanation. She treads a fine line between legitimate red herrngs that distract the reader and sleight of hand that leads the reader to cry, "Foul!"
This mystery is plot-driven with a heroine who's likeable but not strong enough to carry a series. As she says herself, Pauly held only a few nondescript jobs before marrying the ill-fated Randy. She had been a technical writer but doesn't use this background to solve the mystery. In all fairness, her dead husband's partners are right to question her involvement in their business. All she has going for her is a fierce determination to find out who she really married -- and why he wanted to marry so badly.
But while you're reading, if you're like me, you won't notice the absence of character development. You'll be too busy turning the pages to find out whodunit and why. And you won't be a bit surprised by the romantic subplot.
Had Potential...
Rating:
2 / 5
I really enjoyed the outline of the story as laid out in the book jacket -- it had such potential! But the writing needed editing AND the lead character was so inconsistent I don't think I could keep track! Also, at the very end (no spoiler since this will be vague), I was quite upset that the priest was more upset about this brothers actions than those of children! Disgusting! I don't know who to blame more -- the author or the editor because I think this book could have really been a crazy, wacky story with the right editing!
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