Customer Reviews

Body Work

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Twenty-five years ago in Atlanta someone rapes and murders young women leaving gypsum on their body and taking their hair. Soon the case turns national as similar homicides surface in Florida, New York, and the West Coast some ten years old. The Feds conclude that the gypsum is used to make memento masks of the victims. Law enforcement official Stephen Dexter believes his older half-brother Etienne is the killer as he fits the FBI profile perfectly though he would not be shocked if his sibling's twin Charles is in cahoots; he hates both of his half-brothers who treated him like a "worm".

In the present Jane Gale cannot remember anything from when she was seven years old and a serial killer murdered her mother. Now an adult, she has written a best selling novel that stuns the still free mask killer as he realizes that her muse is her eyewitness memory of him. He decides he must kill the author just in case she regains more of that nightmarish memory she lost.

This tale occurs during three different time periods, opening up forty-five years ago when the Dexters were preadolescents being abused by Stephen's biological mother; switching to a serial killer twenty-five year ago; and finally the present with Jane's novel. The story line is gripping in all three eras, but though the opening scenario sets behavioral patterns for the future, they feel like three different tales. Still this is a deep look at the child becomes the adult as the three Dexters and Jane each had youthful traumas that haunt them as adults. Fiona Brand provides a solid character driven serial killer thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Ms. Brand writes with a subtle sense of humor that is admirable. There may not be a lot of conversations in her story but the descriptions of happenings would catch anyone's attention. It is a romance between a woman who is trying to find out about her past and a police officer. Also a murder mystery, it exercises one's mind to think about the plot. The first and second parts feature the background of three brothers, and a mother and her daughter on the run from an estranged boyfriend. The third part picks up the daughter's present life living comfortably as a published novelist who is interested in searching for her birth family. For a romance, the last chapter and epilogue finalize the story more in a mystery solved style rather than a good-feeling romantic scene which is a good change of pace.

This is an interesting book. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down, I was addicted. It starts 45 years ago with the Dexter brothers all being bullied by their stepmother, but in Stephen's case his birth mother. And then 25 years ago, with strange murders, and Jane witnesses her mother's murder and is nearly killed trying to escape.
And back to present time, where she can't remember anything before the "accident" and unknowingly she writes about it in her bestselling novel, which makes the killer realize that while he thought he'd killed her, she was actually alive.
And Jane comes back to the town she had her accident led by an old photo, and she tries to figure out what happened before the accident and where her family is. She finds the boy in the picture, a man now and a cop. She must deal with the murderer coming to get her and also a strange stalker, which gives this book a lot of twists and a very satisfying ending.

This is the first book I've read from this author. While it had hints of Linda Howard, it took a long time to get into. The setup and back story took too long, and the romance wasn't there until the last quarter of the book.

The plot was well put together, if predictable. But too many pages were spent on the backstory of a seriously disfunctional family of 3 brothers, one or all of whom may have grown up to be a serial killer.

Jane or "Jane Doe" wakes as a 7 year old w/ an amnesia in a hospital. With no one to claim her and w/ her memory gone, she eventually gets adopted by a family. 25 years later, she is now a famous writer, and has written a book she thinks is fiction. However, someone from her past reads it and realizes that there exists a witness to his crime. On a quest to find her heritage and family, Jane comes back to the town she was found in as a child w/ a picture of a boy she had in her pocket at the time. Going door to door, she tracks down the boy who has grown to be a cop. But w/ fanatic fans, a serial killer, and possibly her ex-husband stalking her, her old hit-and-run case gets revisted and opened once more.

The problem w/ this book was that there was no mystery. Because of the back story set up, there was alot the reader already knew even before we got to present day. As soon as an adult Jane is introduced, you know who the killer may be; what Jane's real name is; why she was in a hit-&-run; and why no one came forward to claim the 7 year old.

Overall, a so-so read, no mystery, and slight suspense and romance. I will probably try more books from this author in the future, because she looks like she's got good potential.

Novelist Jane Gale has included details in her latest murder mystery that ring eerily familiar to a killer who had been dormant for a quarter century. Could Jane be the child who witnessed her mother's brutal murder 25 years earlier and survived the hit an run that reported her dead? Jane has unwittingly set herself up as a target, not realizing that an event from the past spawned her latest plotline. Then the killings start all over again...

Still suffering from memory loss, and armed with just a picture of a young boy, Jane researches her past by returning to the Louisiana bayou town where the mystery began and comes face to face with the boy in question. John Toussaint is all grown up and thankfully not a relative - he is a police detective and finds himself in the role of protector as strange things start to happen to Jane. The two become attracted to each other, as he tries to protect and help her recover her memories and determine if those memories are associated with the current madman on the loose.

Spanning 45 years, Brand weaves a dark tale heavy on the affects one sadistic step- monster's abuse had on the children in her custody. Overall, the story was well written, but I found that despite the interesting plotline, it was kind of boring and predictable.

I agree with Fathom that there was way too much backstory here. Took too long to actually get to the real story. I enjoyed it for the most part, but found part the "explanation" of what happend 25 years ago so unbelievable I can't beleive the author didn't catch it. Or did she not care? Otherwise a pretty decent read. My first book by Ms. Brand; in looking over some of her others, might be my last. No interest in her other subject matters.

The book starts with two flashbacks into some of the key characters. It starts of real well. The initial set up introduces the story well and places the characters perfectly. However that's the end of brilliance. The story starts to disappoint from then on. My main complaints with the book are: I definitely prefer conversation between the characters rather than just plain prose. The number of sentences spoken among the main characters can be rounded to a two digit number. And even worse the hero of the character is very sketchy. That surprised me... i wouldn't want my hero to be that sketchy. He lacks details and his personality is hardly developed.

The emotions displayed in the book seemed more of a rote than the natural progression or part of the characters. It seemed like they were compelled to say things rather than naturally feel them. More of an expectation than what actually occurs.

In all I would say, if you picked the book than go ahead and read it if you have time on hands... but don't go looking for it. It is so not worth it.

i finished this book only moments ago. i had to work hard to continue reading it because the set-up took way too long and was very confusing. the set-up had too much detail, which overshadowed the "good part" of the book -- when i FINALLY got to it. if the author truly felt the set-up was absolutely necessary, she could have interspersed flashbacks throughout the whole story (i am not a fan of that technique but it would have been better than how it is handled here). the intro does not fit with the description of the book -- and the description is what triggered my interest. i had to wade through a lot of stuff (hard to keep characters straight)in order to get to the primary story.

i would caution a prospective reader. the book was finally good, but it took a lot of effort on my part to stick with it until then. i have plenty of books and so it wasn't as though i was desperate for a book, either.

Fiona Brand has a very interesting way of twisting the adventures within the book. Her imanginative mind makes the pictures very clear within the book, as if you were living each and every event taking place in that book. If you would like to find out the interesting twists that the Dexter brothers have gone through, and the heart wrenching dramatization of Jane Gale, then read this book, and you will not be disappointed.