5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another well-told tale from Julie, January 15, 2007
Julie Miller is an automatic buy for me. She has a penchant for wounded heroes, and Damon Sinclair is no exception. The tension and attraction between Sinclair, who hides his face from the world, and Kit, who is an open book, rings true except for one scene in which Kit misunderstands Damon's reaction to a photograph of his ex-wife. The plot is complex but not absurdly so, and we are misled a few times before the surprising villain is exposed. Don't start this book if you have something you need to get done in the next few hours -- it's hard to put down!
One note: this book is part of a "He's a Mystery" promotion with several other Intrigue authors (Amanda Stevens, Cassie Miles, ...). I was afraid this was one of those (dis)continuity series like the recent "Big Sky Bounty Hunters," but after some digging, I've concluded that it is separate books around a common theme. So no need to dig up the prequels and sequels.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Completely Illogical ending to a pretty good book, June 15, 2007
I don't usually write up comments for the ton Harlequin or Silhouette series books I read since most readers I know don't read them, but every once in a while, something about one of them makes me want to comment...usually something negative. Which is the case with this book.
For the most part, Beast In The Tower was a pretty good book. I liked the plot and the characters - I'm always a sucker for the tragic, brooding hero - and Miller is a good writer, so I was into the book as I read it. On the surface most of the book made sense and had a nice flow, and the romance was good.
The extra huge problem I had with this book was the big fat dangly loose end Miller left us readers with. There may have been more than one, but this one just drove me bonkers.
((spoilers to follow))
The storyline is based on the premise that Damon is a genus scientist developing miracle drugs, and his wife is some sort of executive. One night, his lab is set on fire and his secret, very important notes are stolen. He and his wife are both badly injured. This all happened before the book starts, and you learn that depression caused his wife commit suicide.
So then you go through the whole book - where the bad guys are trying to get the remaining pieces of info needed to translate the notes they originally stole from Damon. At the end, there's the traditional big show-down and you learn who the mastermind is...and ta-da! It's his supposedly dead wife.
Not a bad plot twist, and workable. The big problem was that the fact that his wife was supposedly dead by her own hand was never dealt with. Your given the impression she OD'd on pills and died - therefore you believe she was found and then buried. And somehow she shows up at the end of the book and is alive? Anyone else confused? It sure didn't seem like any of the characters were. They hardly blinked an eye at a dead woman appearing before them. None of them really questioned it or were super shocked like you'd think they should be. It was rather lame and unrealistic. And then Miller doesn't even bother to tie up that plot point. It was just - bad guy (wife) stopped and then put in an insane asylum....no explanations, no characters questioning how she was alive in the first place, nothing. Maybe it's just me, but if a character pops back up from the dead, I want an explanation, and I want the characters to react to it and not brush it off like it's a gnat in their face.
It just really bugged the hell out of me, and in my opinion, it's bad story-telling. It's not good to leave critical plot points unattended.
So yeah, that's my grumbling about the book :)
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Not as bad as I expected, January 29, 2008
I'll admit it. I don't read category romance. I don't even read very much straight romance. I won this book in a raffle, and one bored evening with nothing else to do, picked it up. The cover is atrocious, the title is worse. I wasn't expecting to get more than a few pages into it. To my own surprise I read it cover to cover and found it very engaging.
Don't get me wrong. There are definite problems (cliche after cliche after cliche and the 'miracle cure' reminded my of something off of a soap opera). However, if I take this for what it is - a short, unserious read - and let go of my inbred literary snobbiness, I will definitely admit that I enjoyed it.
Good job author for winning over a very picky reader.
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