Act of Betrayal [Paperback]

Edna Buchanan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1997

In a fourth Britt Montero mystery set against a backdrop of one of Miami's most terrifying hurricanes, Britt finds clues to the Cuban killer who had betrayed her father. Reprint. NYT. "

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With a pulsating narrative drive compensating for a lack of plot subtlety, Pulitzer Prize-winning crime reporter Buchanan bids fair to elevate Britt Montero (Suitable for Framing), her spunky Miami crime reporter, into the rarefied air breathed by female sleuths V. I. Warshawski and Kinsey Millhone. This time Britt, hamstrung as always by boyfriend trouble, is on the trail of missing teenage boys-all white, all blond, all blue-eyed and all quite probably murdered. Her investigation splutters along, interrupted by her past, and by her half-Cuban heritage, as two older men, both professing to be Cuban patriots, hint at the existence of a diary written by her late, freedom-fighting father. But Britt has to move fast as people keep dying and as a hurricane bears down on Miami. With about a third of the book left, most readers will realize that Buchanan will have to rely on lame coincidence to untangle the child-killer case. Less a wily deduction than a matter of simple mathematics, this trite resolution grates badly. But everything else is first-rate, especially the neon-tinged, art-deco background of weird Floridian mayhem. $150,000 ad/promo; satellite author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Britt Montero, crime reporter for a Miami newspaper, is drawn into a web of intrigue and murder when she reports the story of a missing boy. Her story uncovers a series of disappearances of young boys so similar in physical appearance that they could be brothers: tall, slender, fair-haired, and blue-eyed. All vanished without a trace. Against the backdrop of an impending killer storm, Britt investigates the disappearances and inadvertently discovers the existence of a diary written by her father, who was executed in a Cuban jail when she was a child. The diary reportedly names the traitor responsible for her father's death. She soon discovers that anyone who comes to possess the diary is marked for death. As her investigation into the abductions of the boys heats up and she tries to locate her father's diary, the most destructive hurricane in decades heads for the South Florida coast. During a chilling confrontation, the storm hits, shattering lives and revealing long-kept secrets. Buchanan's (Miami, It's Murder, Audio Reviews, LJ 10/15/91) fast-paced story is a real spellbinder. Sandra Burr narrates competently. Highly recommended for mystery collections.?Germaine C. Linkins, SUNY at Potsdam
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Books (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786889233
• ISBN-13: 978-0786889235
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 3.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #574,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A few problems, July 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Act of Betrayal (Paperback)

Buchanan's Britt Montero is a tough independent woman--which is always nice to see but her relationship with her fictional partners is weird. In ACT OF BETRAYAL, the reader is never privy to why Montero and McDonald's relationship is on and off. Furthermore, the author never allows the reader to glimpse, in any depth, what goes on in Montero's brain after the unexpected meeting of the two men in her life. I noticed the same lack of depth in MARGIN OF ERROR--as far as whoever Montero's present heart throb happened to be. The romances are sort of eruptive and then dormant. In addition to a lack of depth in part of Montero's character, a lack of depth was evident in other parts of the book. For instance, I found the reason behind Reyes' perversion to be very weak and unsatisfying. I also found that the plot would ebb and flow with too much detail and then not enough. The plot would nearly stumble and then rush to finish.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seamless melding of plot lines, very suspenseful, June 11, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Act of Betrayal (Paperback)

Edna Buchanan writes about Miami as only she can. A Pulitzer prize winning former crime reporter fo the Miami Herald, she is totally familiar with her subject. This excellent crime novel mixes Cuban exile politics, missing boys and a fierce hurricane. The resulting stew is very tasty. It is all very believable since Miami is such a strange place anyway. Her heroine, Britt Montero puts herself in great jeopardy, but at the end prevails over the bad (VERY bad) guy and at the same time, learns a lot about herself. Highly recommended for mystery fans

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous as always., April 3, 2000

By 

Lisa Pulitzer (New York State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Act of Betrayal (Paperback)

Loved this book as much as all of Buchanan's work. A fabulous read, full of suspense. I highly recommend this book.