Customer Reviews

Cain and Abel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The only thing I didn't like about the story was that there wasn't enough romance. I was also dissapointed in the ending, I mainly read romance because I like happy endings, in this story I wasn't sure if it was happy or not, kind of left you hanging.

Ms. Perry's debut effort is very good and will offer the reader a very different storyline as well as very compelling characters. The end result is a fast paced read that will offer the reader a "cliff-hanging" ending. I look forward to seeing what Ms. Perry comes up with next.

Jessica Ramsey is living a life of desperation. Jessica was an abused wife. Realizing that she needed to escape her husband Cole she took a very daring step...she faked her death. Although this should have left her free to live a normal life she is still desperate. Desperate to stay dead, desperate to provide for her little boy, and if she's honest with herself she is desperate to believe in happy endings. All of this is about to be put to the test. A chance meeting brings Jessica back to her past. She sees Cole in a diner and all of her fears are brought to the forefront. What she doesn't know is that Cole has a twin brother and the man she sees in the diner is Alex. The one man she got to know over the phone but never met, the one man that will change her life in ways she never expects.

Alex is estranged from his twin. An incident back during their childhood has caused a riff that Alex has never been able to cross. When he runs into Jessica by accident he has no idea that she is his brother's wife. He is shocked by what he sees once he realizes how scared Jessica is and by what length's she went to escape his brother. Now he is involved in keeping her and her son Joe safe. He didn't realize what he was doing when he contacted his brother to tell him that he had found Jessica alive and well. By doing so he has set into motion a series of events that even he couldn't imagine. Will he be able to keep Jessica safe and at the same time prove to her that although he and his brother may share the same face they don't share anything else in common and that he loves her and will be loyal to her?

This was a great story that brought into question so many different things. What would you do if your twin was evil? Could you love a person that shared the same face as your nightmare? Cole, Alex, and Jessica were compelling characters and even I found myself feeling sympathetic for the bad guy. Ms. Perry's debut effort is a worthy one and I look forward to reading her in the future.

In Tennessee, the woman in Polly's Restaurant panics when she notices the patron dining there. She flees even as he notices her escape. She is hit by a car and rushed to a hospital, but not before perplexed private investigator Alex Ramsey wonders who Emily Jackson is, why she fled, and why when he reached her did she mumble his twin's name Cole.

Alex learns that Emily is actually his sister-in-law Jessica, who allegedly died five years ago. He also learns he has a nephew Joe. Deciding that Joe is in jeopardy from a crazed mother, Alex calls his estrange sibling to tell him his spouse lives, is crazy, and may prove harmful to the son that Cole never knew existed. However, Alex soon changes his mind when Jessica comments that Cole is going to kill her and spread her remains across the country; the same comment their father said to their mother when she fled with Alex while his sibling decided to stay behind. Alex realizes what he has done and vows to keep Jessica and his nephew safe from his brother.

Though Alex is too easily persuaded that initially his in-law is wacko and then his brother is the maniac fans will appreciate this strong romantic suspense. The comparison between the siblings makes the strong case that nurturing is more important than naturing as the varying environments the twins were raised in make them so different. The guilt that attacks Alex's soul for first leaving his twin behind and then when he comprehends what he has done to Jessica and worse little Joe makes Michelle Perry's tale of brothers an exhilarating chiller.

Harriet Klausner.

After discovering she is pregnant, Jessica fakes her death to escape her abusive husband. Five years later, she is finally feeling safe from him. Until a chance encounter brings her face to face with her greatest fear.

Alex can't figure out why the woman in the restaurant is terrified at the sight of him. Following her, he soon discovers that she is Jessica, the wife of his twin brother Cole, whom they all believed was dead. Once Alex finds out why Jessica has faked her death, he is determined to help her and her son. But saving Jessica may mean he has to choose between her and his brother. If blood proves to be thicker than water, Jessica may never be safe again.

Cain and Abel is so engrossing I simply couldn't put it down. The characters are intriguing. The story is action-packed. I found it impossible not to feel compassion for Cole and at the same time I desperately wanted Jessica to escape him. I loved the connection that Alex and Jessica shared. Cain and Abel is thrilling. The conclusion was really well written and even though I felt satisfied at the ending it left the door open for a possible continuation, which would be great! I thoroughly enjoyed Cain and Abel and look forward to reading more from Michelle Perry.

Nannette

Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

It saddens me when I come across a truly bad book, mostly because I understand that this book is a "baby" for its author, Michelle Perry, but I have to say it's the first book I have wanted to burn in quite a while.

The plot is completely improbable and had me rolling my eyes almost continuously. Twins are always a tricky thing to handle in a story and as soon as Alex, a supposedly smart PI who once was a cop, calls his estranged twin brother, Cole, to break the news that his wife who's been "dead" for five years is in a local hospital half-way across the country because she was so terrified by his face thinking Cole had found her that she stumbled out in front of a car, I knew it was going to be a rough ride. The characters were not complex and I honestly couldn't root for either Jess or Alex because every time they turned around they were doing something incredibly stupid. And Alex's declaration of "love" was way too soon and just felt false. The cliffhanger ending was supposed to send a chill down my spine but I just laughed, relieved to have finished it.

So while this first effort by Ms. Perry isn't stellar, I also have on my TBR pile In Enemy Hands and I'm hoping that it will be a better plot, with better characterization and a believable conflict. So while others have obviously enjoyed Cain & Abel, it just wasn't enjoyable for me at all.

This is a great book. I had a hard time putting it down. I don't see how anyone could NOT like the book. Yes, Alex does do some stupid things that a P.I. would not normally do, but he is human, and it IS his brother. You wouldn't use your skills from police school as much or your common sense for that matter when it was your brother that was the abuser/killer. Human nature would make you want to think that surely your own twin brother was not as bad as he appeared to be. I can see clearly how the whole book could have happened. It was very realistic in my opinion and a true heartstopper!!! I sure hope that we get a part 2 out of this.

This is an excellent book! I started reading it, and couldn't put it down. All of the characters are engaging, even the bad guy! It's an intriguing story with a seamless blend of complex character development, plot twists, romance, and humor. I read it until 3 am and hope to see a sequel soon!

Cain and Abel is an interesting twist on the brothers from the Bible. These identical twins might look the same, but their minds and characters are nothing alike. This story keeps you turning pages long into the night. Another great read from Michelle Perry.

:) Dianne Miley

This book really amazed me. I normally don't read books but I couldn't put this one down! I finished the book in a little over a day! Great job I can't wait for the next one!!!!!!!

The reviews had me gambling on an author I have never read. I lost.

This might have been a book I could finish if the female lead wasn't constantly portrayed to be a TOTAL whimpering pathetic victim while the male lead was boring white bread who found this appealing for some strange reason. It was such a turn-off, I only made it halfway through.