Dark Summer (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: shi igo, Devon Brady, Santa Marina, Good God (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Usually adept at fusing well-developed characters with edge-of-your-seat action and adventure, bestseller Johansen (Pandora's Daughter) stumbles in this novel of romantic suspense revolving around a tumultuous relationship. Veterinarian Devon Brady and enigmatic former navy SEAL Jude Marrok meet on a small Caribbean island recently devastated by an earthquake. When a sniper shoots Marrok's rescue dog, Ned, while searching for survivors in the rubble of a village, Marrok orders Brady to treat the black Lab, then promptly disappears. In a note he leaves for Brady, he promises to pick up Ned from her later. Soon after returning to her home on the outskirts of Denver with Ned, Brady finds herself a target in a deadly conflict involving international intelligence agents, ruthless billionaire entrepreneurs and Native American shamanism. An unnecessarily convoluted and at times unbelievable plot builds to a predictable conclusion. 650,000 first printing. (Oct.)
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From Booklist

Dogs with miraculous healing abilities are at the heart of a volatile and complicated battle for power in which Dr. Devon Brady, a deeply principled veterinarian, becomes emotionally and physically attracted to a man who gives her every reason to distrust him. While working a disaster relief mission on an earthquake-ravaged Caribbean island, Devon is enlisted to save the life of Ned, a superbly sensitive search-and-rescue dog wounded in action. The bullet that nearly killed Ned did not come from the gun of a rampaging looter, as Devon first suspects, but rather from a sniper hired to destroy Ned and his handler, the inscrutable and disturbingly charismatic Jude Marrok. When Jude leaves Ned in Devon’s care, he knowingly places her life in jeopardy by making her both a target for the man who has spent his life hunting Jude and his uniquely gifted dogs, and a pawn to be used to draw Jude into a lethal trap. Though readers must wade in confusion through nearly half the book before they can fully understand the basic premise behind this unusual conflict, once the motivation is made clear, Johansen’s knack for delivering robust action and commanding characters kicks into high gear. --Carol Haggas

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (October 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312368089
• ISBN-13: 978-0312368081
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #156,084 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Her Best, September 26, 2008

By	feysidhe "feysidhe" (Mount Kisco, NY USA) - See all my reviews

(What's this?)

Johansen has a couple types of books out there, and she appears to be adding a third that I think is the weakest of the lot. First, and strongest in my opinion, are her Eve Duncan books, which are basically thrillers. The writing tends to be tight and the plots well-considered. Even when there's a romantic element, it's not the focus of the book. Then there are her romantic suspense novels, which are different, but also good. They move more slowly, but the relationships are well developed.

Unfortunately, I haven't been so pleased with the last couple of books (Dark Summer and Pandora's Daughter), which are romantic suspense in the very paranormal genre. It's almost as if Johansen is juggling too many things at once--romance, suspense, psychic abilities.

Dark Summer returns to a subject (and some characters) Johansen has explored in previous novels, that of search and rescue dogs and their owners. This time, however, the paranormal element (which has appeared in the background in previous books) is paramount. Both the romance/character development and the suspense seem to have been relegated to second fiddle. The plot is loose, even sketchy at times. It moves along quickly enough, but very little actually *happens,* which is frustrating. Characters wander around in the fictional landscape without serving much purpose.

This book also seems to have been written/edited rather quickly--there are grammatical errors and sloppy writing I am not used to from Johansen. HOWEVER, the copy I read was an ARC, not an actual sales copy of the book, and the edits may be made before the book goes to print.

All this sounds as if the book is just ghastly. It's not. Not at all. In fact, even though it's not up to Johansen's usual standards, it's better than much of the paranormal romantic suspense out there. The plot is new and different, most of the dialog is natural (though sometimes it would really benefit from an editing), and it's a quick read.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good story, bad writing, September 27, 2008

By	Kristi "all my facts come from fiction" (Eastern Iowa) - See all my reviews

(What's this?)

The story is fun -- a plucky Veterinarian with an unhappy past has made a good life for herself, an assortment of rescued animals and a couple of rescue humans. Enter our hero, a passionate man with a tragic past and a very special dog of his own, not to mention a secret that could change the world. Hero is, of course, pursued by a sadistic and megalomaniac villain. The plot has all the right elements -- danger, romance, true friendships and betrayal.

While definitely worth reading, one can't help but notice that the book would have been SO much better with well-written dialogue and believable character development. The dialogue, and, indeed, much of the prose, is clumsy and wooden. And the characters are too one-dimensional; a villain with whom you have a little empathy and protagonists with whom you can somewhat identify are so much easier to care about.

I would have loved this book if it had been done with the careful prose of Martha Grimes or James D. Doss. And I know from other books by this author that she is capable of better than this. Perhaps we can look forward to more from these characters, written with more care and consideration?

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I finally gave up, October 17, 2008

By	happy reader "d/mil" (Harrison, AR USA) - See all my reviews

(What's this?)

Although it's not my nature to give up on a book less than half way through, I simply could not get into the plot or identify with the characters....except for Ned, the dog....
Characters were killed.....for no fault of their own....and after about 10 minutes of grieving or even thinking about them, those friends were forgotten.
I was anxious to begin since I've read other books by Johansen and really enjoyed them.
I don't like to give a negative report but I believe 3 stars is actually more than it deserves.